Monica Rathbun

Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting

Chesapeake, Virginia, United States

Monica Rathbun lives in Virginia, is a Microsoft MVP for Data Platform, Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert and VMWare vExpert. She has nearly two decades of experience working with a wide variety of database platforms with a focus on SQL Server and the Microsoft Data Platform. She is a frequent speaker at IT industry conferences on topics including performance tuning and configuration management. She is the Leader of the Hampton Roads SQL Server User Group, on the Microsoft Azure Data Community Board and the Data Saturdays Board. She is passionate about SQL Server and the SQL Server community, doing anything she can to give back. Monica can always be found on Twitter (@sqlespresso) handing out helpful tips. You can find Monica blogging at sqlespresso.com

Area of Expertise

Information & Communications Technology

Topics

Performance Tuning
SQL Server
SQL Server DBA
Tempdb
Azure SQL DB
Azure

Query Store: The simplest way to Troubleshooting Performance

I live and breathe in Query Store everyday as a Performance Tuning consultant. I am able to quickly find performance issues without knowing my clients code or applications to help them fix or discover on going performance issues. The Query Store feature provides you with insight on query plan choice and performance. It gives you more control over which execution plans the optimizer will utilize and insights into plan regressions. In this session, we'll discuss what the Query Store is, how it works, how you should configure it for your environment, and how to get even more information by using the underlying DMVs that support it. We'll learn how to quickly find performance differences caused by query plan changes, identify quick performance anomalies, and solve performance issues in minutes using a combination of discussion and demos, we'll cover how you can use the Query Store to answer the question “Why was my query slow?"

Mastering SQL Server Performance & Optimization Strategies

In the pursuit of excellence, speed is the engine, and performance is the destination.

Everyone wants their database to go faster, whether it's shaving hours off your ETL process, taking minutes off the runtime for reports, or trimming milliseconds off a critical OLTP query. Every database professional must know where to look and how to tune, whether you have one SQL environment or thousands.

In this full-day session, you'll learn how to take your performance tuning skills to the next level. How to best configure SQL Server as well as how to decipher all metrics it collects can be daunting. Identifying how to distill the data down to actionable information is an integral part of a DBA's job. After this session, you will understand what to look for, how to analyze the data, and you will know how to use an array of tools including query store, performance monitor, and various scripts to get the critical performance information you need. Beyond tools and scripts, you'll become versed in the art and science of reading query plans to help you improve individual query performance. Finally, you'll learn about the newest performance enhancements within SQL Server 2022 and Azure SQL.

You'll leave this knowledge packed session with a clearer understanding of which items to evaluate and how to resolve many issues that plague SQL Server performance.

Tales from the Field - How to Avoid Burnout

In the fast paced "always plugged in world" we all live in today, getting burned out is something that you will most likely experience. That feeling of emotional and physical exhaustion that leaves you overwhelmed, trapped, defeated and stagnant can be unbearable. Taking the time to learn how to avoid burnout can be game-changer for your mental health, motivation, and productivity. In this 20 minute session, we will discuss ways to help prevent that burn out.

What's in our Performance Tuning Toolbox?

Navigating the vast landscape of performance tuning can be daunting. What to look for, what to change, and how to measure improvements are pivotal questions. As consultants, we often find ourselves rapidly identifying and addressing issues without the ability to alter code or prior knowledge of the database. Join us in this session as we guide you through the tools we rely on for performance tuning, sharing insights on leveraging our favorite tools to achieve rapid and impactful results.

Erin & Monica’s Favorite SQL Stuff

Two consultants, two different companies, two data professionals passionate about performance tuning. Do we like the same things? Do we have the same approach to problems? Topics will include: Trace Flags, DMVs, DBCC commands, Community Scripts and Intelligent Query Processing Features. We will talk about the features and solutions we agree on, and discuss where we disagree. Join us as we compare our favorite go-to SQL tools, features, commands and more, and discover new tricks to add to your own arsenal. Don’t forget to bring your popcorn!

