SQLSaturday #59 – Speaker Interview #15 with Joseph D’Antoni

Let’s kick off this Tuesday, maestro please, with a little violin music, some good food, cocktails and a fine bottle of wine.  You’d never know we’re talking with Speaker, DBA Engineer & SQL Expert Joseph D’Antoni, who will be presenting with us on November 20, 2010, at SQLSaturday#59 in NYC.  These are just some of the things Joe likes when not being a DBA, including some serious Bike racing activity.  I wonder if he’ll be bicycling in from Philadelphia, PA? J  I know he’s looking forward to some NYC fine cuisine, so maybe choose the turkey sandwich for lunchJ.  Maybe the After Party will indeed offer some exquisite dining, at least some good cocktails.  If you’re getting hungry, then let me digress, and in the meanwhile, let’s learn some more about Mr. D’Antoni,

RP:  Please tell us a little about yourself, your background, your career and your involvement in the SQL Community.

JD: I have 10+ years of experiences with RDBMSes. I started working with SQL 7 and 2000. I currently work for Synthes, a medical device company in West Chester, PA. I’m also VP of the Philadelphia SQL Server users group.

RP:  What is your area of expertise?  How did you become a DBA/SQL Professional?

JD: DBA—I’ve been doing it since I was an intern in a college. I feel my strengths are in infrastructure architecture, and given my 8 years of health care experience, Computer Systems Validation.

RP:  What advice would you give your fellow colleagues who are trying to become more senior professionals?

JD: READ—and get involved with the community. You learn and have fun.

RP:  Yes, reading is fundamental!  If you can’t spell SQL, then you might have problems getting involved, or finding the right restroom at the event. :-O

RP:  As I see the question all the time, what do you tell folks who want to get more involved in the SQL Community?

JD: Come to your local user group meetings and speak up. Be friendly to people, it’s easy to help out. And don’t be scared to speak in a meeting.

RP:  What are 3 of your favorite features in SQL Server 2008/R2?

         JD: Compression, partitioning and transparent data encryption. Three features that are included   with EE, that Oracle charges a freaking fortune for.

RP:  What are you working on currently?  (Projects, Books/Articles, Speaking circuit, etc.)

JD: I just spoke at the Virginia Oracle Users Group on clouds and virtualization. Currently, I’m working on a cluster/consolidation project, and doing cross site high availability.

RP:  What are some of your other interests, hobbies, etc. when you’re not being a DBA/Engineer/BI professional?

JD: Cooking, riding bikes, drinking good wine and eating.

RP:  Me too.  Well, the eating part. But I can cook a mean baked ziti and a few other assorted dishes.

RP: What are you looking forward to, or, what excites you the most about presenting at our SQLSaturday event in  NYC?

JD: Good food, cocktails, and nice SQL Community.

RP:  Give us a preview of the topic and session you have planned for us at SQLSaturday#59

JD: I’ll be talking about a feature that barely works (Data-tier Applications) and a feature I really like Management Data Warehouse.

We’ll  take a deep dive into the configuration and utilization of the Management Data Warehouse feature in SQL Server 2008. This session will discuss how MDW is configured, managed and utilized. Also, how to generate reports and to customize data collection for your environment.

          Great answers!  Especially about the food.  Just kidding!  I definitely recommend taking a closer look at the Management Data Warehouse feature in SQL 2008, and hope to catch your session.  Thank you, Joseph for taking time to participate in our SQLSaturday Speaker Interview Series.  See you in NYC.  First drink’s on me J

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