Enable Self-Service Provisioning of Versioned Databases from Azure DevOps

You’ve managed to get your team to use version control, you’re using a tool to provision dedicated databases. But it is still a very manual and ‘scripty’ process to get all databases in place for each task for you and your teammates. Of course, you already use PowerShell locally to automate this, but there’s no real standard solution. It works on your pc, and often on someone else’s but in the cases, it doesn’t work, not everyone on the team has the skill or the ambition to fix it.

In this session I will present another approach to get your database provisioned, not by running script by yourself or someone in the team but ‘the system’ will provision your databases just by following the team’s agreed workflow. I'll start by showing you a team that knows that starting new work in Azure DevOps will provision a fresh set of databases. And that’s all they need to know!

Next on the agenda is a solution for easily switching priorities to ‘stash’ your current work (databases), and pick them up exactly where you left off, once the urgent priority is complete. Furthermore, I will walk you through all kinds of speciality pipelines, including the necessary housekeeping of all those provisioned databases.
There will be slides, but it will mainly be code examples that are demonstrated and shared with the attendees.

Get a better developer experience for your team and make database delivery to them self-served and more efficient by getting most out of automation with PowerShell and YAML.

DIY Disposable Database Clones

Summary:
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Database DevOps techniques require an easy way to provision many copies of a database, even a large database, for development work and especially for testing work. Ideally, these databases should be disposable and easy to create; developers should be able to spin up a copy of a specific version of a database, complete with data, whenever they need it.

In this session we build a basic proof-of-concept system that could give someone the experience in working with the clone technology which is already available in any Windows System and the benefits it can bring to their Database DevOps processes.

This session could be practical for all sorts of Windows-based database systems with large data sizes. The databases are not limited to like SQL Server only, also MariaDB, PostgreSQL, etc. can benefit from this technology.

Topics:
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- Introduction to Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)
- Introduction to Virtual Hard Drives (VHD) and parent disks
- Creating VHDs and VSS copy of databases
- Mounting and unmounting databases (stored on VHD's)
- Cloning with Sqlcollaborative/dbaclone

Audience:
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- Developers that need fast and disposable database copies
- Team manager that see that developer take to much time in provisioning databases (without cloning)

The targeted audience can be developers that need fast and disposable database copies.
But also, team managers that see that developers take too much time in provisioning databases (without cloning).

Other performances with the same subject:
- PASS Data Community Summit 2021
- Article on SQL Server Central
https://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/diy-database-clones

Git Your Database Under Control: a 1 day VCS + CI/CD workshop for your database development

A 'chaotic' database development will encounter numerous difficulties. The shared development server suffers frequent downtime due to 'breaking changes'. Developers are often 'blocked' waiting for other work to complete. There is little visibility into which objects are being changed and why. Deployments are prone to failure and often cause problems on the live server that require immediate troubleshooting.

If any of this sounds familiar, then this session will allow you to introduce the control, stability, and automation that will lead to much more manageable automated and low risk database deployments.

First, we will set up a repository, create and manage branches, introduce pull requests to visualize the review process that merges the changes into main.

Next stop is an effective branching strategy that aligns with development workflows and facilitates efficient collaboration among team members.

With the repository in place attendees will learn how to automate deploying changes to different environments, using a CI/CD pipelines. Hands-on exercises will give participants the opportunity to practice creating a pipeline and deploying database changes to different environments.

This session is designed for (database) developers and DBAs that are not yet using a version control system for their database (20% of the SQLCentral audience) or those who are already using a version control system other than Git (another 20% of the SQLCentral audience) and finally those who use Git and want to learn how to automate the deployment of their database code.

Participants will gain a strong understanding of how to use Git as a version control system, and a clear roadmap for implementing a successful branching strategy that supports collaborative and distributed working. They will also learn how to set up pipelines for applying database changes using Git, PowerShell, and YAML, and will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to implement a pipeline in their own development workflows. This session is a must-attend for anyone who wants to take their database development to the next level and ensure a smooth and efficient development workflow.

How to use AI, in your professional and personal life

Artificial intelligence (AI) has transcended its buzzword status to become an integral part of professional life for many of us, especially in areas such as data analytics, code generation and semantic search. However, if you're not yet directly involved in an AI project, perhaps you feel like you're struggling to making the best use of AI tools or are still skeptical of the quality of what they can deliver.
If so, this session is for you! It will demonstrate how you can get real value from generative AI tools in both your professional and personal lives. We'll provides practical examples of how AI can improve tasks as diverse as eliminating repetitive work, performing code reviews, optimizing work emails, generating concise meeting notes and actions, and even negotiating salaries!
We'll explain techniques to 'tune' your AI input, the so-called prompt, which in turn will greatly increase the quality and reliability of what the AI Large Language Model (LLM) tools produce. We'll demonstrate how to create and refine custom models, which instruct the tool to tailor its output to your personal style, or to a set of requirements. We'll even find time to have a bit of fun with AI, showing you how to bore your spouse and colleagues with impressive AI-generated images!
The development of AI goes at rocket speed and our session is designed to help you keep up, assuming the pace of changes isn't so fast that we've been replaced by AI before the session starts!

