azure

Create an Azure Database using Powershell

In my presentation on Windows Azure SQL Database and SSIS I show how to create a database using the Azure Portal and using T-SQL from SQL Server Management Studio. Using the portal us about as simple as it gets so I’m not going to go through the steps here. To use T-SQL you have to be connected to the master database and then you can quickly create a new database with the CREATE DATABASE command.

CREATE DATABASE <database_name>
       (EDITION = 'Web', MAXSIZE=1GB)

The edition can be either Web or Business and the only difference I am aware of is the maximum database size. The Web edition can only be up to 5GB and a Business edition has a max size of 150GB.

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It’s Scary in the Cloud

darkcloudAs I mentioned in my last post I have been learning as much as I can about Windows Azure SQL Database (SQL Database or WASD to those who work with it).  I did a lot of research and some demo projects for my presentation on WASD at SQL Saturday #237 in Charlotte, but I know there is more for me to learn. In fact one of the challenges with WASD is that it can change as quickly as DBA’s and developers can learn. I’ve had a lot of conversations about Azure over the last few weeks. These have ranged from in-depth case studies using WASD for a SaaS product offering to people who have never looked at Azure. To help me and maybe others have a baseline for learning about Windows Azure SQL Database I wanted to ask some experts a few questions. The first person that comes to mind for me from the DBA perspective on Azure is the Scary DBA, Grant Fritchey (B|T). Grant is a Product Evangelist for Red Gate Software and his blogging and presenting have had an Azure focus lately. I traded some emails with Grant and he agreed to answer my five cloudy questions. Continue reading →

It Was Cloudy at the Summit

summitThere have already been a few posts about the 2013 PASS Summit and I decided I had better get my experiences down “on paper” before they fade from memory.

This was my first time attending the Super Bowl of SQL gatherings and I made the most of it. I got in on Sunday night and headed straight over to the registration. I have had a pretty active SQL Life over the last year and even though I have not been to the Summit before I immediately ran into people I haven’t seen since a random SQL Saturday ago (probably in April, because weren’t they all in April this year?). In addition I started meeting people who I only knew from the Twitterverse. I can’t remember all of the people I saw and met that first night. However, I do know that I waited in line for a while with Jes Borland (B|T), Ed Leighton-Dick (B|T), Mike Fal (B|T), and David Klee (B|T) because they had it up on the big screen for me a couple of days later. If PASS Summit is the super bowl then I have to say it was pretty cool to be up on the Jumbotron, if only for a few seconds.

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