First published on MSDN on Nov 10, 2006
Back in 2003, Ken Henderson approached me about speaking at PASS in Seattle. I readily accepted to speak on SQL Server troubleshooting. Ken and I came up with an additional idea rather than just presentations. Why not setup some computers in a lab environment and actually show customers how to troubleshoot problems? Ken coined the term PSS Service Center. We created a series of hands-on, self-paced labs where customers would learn how to use the tools and methods we use to troubleshooting problems in the areas performance, blocking, memory, and debugging. We also staffed the lab with PSS engineers so attendees could interactively discuss these troubleshooting techniques. It turned out to be a pretty big success. We have done it every year since then.
This year will be no exception. We will have more people and more labs than in past conferences. Vishal Anand and Kun Cheng, our lead lab proctors, have created labs for troubleshooting in the following areas:
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Storage Engine
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Engine Performance
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SQL Server Setup
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Security
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Engine Memory
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Linked Servers
I've been told already that the room dedicated for this year's service center is
619
. Our current plans for the Service Center hours will be:
Wed 11/15: After General Session – 7pm
Thurs 11/16: After General Session – 7pm
Fri 11/17 After General Session – 5pm
Please find some time to come by and try out these labs. Or just come by to meet some of the PSS team. You might just be able to sway one of them to help you solve one of those nagging problems you have at your company. I'm pretty sure I spotted Bart Duncan last year with a debugger running on his laptop helping a customer.
We look forward to meeting many of you at this year's PASS conference.
Bob Ward