Feedback link https://sqlb.it/?7134

Your Performance Tuning Check List

Everyone needs a list of what to double check in your environment to ensure your servers and databases are optimized in order to make SQL Server run faster, better and more efficiently. In this session you will learn about what you need to review and implement to get a performance and configuration improvements. You will learn about best practice configuration, SQL Server surface area, memory optimizations, isolation levels, Tempdb and transaction log configuration.

Always Encrypted for Beginners

One of the biggest challenges to successful implementation of data encryption has been the back and forth between the application and the database. You have to overcome the obstacle of the application decrypting the data it needs. Microsoft tried to simplify this process when it introduced Always Encrypted (AE) into SQL Server 2016 and Azure SQL Database. In this demo intense session, you will learn about what Always Encrypted is, how it works, and the implications for your environment. By the end you will know how to now easily encrypt columns of data and just as importantly how to unencrypt. You will also learn about the current limitations of the feature and what your options are to work around them.

SQL Server Performance Tuning and Optimization - Full Day

Do your users complain about slow reports? Are your database servers overwhelmed during times of high usage? Every SQL Server environment can benefit from performance tuning whether your environment has one server or thousands. In this full-day session you will learn about how identify problems using a wide variety of tools and scripts and how to implement best practices across your environment. Additionally, you will learn how to begin reading execution plans and how to tune queries to improve your performance within SQL Server. You will walk away with a list of items to evaluate in your environments and ways to resolve common issues. This session will guide you through real-life performance problems which can be solved by best practices and practical skills. Taught on a level anyone can understand, this session will focus on Microsoft SQL Server 2016 and forward.

You will also learn about maintenance activities and how they affect your server’s overall performance, and how to identify when your infrastructure is affecting your performance. Lastly, we will cover the newest performance enhancements coming with the latest release, SQL Server 2022. You’ll leave this demo-filled session better prepared to tackle many issues that can plague SQL Server performance along with the knowledge of how to resolve them.

Pre reqs
Knowledge of the SQL Server Database Engine, writing T-SQL queries, basics of server configuration.

Mastering TempDB

Have you experienced performance problems caused by contention in TempDB? Have you ever wondered why your TempDB is suddenly 3 TB? In this session, you will learn about all the various components of SQL Server that use TempDB. Whether it be AlwaysOn Availability Groups, Read Committed Snapshot version stores, spills, or simply temporary tables, learn about how to identify what SQL Server or your applications are doing in TempDB. Once you understand all the ways SQL Server uses this critical resource, and how to proper configure it, you'll be better prepared for your workloads whether it be an Azure VM, a physical server, or a container.

Im It- Survival Tips for the Lone DBA

Are you the only database person at your company? Are you both the DBA and the Developer? Being the only data professional in an environment can seem overwhelming, daunting, and darn near impossible sometimes. However, it can also be extremely rewarding and empowering. This session will cover how you can keep your sanity, get stuff done, and still love your job. We'll cover how I have survived and thrived being a Lone DBA for 15 years and how you can too. When you finish this session, you'll know what you can do to make your job easier, where to find help, and how to still be able to advance and enrich your career.

Performance Tuning Azure SQL Database

Have you moved to a cloud database like Azure SQL Database and are having performance issues? While the Azure SQL services running in Azure are similar to SQL Server, they are key differences in performance tuning methodologies. In this session, you will learn about monitoring options, changes in cloud DMVs, and additional cloud tuning tools like Azure SQL Analytics and Performance Insights that can allow you quickly get to performance data across a number of instances. You will learn about what you need to keep in mind when choosing between scaling-out to readable secondaries and scaling-up to higher tier solutions. Discuss with Microsoft MVP Monica Rathbun the challenges and benefits of tuning, what to keep in mind, and what to expect in the cloud.

You Really Should Look at the Execution Plan

Do you struggle to understand why a query is running slowly? Or why it runs in less than a second most of the time, and takes 10 minutes other times? Being able to review and understand query execution plans is essential to understand bottlenecks in database performance. While DBAs need to be able to understand execution plans, but for proactive performance management developers need to be able to review plans as queries and procedures get developed. In this session you will learn you how to gather and read execution plans, understand what query operators are and what actions they perform, understand the differences in plan types. Finally, you will learn how to improve your code and it’s performance by using the data revealed in these plans.

