As we have done for the last several years, SQLServerCentral.com will be offering its own track at SQL Server Connections (a part of the greater DevConnections event) in Las Vegas, NV, on March 26-29, at the MGM Grand Hotel. This is in addition to the SQL Server tracks that are being chaired by Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp.

DevConnections offers many other tracks, other than SQL Server, including:

• Visual Studio
• ASP.NET
• SharePoint
• Silverlight
• HTML5
• Cloud

So if you are a DBA who has duties other than just SQL Server, then DevConnections might be a great learning experience for you.

For those of you that are interested in SQL Server, the SQLServerCentral.com track includes the following speakers and sessions:

Grant Fritchey
Grant Fritchey is a SQL Server MVP with over 21 years’ experience in IT, including time spent in support and development. He has worked with SQL Server since 6.0, back in 1995. He has developed in VB, VB.Net, C# and Java. Grant volunteers at PASS and is president of the Southern New England SQL Server Users Group (SNESSUG). He has authored books for Apress and Simple-Talk, and joined Red Gate Software as a Product Evangelist in January 2011. He blogs at www.scarydba.com.

Common Backup Problems and How to Deal with Them
SQL Server backups can be burdensome to set up and maintain. All sorts of different problems can occur. This session targets the most common problems encountered while working with SQL Server backup and shows you how to identify these issues in your environment. In fact, I’ll walk you through how to prevent these common issues from ever cropping up within your systems in the first place. Be prepared for information you can take back to the office and put to work right away making your system backups more reliable. With backups running correctly all the time, you’ll be protecting your systems better, and feeling a lot less stress when it times to perform an emergency restore.

Top Tips for Writing Better T-SQL Stored Procedures
T-SQL provides many different ways to accomplish the same task, and as you might expect, some ways are better than others. In this session, you will learn specific techniques, that if followed, will make you a better T-SQL developer. The session is jam-packed with practical examples and is designed for administrators and developers who want to bring their T-SQL skills to the next level. In fact, you will be able to immediately implement these tips in your current projects once you get back to your office.

T-SQL Deployment and Continuous Integration Best Practices
While most T-SQL developers focus on writing quality T-SQL code and efficient queries, what they often forget is how it should best be deployed. This includes deployment of new applications, as well as upgrades and bug fixes. In this session, you will learn many best practices involving the principles of continuous integration, such as maintaining a code repository, automating builds, self-testing, auditing, automated deployment, and much more. This session is designed for both DBA administrators and developers who want to optimize their T-SQL deployment process.

Steve Jones
Steve Jones is the founder and editor of SQLServerCentral.com, the largest SQL Server community in the world. Steve has worked with SQL Server for two decades, starting with v4.2 and continuing on to SQL Server 2012. He has worked for a variety of small and large companies in that time in different industries, allowing him to learn how SQL Server can solve many types of problems. He currently works for Red Gate software, the owner of SQLServerCentral.com. He blogs at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/steve_jones/default.aspx.

An Encryption Primer for SQL Server
SQL Server has a number of encryption features that allow you to better secure your data. This session will examine the basics of encryption and cover the various ways in which you can encode and decode your data to protect it from unauthorized access. Cell level encryption, Transparent Data Encryption, and backup encryption will all be discussed. This session is designed for those who want to learn the basics of how to protect their data.

How to Take Advantage of Contained Databases in SQL Server 2012
One of the problems with databases in SQL Server is the dependency of the database on various parts of the host instance. In SQL Server 2012 there is an enhancement to the database format that allows for partial containment of your database, and will make the movement, migration, and management of the databases much simpler. This session, which includes many demos, introduces the new database structure and explains how it can be used in your environment.

How to Manage Unstructured SQL Server Data
More and more of our data does not fit neatly into a structured, relational model of rows and columns of data. In this session, you will learn about how SQL Server stores unstructured data, with a special emphasis on how to use Filestream, which integrates SQL Server with the NTFS file system by storing varbinary(max) binary large object data as files stored within the file system. You will also learn about the new SQL Server 2012 filetable feature, which builds on Filestream and provides the ability to read, write, and update Filestream objects directly through the file system. This session is designed for DBAs and developers who need to learn how to manage large quantities of unstructured data.

Brad M McGehee
Brad M. McGehee is a MCSE+I, MCSD, and MCT (former) with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Masters in Business Administration. Currently the Director of DBA Education for Red Gate Software, Brad is an accomplished Microsoft SQL Server MVP with over 17 years SQL Server experience and over 8 years training experience. Brad is a frequent speaker at SQL PASS, European PASS, SQL Connections, SQLTeach, devLINK, SQLBits, SQL Saturdays, TechFests, Code Camps, SQL Server user groups, and other industry seminars. Brad is the author or co-author of more than 16 technical books and over 300 published articles. He blogs at www.bradmcgehee.com.

How to Monitor Your SQL Server for Performance & High Availability
Is your phone ringing off the hook your first sign of SQL Server performance or availability problems? Let’s hope not. As a proactive DBA, it is your job to regularly and thoroughly monitor your servers. In some cases, close monitoring can help you detect small problems before they become big problems. In cases outside of your control, you will want to be notified immediately of the problem so you can take quick action to resolve it. In this session, you will learn what aspects of your SQL Servers you should monitor, and how best to monitor them. In fact, you will be presented with a checklist that you can follow to help ensure that you are monitoring the right things in the most efficient manner. This session is designed for novice or accidental DBAs who are still learning how to best administer their SQL Server instances.

How to Defragment Indexes for Peak Performance
Over time, as indexes experience INSERTs, UPDATEs, and DELETEs, a normal process called index fragmentation typically occurs in OLTP databases. Index fragmentation takes two forms. First, it can cause gaps on data pages that waste disk and data cache space. Second, it can scatter pages throughout the database as the logical and physical order of the pages get out of synch. Added together, both of these can result in heavy index fragmentation which can reduce query performance. In this session you will learn the best ways to identify and correct index fragmentation. This includes learning how to identify which indexes need defragmentation using sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats, how to determine if rebuilding or reorganizing indexes is the best approach, and how to create index defragmentation jobs. The session will include many demos to show how fragmentation occurs, how to detect it, and how to remove it. This session is designed for all DBAs who still have yet to master the fundamentals of index defragmentation.

How to Configure Database Options for Optimal Performance
Each database has a collection of individual properties, many of which can have a significant effect on a database’s behavior, performance and availability. Most of the time you want to leave these settings at their defaults, but there are some cases where you might need to make some changes. As the DBA, you should be familiar with all of the settings and what they do. In this session, we will explore every database setting, spending extra time on those settings that are most critical to SQL Server databases. In addition, you will be provided with a script you can use to identify your current database settings, which can be used to help you determine if your database settings are optimally set for your environment. This session is designed for all DBAs who still have yet to master the specifics of database configuration settings.