The official notices went out to speakers last week and I am privileged to have the opportunity to present two sessions at this year's PASS Summit in Seattle (Oct. 11-14). This year there were hundreds of abstracts submitted (I read "over 600" here) for ~70 available regular session spots; the program committee had their work cut out for them, and I'd like to publicly thank them for the time they spent reviewing every abstract to put together the schedule.

Here's what I'll be talking about:

Working With XML In SQL Server

Track: Application and Database Development
Level: 300

XML is a technology that Developers and DBAs alike share a love-hate relationship with; it's powerful and flexible yet it can be bloated and difficult to work with at the same time. Regardless, XML has found a home in many applications - including SQL Server (e.g. execution plans) - so it's important to understand how to work with it in your databases. This session will show you how to use the XML data type, perform basic operations on XML data, and how to use FOR XML to create XML from relational data. This isn't a session to convince you to use XML, but to show you what you can do with XML when you do need to use it!

 

Paging DR Availability, You're Wanted In The Recovery Room

Track: Enterprise Database Administration and Deployment
Level: 200

There are a lot of options when it comes to disaster recovery and high availability with regards to SQL Server. Most business owners (and many DBA's) lump disaster recovery (DR) & high availability (HA) together and while they do share some pieces, they call for different strategies. Do you pick one or more than one of these options, and what criteria do you use to make the choice? It’s incredibly important that you understand the decision tree that helps you pick the right options(s) for your business and that you can explain the choices clearly to the stakeholders. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, but it is complicated. This presentation will give you a high level understanding of the options, the costs, complexities, & reasons for using each of them.

You can see all of the sessions that have been selected (including pre-cons, spotlights, and the new half-day format) on the 2011 Summit website. If you're thinking about going don't wait to ask the boss - prices increase June 30. If you're not sure how to ask and need some ammunition check out this excellent advice from Brent Ozar (Blog | Twitter) and the ROI page on the Summit site.

I hope to see you in Seattle in October!