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Objective
This workshop covers all the concepts of Fast Track Data Warehouse. SQL Server Fast Track Data Warehouse accelerates your data warehouse roadmap with new SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise scalable reference architectures for HP, Dell, Bull, EMC and IBM. Reduce costs, save time and reduce risk with reliable reference architectures and best practices for warehousing. This hands-on workshop contains labs which gives complete experience of the performance of the high performance hardware. Fast Track Data Warehouse is scalable from 4 terabytes to 48 terabytes.
Description
This 2 day course explains the crucial concepts of the validation, configurations, database setup, loading data and maintaining the Fast Track Data Warehouse. Instead of learning theory only, the workshop focuses on providing real world experience by using demos and scenarios derived from customer engagements. The workshop is uniquely structured. Sessions are discussion based and designed to be an interactive between instructor and participants for an optimal learning experience.
The workshop is intended to be immersion-based where participants will have plenty of opportunities to get deeply involved in the concepts presented by the instructor. All of learning session is followed up with Hands-On Lab (HOL). Each Hands-On Lab is carefully crafted to give maximum exposure to the subject discussed in session. After doing Hands-On Lab the learning concept will be strengthen and understood. This way attendee can be productive and ready to excel the tasks at work based on the learning experience from the workshop.
The last hour of the workshop is kept reserve to solve attendees’ real world problems and pressing issues at work. We will sit together and try to resolve them. If the subject is interesting to other attendees then we will also discuss generically. We will get our hands dirty with code and will do our best to reach to the solution.
Target audience
This seminar is intended for following audiences:
- Fast Track Data Warehouse Service Providers
- SQL Server Administrators of Fast Track Data Warehouse
- Developers responsible for Fast Track Data Warehouse
Agenda
Day 1:
Module 1: Overview of Fast Track DW
This module sets the expectations of the 2 day training and explains the definition of the Fast Track Data Warehouse (FTDW). The approach taken by fast track is extremely balanced. The architecture is balanced among performance, cost, and capability of the hardware resources. This module will cover FT scope and terminology useful for rest of the course.
Module 2: Setting up the Infrastructure
This module covers various architecture of FT component. There are minimum requirements of hardware for the Fast Track Reference Architecture. Various components are discussed in depth keeping performance in focus. This module ends with three videos related to setting up the infrastructure.
Video 1: Video: Walk Through Dell & HP RA
Video 2: Video: Initializing Storage and implementing RAID
Video 3: Creating and Assigning LUNs
Module 3: Validating the Infrastructure
This module covers various aspect of validating different components of the Fast Track. System validation and System Benchmarking are the key component of any infrastructure. Maximum Consumption Rate (MCR) and Benchmark Consumption Rate (BCR) are explained in this module. Understanding the difference between MCR and BCR is the key lesson for remaining of the training.
Lab 3: Validate storage with SQLIO
Module 4: Configuring the installation
This module explains system benchmarked at more depth. Settings which can improve MCR and BCR are covered in this session. Just like any database TempDB is key database in Fast Track Reference Architecture (FTRA). Configuring TempDB along with other database file is the key learning from this course. This module is first mentions the concept of the staging which is further explored in the future modules.
Lab 4A: Implement the SQL Server trace flags
Lab 4B: Altering the Tempdb database
Lab 4C: Validating the installation
Day 2 :
Module 5: Setting up the production database
This module looks at the concepts of the relational database from the view of the Fast Track Data Warehouse. Index has been always crucial concept of the FTDW as well. Heap, Clustered Index and Non Clustered indexes are discussed keeping the FTDW in mind. FTDW is about large data and table partition and compressions are also very important aspect of its architecture.
Lab 5A: Creating the Production Database
Lab 5B: Validating the installation
Module 6: Loading the data
This module discusses the importance of loading the data in FTDW. Sequential Load is the key concept of the FTDW. This module covers the various layouts, methods, FT Data Striping and Data Loading. This Module starts completing the concept started from the Module 2. Understanding SQL Server Extends and its allocation is the key to load data sequentially and uniformly.
Lab 6A: Loading data using a staging database
Lab 6B: Loading data without using a staging database
Module 7: Using the Database
This module covers the extremely important concept of Storage Pre-Fetch and SQL Server Read-Ahead. In FTDW contiguous page an extent allocations are extremely important. Fragmentations affects negatively to the performance. Storage Pre-Fetch and SQL Server Read-Ahead can effectively improve the performance of the FTDW and help read the data contiguously.
Lab 7: Executing scan-centric queries
Module 8: Loading Incremental data
This module takes the concepts covered in the Module 6 and Module 7 to next level by introducing the concept of loading the data incrementally. Additionally, it observes the effect of incremental data on heap, clustered index and non-clustered index.
Lab 8: Loading incremental data
Module 9: Maintaining the data
This module talks about managing the large amount of the data in the database. In FTDW loading the data is not good enough but storing it efficiently and retrieving at enormous speed is the ultimate goal. This module precisely covers the same concepts and discusses various methodologies for the same. This final module wraps up whole concept of the Fast Track Data Warehouse with single line definition of “Balanced Architecture”.
Lab 9: Database Maintenance