Reitse Eskens
Data Platform Consultant at Axians Business Analytics, Microsoft MVP and MCT
Groningen, The Netherlands
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Reitse began his computer days with GW Basic and quickly followed with Windows 3.11. After that, many computers followed, and, interrupted by human resource and psychology studies, he got into the IT work field around 2007. There, he encountered Oracle 9, which had a command line from 1980. At his current job, he met SQL Server. And loved it. Now he’s working with SQL 2008 to SQL 2019 on-premises and several Azure SQL Databases, supporting customers and tuning databases. New projects focus more on the Azure data platform as an architect, security advisor and data engineer. They include Fabric (Lakehouse and Realtime solutions), Data Factory and Synapse Analytics.
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Loadtesting Fabric II, the sequel
Have you tried to find the most effective way to ingest and process your data?
Were you just as confused as I was after reading all the marketing materials?
Would you like to gain more insight into maximising your capacity?
These are questions I've had. And ones I regularly try to help customers with.
In this session, I'll help you learn the differences between Lakehouse, SQLDB, and Warehouse performance, processing speed and cost. I'll also demonstrate how the Realtime stack can serve as a viable alternative for ingestion and processing flat files in terms of speed, scalability and ease of use.
After this session, you'll walk away with real-life insights from Fabric and knowledge of which buttons not to press.
If you've attended the previous instalment of this session, you'll know I won't do my testing with AdventureWorks. It will be a lot of (messy) data to give Fabric a run for its capacity units!
Q&A with Speakers
Meet the speakers in the community zone right after their session to ask all the questions!
Sinners of the Seven SQL's
At Ignite 2024, the rebels of Microsoft unleashed their unholy roar, summoning the mighty SQL Server(?) database into the fiery forge of the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem. This beast is another weapon forged in the ever-expanding arsenal that is Fabric—a war machine for the data-thirsty masses.
But hear me, mortals! The demo? Just a feeble whisper of small datasets—a pale shadow of the chaos we face in the real world! Out here, our customers wield mountains of raw, chaotic data. We, the battle-hardened consultants, conjure twisted rituals to cleanse and shape this data into something worthy. And in the end, those who summon us demand legendary performance... and they want it all for mere scraps of gold.
In this session, we dive into the abyss—testing, loading, and forging data into a star schema of unyielding steel. Together, we'll delve into the heart of the inferno: performance, storage, and cost—pushing the limits of this database to its very breaking point. If the shifting sands of the Fabric portal allow, monitoring will be summoned into the fray as well.
By the end of this journey into darkness, you'll emerge with a sharpened understanding of the Fabric SQL Database—ready to wield its power, should it align with your quest for data domination.
Wollt ihr das DB in Flammen sehen? Monitor your SQL DB with Zabbix
Do you have important databases you need to monitor? Or do you have a number of test databases you want to monitor without breaking the bank?
Let me help you.
Zabbix is a free, open source tool mainly used for monitoring infrastructure (servers, networks etc). Most infra-admins know the tool and chances are they're using it in your organisation. But when you look at the documentation, it doesn't say much about monitoring databases. Yet the tool can do this without much additional configuration or plug-ins.
In this session I'll take along on my journey from using Zabbix as an infra monitoring tool to a SQL monitoring tool. We'll start with the basics of monitoring and what to monitor. After that we'll dive a bit deeper and add a specific monitoring for SQL Server Wait Statistics. This concept can be applied to many, if not all, other areas of intere
Check out this session and you'll walk away with some news for your infrastructure friends in your organisation. And because we all love automation I'll provide you with some scripts that make it much easier for you to start building your own specific monitoring.
SQL Copilot, what the query is this!?
At Build 2024, Microsoft announced that Copilot for Azure SQL is entering public preview. Since then, progress has been made, and Copilot is now integrated into SQL Server Management Studio.
But, how do you get started? What are the costs, and how does it work?