We have identified queries that are slow. We got the execution plans for these queries but don't know how to read them. We are unsure what operators in the execution plan led to slow query performance.

How to Make SQL Server Go Faster with Performance Tuning FULL DAY PRECON

Everyone wants their database to go faster, whether it's shaving hours off your ETL process, taking minutes off the runtime for reports, or trimming milliseconds off a critical OLTP query. Every database professional must know where to look and how to tune, whether you have one SQL environment or thousands.

In this full-day session, you'll learn how to take your performance tuning skills to the next level. The metrics SQL Server collects can be daunting. Identifying how to distill the data down to actionable information is an integral part of a DBA's job. After this session, you will understand what to look for, how to analyze the data, and you will know how to use an array of tools including query store, perfmon, and various scripts to get the critical performance information you need. Beyond tools and scripts, you'll become versed in the art and science of reading query plans to help you improve individual query performance. Finally, you'll learn about the newest performance enhancements within SQL Server 2022 and Azure SQL.

You'll leave this demo-filled session with the knowledge of which items to evaluate and how to resolve many issues that plague SQL Server performance.

When to Choose Serverless Versus Fixed Size Resources

Designing infrastructure for new applications can be challenging--you don't know what the workload is going to be, and over provisioning can be costly, while under provisioning can provide poor user experiences. The cloud offers a solution to help you solve these problems--serverless resources which autoscale and meet the performance needs of your application keeping costs reasonable. In this session you will learn about utilization patterns that are a good fit for serverless workloads, and when to choose serverless versus fixed size resources.

SQL Unmasked: Scooby-Dooing the Art of Performance Troubleshooting"

Step into the shoes of the Scooby-Doo gang as we unravel the mysterious world of SQL Server performance troubleshooting. Channel your inner Velma to analyze query plans, Fred's technical savvy to uncover bottlenecks, and the courage of Scooby and Shaggy combined to face the eerie corridors of SQL Server. This session will guide you through practical scenarios, teaching you to interpret performance metrics and unmask the hidden villains causing your database nightmares.

Join us on this database adventure, where we'll share the secrets of SQL Server troubleshooting with a Scooby-Doo twist. Learn to navigate the twists and turns of performance challenges, ensuring your database runs smoother than the Mystery Machine on a midnight chase. Don't miss out on "SQL Unmasked: Scooby-Dooing the Art of Performance Troubleshooting" for a thrilling journey into the heart of database mysteries, complete with character references that make troubleshooting as enjoyable as unmasking a ghostly villain!

Step into the shoes of the Scooby-Doo gang as we unravel the mysterious world of SQL Server performance troubleshooting. Channel your inner Velma to analyze query plans, Fred's technical savvy to uncover bottlenecks, and the courage of Scooby and Shaggy combined to face the eerie corridors of SQL Server. This session will guide you through practical scenarios, teaching you to interpret performance metrics and unmask the hidden villains causing your database nightmares.

Join us on this database adventure, where we'll share the secrets of SQL Server troubleshooting with a Scooby-Doo twist. Learn to navigate the twists and turns of performance challenges, ensuring your database runs smoother than the Mystery Machine on a midnight chase. Don't miss out on "The Art of Scoobydooing: Unmasking SQL Server Performance Issues" for a thrilling journey into the heart of database mysteries, complete with character references that make troubleshooting as enjoyable as unmasking a ghostly villain!

TempDB: Unraveling SQL Server's Critical Resource for Optimal Performance

Have you encountered performance challenges stemming from contention in TempDB? Ever found yourself puzzled by a sudden 3 TB spike in TempDB size? In this session, delve into the intricate ecosystem of SQL Server components reliant on TempDB. Explore the implications for AlwaysOn Availability Groups, Read Committed Snapshot version stores, spills, and temporary tables. Learn to discern SQL Server and application behaviors impacting TempDB usage. With insights into proper configuration and utilization, equip yourself to optimize workloads across Azure VMs, physical servers, or containers.