Explore practical AI usage from two approachable data guys, learn step-by-step how to optimize prompts for better outcomes, customize models, and enjoy having fun with creative AI outputs.
All with real world examples, which you can use in your daily (work) life.

Database DevOps...CJ/CD: Continuous Journey Continuous Disaster?

Transforming a team that was used to a SVN-based-big-single-repo work style and little to no automation was a bumpy ride.
Join me in this session where I share my experience in implementing Azure DevOps with Git, automated build and release pipelines and disposable personal databases.

In this session I will tell you about my days as team lead and the challenges I faced while introducing:

DevOps:
- The formal DevOps term and process
- Working with sprints (our 4th attempt)

Git:
- Git as version control to SVN / TFVC people
- Using branches instead of only the master
- Adapting a Git branching strategy

Pipelines:
- Adapting a Build & Release Workflow
- Implementing naming conventions for: repos, branches, builds and releases
- The Introduction (and success) of pipelines
- Manual vs Pull Request Release

Dedicated Environments:
- Working with a database IDP (internal development platform)
- With versioned personal databases
- Including stashing databases when priorities change

Migrating an existing team that is stuck in its ways, critical by nature and fed up with deadlines is an interesting journey you don't always hear about.

But in the end...it's a lot of patience, work and yes it's exhausting, but completely worth it.

Take-aways
1. Insights in a real world DevOps migration / transformation
2. Knowledge and experience sharing on the often forgotten DevOps part: the database
3. Beside all the talking: demonstration with tips you can directly make use of

This session is constantly updated and has been presented at PASS 2022, Data Saturday Gothenburg 2023 and SQL Saturday SW Washington / Oregon 2023.

How to achieve DBA approved Entity Framework migrations

Entity Framework Core, code first, makes it easy for developers to work with a database using C# objects and it includes handy automatic generated migrations, but…
DBAs aren't always that happy with these automatic ‘out-of-their-control’ migrations.

We database people want to know what has changed upfront and want to review a migration before it hits any environment. We prefer a more database code engineered approach, with tools like Flyway. Since the development team already chose EF Core code-first and you don't want to repeat the work, it looks like you're stuck with EF Core.

What if, I tell you that these ways of working aren't mutually exclusive?
That we can get these migrations in harmony by converting them, manually or in a pipeline.
So, we can start the database development in EF Core, but reviewing the changes and releasing it into other environments is controlled by the database team with the help of Flyway.

Do you want to know how to have it both ways and experience the benefits like; faster deployment time, increased collaboration between software developers and DBAs and improved overall quality of database deployments?
Please come to my session!

The target audience includes:
- Database Administrators (DBAs) concerned with migration control.
- IT Project Managers and Team Leads overseeing software and database teams
- Software Developers using C# and Entity Framework Core.

Amplify Your Experience: How to Start Writing and Speaking

Our goal in this session is to help you get started with sharing your technical knowledge and experience with others, whether it's by publishing an article, or getting up on stage at a conference, or delivering a training session at work.

Finding the best and most effective way to communicate your ideas is a creative process, and one that not all tech professionals find easy. There is no single, defined path that will get you from a vague idea of what you 'could' write or speak about, to an article or presentation that has 'the magic'. However, in this session we're going to share with you some simple techniques that will help you get started and give you the best chance of success.

We'll show you how to explore your 'vague idea' and turn it into a story with a purpose, and an understanding of its audience, the problems they need to solve most urgently and why. The content will start to take shape and structure and, after that, if you follow a few simple rules of communication, you'll be able to explain even complex technical ideas with purpose and clarity, and in a way that others can easily follow. And this is what mean by "amplify your experience". We will show you how to make sure your audience get the maximum benefit from the ideas, the knowledge and experience that you want to share with them.

Once you start using the techniques, you'll find that not only are you able to write an article or give a presentation that hits its audience, but also to communicate more effectively with team members at work and explain your ideas more clearly more clearly to your managers. You'll learn technical communication skills that are of broader benefit to all IT professionals.

The session aims to inspire and equip attendees to share their technical knowledge through writing, publishing, and speaking. The speakers will provide practical tips on effective writing and speaking, including structuring ideas and refining written work.

Attendees will learn how to leverage their experiences and share their work through online channels and conferences.