This session aims to help you get started with Copilot for SQL. Let's find this Copilot and let it assist us a bit. We will explore general queries, data-specific tasks, and even database management!
While it won't be an in-depth analysis of the internal workings, I will touch on security issues, including how Copilot manages permissions and data privacy.
Buck Woody once (often) said: "Don't type in demos." Join this session to see me break that rule! And even better, send in your own questions and see what happens!
By the end of this session, you'll know how to make SQL Copilot work for you and how it can enhance your productivity without adding complexity.
Data Literacy, are you ground crew or air crew?
A data driven way of working, almost every organisation is doing it or thinking about it. But what does it all mean?
And how do you get started???
One thing is clear, just using the ground crew technology isn't enough to embrace a data driven way of working.
The air crew needs more.
What if a manager needs a report and you have to tell the manager the reports is being sent to their mailbox on a monthly basis.
What if C-level urges you to deliver a report with a short deadline, only to briefly look at it and the moves on.
In our vision, humans are a central part of digital transformation and a datadriven way of working.
This session will thrive on interaction. Expect Menti meter but also q and a. Together we can achieve more!
Are you in our target audience? YES!
Choosing the Azure SQL DB tier, tales from the trenches
Azure SQL Databases, databases as a service. You've heard all the tales and read all the marketing materials. Are you planning to migrate workloads from on premises to Azure? Or have you migrated your workloads but are you in doubt if you've made the correct choice?
In this session, I'll walk you through the different options that are available and tell you about the experiences I've had when working with them. I've been involved in a number of projects and most tiers and SKU's have been tried and tested. Not all and before you know it, there are new ones.
Some were successful, some weren't but all depending on their loads and characteristics. To give each database a fair chance, I've been using a set of scripts to get a good comparison. A script that I will share with you, along with my way of using that.
Azure SQL DB performance comes at a price, so I'll cover the costs as well to give a complete picture.
When you leave the session, you'll have a better understanding of the Tier and SKU differences and a starting point on how to test it for your workload.
How an attendee became a speaker
Are you looking up to the people who are on stage? We are simple humans, just like you. The biggest difference is the position in the room. We're talking, you're listening and growing.
But, you could be standing there as well! You can tell your story, share your experiences and expertise just like any other speaker can. A few years ago, I was attending conferences like this one. Soaking up knowledge and being in awe of the speakers. Fast forward to now, where I'm speaking to people all over the world and having a blast doing it.
I'll happily share my steps, my way of working and the fun I've had and am having. But also the stress that you can feel. But in the end, it's a very rewarding path.
And when I'm done talking, I really hope you'll start!
To Hyperscale or not to Hyperscale, that's the question
Hyperscale databases are a special kind of Azure SQL Database. Azure has a completely different technical design for this database tier that enables it to deliver lightning fast performance. But, it's not for every use case, there are a few things to consider before your scale up to this tier.
If you join my session, I'll tell you about our use case. But also about our struggles to get the performance and the sometimes unexpected behaviour of this tier.
Lightning talk (5-10 minutes) or extended session where Hyperscale get's placed in the broader spectrum of Azure databases.
What they should have told me about being a DBA
You're starting out in the workfield of a DBA. Just as I did about ten years ago.
There is a lot of information out there, you'll here names drop but who are they. You'll here about tools and probably that you can't do your job without "this tool". And just when you got used to all the on-premises stuff, there's the cloud. Where everything changes on a daily basis.
If you're reading this, you've already taken a very important step, you're out here learning on your day off. Excellent! Now I'll take you along my journey towards becoming a DBA, both on-premises and on Azure. It's fun, it's hard work but very rewarding!
I'll show you my favorite tools, books and scripts to give you some structure in advancing your knowledge. I'll show you some techniques I'm using to dive deeper into subjects that interest me and more.
Remember, you're always welcome to ask questions, before, during and after the session.
See you soon!
Code, deploy and maintain your Azure (data) Infrastructure with confidence
Have you been deploying your Azure databases and all connected resources through the portal?