SQLBits 2024 - Full day training sessions Sessionize Event

March 2024 Farnborough, United Kingdom

dataMinds Connect 2023 Sessionize Event

October 2023 Mechelen, Belgium

Triangle Area SQL Server User Group (TriPASS) User group Sessionize Event

August 2023

SQLDay 2023 Sessionize Event

May 2023 Wrocław, Poland

SQLBits 2023 - General Sessions Sessionize Event

March 2023 Newport, United Kingdom

SQL Saturday Boston 2022 Sessionize Event

October 2022 Burlington, Massachusetts, United States

DataGrillen 2022 Sessionize Event

June 2022 Lingen, Germany

SQLBits 2022 Sessionize Event

March 2022 London, United Kingdom

SQL & Azure SQL Conference Fall 2021 Sessionize Event

December 2021 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

PASS Data Community Summit 2021 Sessionize Event

November 2021

dataMinds Connect 2021 Sessionize Event

October 2021 Mechelen, Belgium

Women Data Summit Sessionize Event

June 2021

SQL Virtual Conference - CSharpCorner

Performance Tuning

January 2021

Database Professionals Virtual Meetup Group

Mastering Tempdb

January 2021

Data Platform Summit

75 min session on Mastering Tempdb. Covering configuration, usage, how to handle tempdb bloat and contention.

December 2020

PASS Virtual Summit 2020

2 sessions Panel Discussion: Consulting 101 - Help Us to Help You, Performance Tuning, Getting the Biggest Bang for Your Buck

November 2020

Idera Geek Sync

Always Encrypted for Beginners

October 2020

Run As Radio Podcast

Microsoft's Serverless mode for SQL Azure

October 2020

SQL Bits 2020

Getting Started with Learning Azure, Always Encrypted for Beginners

October 2020

The Database Cup: DBA vs Dev Game Show

Who will come away with The Database CUP, a Dev or a DBA?
This light hearted competition between database developers and database administrators - Jeopardy style - will not only determine the winner of the SQL Cup Challenge but give you an opportunity to learn some lesser known but important key performance, tuning and architecture SQL Server facts. Topics to include; Performance, VMWare optimization, Containers, and many more nuggets of knowledge. You will not want to miss this fun session of SQL Server learning!

September 2020

Speaker Atlanta User Group

Performance Tuning, Getting the Biggest Bang for Your Buck

September 2020

Speaker Richmond User Group

Mastering Tempdb

August 2020

Coffee Time with the Pros- CsharpCorner

Coffee Time with Pros on C-Sharp Corner. Hour discussion on data and my views of the community and what it takes to be an MVP. Ways to build your career.

June 2020

Speaker at C-Sharpcorner Women in Tech Virtual Conference

Survival tips for the lone DBA session. Are you the only database person at your company? Are you both the DBA and the Developer? Being the only data professional in an environment can seem overwhelming, daunting, and darn near impossible sometimes. However, it can also be extremely rewarding and empowering. This session will cover how you can keep your sanity, get stuff done, and still love your job. We'll cover how I have survived and thrived being a Lone DBA for 16 years and how you can too. When you finish this session, you'll know what you can do to make your job easier, where to find help, and how to still be able to advance and enrich your career.

June 2020

DataGrillen 2020 Sessionize Event

May 2020 Lingen, Germany

DogFoodCon 2019 Sessionize Event

October 2019 Columbus, Ohio, United States

SQL Saturday Washington DC

Lone DBA Survival Tips

December 2016 Washington, Washington, D.C., United States

SQL Saturday Kansas City

Lone DBA Survival Tips

September 2016 Kansas City, Missouri, United States

SQL Saturday Louisville

Survival Tips for Lone DBA

August 2016 Louisville, Kentucky, United States

SQL Saturday Atlanta

Lone DBA Survival Tips

May 2016 Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Monica Rathbun

Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting

Chesapeake, Virginia, United States

Links

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