Are you fed-up with clicking, weird resource naming and mostly, with having to deal with changes manually?
If you are working in Azure and you have anything to do with data, security and the infrastructure, this session is for you!
Azure Infrastructure as Code offers a plethora of possibilities, but the first time I checked it out, all I saw were Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates. Hard to read, harder to write. They gave me headaches. It seems I wasn't the only one with that problem, because there are excellent tools to help you out! My favourite, and the one I'm using in this session is Terraform.
Now why is this presenter talking about this? I've deployed a number of customer environments with this language. Whenever there's a security update, like a new policy for example, I can deploy this to all customers in minutes. I'll only have to code this once and can easily deliver it many times, saving them time and money. Resources we can spend in other areas like ETL, ELT etc.
During the session, I'll demonstrate the basics of a data deployment, following the spirit of the Microsoft Well Architected Framework. I'll show you my way of working, the structure and and the end result. As securing resources and data is paramount in any cloud solution, it'll have plenty of attention in this session as well.
There is no need to try and photograph what's happening on screen, all the scripts will be available after the session.
This session is aimed at people who are not only the database admin in a company but also (partially) responsible for the cloud infrastructure. Or people who are mainly responsible for the cloud infrastructure and who want to understand what the data people are doing.
To give this session a fair chance, 50 minutes is he minimum. Without the live demos, 20 -30 minutes is possible, but not recommended. People won't need any technical stuff, I'll need either a good internet connection or good 4G reception to show the demo.
Let your Fabric work! Loadtesting large amounts of data
We've all seen the standard Fabric demos online; running data from AdventureWorks, WideWorldImporters or NY taxi through Fabric and quickly create wonderful reports.
But, Is this really the amount of data you're going to process? Can you really tell if Fabric will perform with your data volume?
These were questions I had and I tried to get some kind of answer to them.
It's time to let your Fabric work!
In this session, I'll take you along with the steps I took to give Fabric a run for it's capacity units so you can do this as well. The data I'm using has nothing secretive in it, so you can happily share the results with the entire world. From data ingestion to report (yes, I will bring pain to PowerBI), let's see how much Fabric can handle. And when you can push it (temporarily) over the edge.
When I've finished, you'll leave with an extra tool in your set to check if your chosen capacity unit is good enough for your production load.
Fabric SQL, can I have some more databases please?
At Ignite 2024, Microsoft announced the public preview of the SQL Server(?) database within the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem. This adds another tool to the ever growing toolbox that is Fabric.
As usual, the release demo is based on small datasets and that's not the reality I'm dealing with. Customers have large amounts of data, we as consultants create strange procedures to clean and model the data and in the end the customer expects amazing performance for as little money as possible.
In this session, I'll take you along my tests to load and model the data into a star schema. The session will try and dig as deep as possible into performance, storage and costs of this database. Depending on the development of the Fabric portal, monitoring will be a part of this as well.
In the end you'll have a better understanding of what the Fabric SQL Database has to offer and if it could be a fit for you use case.
Session level is somewhere between 100 and 200.
Demo's might occur, depending on where the portal is in february 2025.
SQL 2025, SSMS 22 and Fabric. And they mirrored happily ever after?
You know you have your data in your database. You know how to query it. But you can't let everyone in on your production database and run their queries. Yet everyone wants to create reports or dig into the data to gain insights.
SQL Server 2025 and Fabric offer the option to mirror your database data directly into Microsoft Fabric. This offloads the analytics from your on-premises environment to the cloud.
Let me show you how this works, what caveats there are and how to set up security.
Because you don't want anyone snooping around, now do you?
After the session, you'll have a better idea of how this integration works and if this is a good fit for your situation.
Fabric February 2026 Sessionize Event Upcoming
Data Community Day Austria 2026 Sessionize Event Upcoming
Data Moshpit 2025 Sessionize Event
dataMinds Connect 2025 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday & Fabric Friday Holland 2025 Sessionize Event
European Microsoft Fabric Community Conference 2025 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Gothenburg 2025 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Oslo 2025 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Rheinland 2025 Sessionize Event
SQLBits 2025 - General Sessions Sessionize Event
Data Céilí 2025 Sessionize Event
New Stars of Data #9 Sessionize Event
SeaQL Saturday 2025 Sessionize Event
Power BI & Fabric Summit 2025 Sessionize Event
SQL Konferenz 2025 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday #49 - Denmark - 2025 Sessionize Event
Fabric February 2025 Sessionize Event
New Stars of Data #8 Sessionize Event
Techorama 2024 Netherlands Sessionize Event
Data Saturday & Fabric Friday Holland 2024 Sessionize Event
SQL Konferenz 2024 Sessionize Event
European Microsoft Fabric Community Conference Sessionize Event
DATA:Scotland 2024 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Gothenburg 2024 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Oslo 2024 Sessionize Event
Microsoft Fabric Cafe User group Sessionize Event
Data Toboggan - Cool Runnings 2024 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Rheinland 2024 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Stockholm 2024 Sessionize Event
DataGrillen 2024 Sessionize Event
New Stars of Data #7 Sessionize Event
SQLBits 2024 - General Sessions Sessionize Event
Power BI & Fabric Summit 2024 Sessionize Event
Fabric February 2024 Sessionize Event
European MCT Summit 2024 Sessionize Event
Axians Tech Conference: XaaS, why services are cool!
Company session having a discussion on why services are so cool and what they will bring for our work. My part was mostly on Microsoft Fabric.
My First Azure, an introduction to Azure
An introductory session on everything Azure for people working at Axians Integration Services
New Stars of Data #6 Sessionize Event
dataMinds Connect 2023 Sessionize Event
Data Moshpit 2023 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Gothenburg 2023 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Rheinland 2023 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Stockholm 2023 Sessionize Event
New Stars of Data #5 Sessionize Event
Data platform Meetup Groningen
Presented my session on Azure Sql databases
Analytics in a day Workshop
Presenting the Microsoft slidedeck and explaining the contents to allow attendees a quickstart in working with Azure Synapse Analytics.
Axians Tech Conference '22
An international, online event (hosted from Amsterdam) where technical speakers of the Axians brand came together to share knowledge. My sessions were on Azure SQL Databases and Infrastructure as Code.
PASS Data Community Summit
Online, pre recorded session on Azure Sql Database selections.
dataMinds Connect 2022 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Oslo 2022 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Gothenburg 2022 Sessionize Event
#DataWeekender CU5 Sessionize Event
Tell me you tune query's without telling me you're tuning query's
A new session where I'm explaining database tuning without mentioning databases or showing anything technical.
Analytics in a Day
4 hours of sharing all the goodies on Azure Synapse
SQLBits 2022 Sessionize Event
Azure ask me anything
An internal session for coworkers where they can ask me anything about Azure. My challenge is to provide the correct answer(s).
Sql Friday Season 4 (Feb - Jun 2022) Sessionize Event
Microsoft Data Platform Group - Birmingham User group Sessionize Event
Data TGIF
This group organizes free data events for Friday afternoons to celebrate the start of the weekend by meeting people to a Microsoft Data Platform talk. If you're a beginner or expert for Microsoft Data Platform (SQL Server, Azure, Power BI etc), JOIN US FOR FREE and have fun!
Axians Tech Conference
Axians conference for employees where all the cool knowledge is shared. I presented a 10 minute version of my becoming a DBA talk.
An introduction into Azure
An introduction into Azure for all my coworkers.
PASS Data Community Summit 2021 Sessionize Event
Axians Data Driven Live
A dutch session in cooperation with a coworker on data literacy
#DataWeekender #TheSQL Sessionize Event
New Stars of Data 2020 Sessionize Event
Reitse Eskens
Data Platform Consultant at Axians Business Analytics, Microsoft MVP and MCT
Groningen, The Netherlands
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