With today’s high-performance CPU and large memory capacities, storage can be the biggest bottleneck for database performance. Flash storage can eliminate the storage bottleneck as well as simplifying SQL Server storage management requirements. In this webcast, Michael Otey, Senior Contributing Editor for IT Pro, will introduce SQL Server 2017 of Linux. You’ll learn about the editions, supported features and architecture that Microsoft used to move SQL Server to Linux. Then Michael discusses some of the ways than you can improve the performance of SQL Server on Linux using Flash storage. Michael compares the different types of flash storage as well as the benefits of moving tempdb and your SQL Server data and log files to flash storage.

In the second part of this webcast Argenis Fernandez, Solution Architect for Pure Storage demonstrated how Pure Storage’s all-flash array provides exceptional performance for SQL Server on Linux with no special modifications or storage configuration requirements. Argenis showed how an older model Pure Storage all-flash array delivered 2.66 GBs of throughput for SQL Server on Linux with no modifications to tempdb, data and log file locations and without following any of Microsoft best practices. Argenis also demonstrated how Pure Storage’s FlashArray’s snapshots, clones, asynchronous replication, and ActiveCluster technologies can improve SQL Server availability.

With today’s high-performance CPU and large memory capacities, storage can be the biggest bottleneck for database performance. Flash storage can eliminate the storage bottleneck as well as simplifying SQL Server storage management requirements. In this webcast, you’ll learn:
• How to leverage flash storage with SQL Server on Linux
• How flash storage can be used for data and log files as well as tempdb
• How Pure Storage’s FlashArray’s snapshots, clones, asynchronous replication, and ActiveCluster technologies can improve SQL Server availability
• How data-at-rest encryption can help secure your sensitive data.

The ability to test your storage systems is important when you are diagnosing performance problems as well as when you are evaluating new server instances and storage solutions. However, testing the performance of your storage subsystems can be difficult, time-consuming and confusing. In this webcast Michael Otey, Senior Contributing Editor for IT Pro, covers some of the main factors that contribute to SQL Server database performance and how storage is often the main system bottleneck. Next, Michael discusses some of the main considerations for using today’s popular storage performance testing, database benchmarking and built-in SQL Server tools to estimate SQL Server database performance.

In the second part of this webcast Argenis Fernandez, Solutions Architect for Pure Storage, dives into an in-depth discussion explaining why most popular storage testing tools cannot accurately test all-flash arrays like Pure Storage’s AllFlash series. Agrenis explains the problems caused by their synthetic pattern-based tests when used with enterprise-grade all-flash arrays that perform data deduplication and compression. Next, Argenis goes on to explain that testing real-world workloads is the best way to validate the true performance of your storage system and how SQL Server-specific tools like Distributed Replay enable you to capture and test your own production workloads.

Are you tasked with performing testing and validation of storage devices and surrounding infrastructure to be used for database workloads? The ability to test your storage can be important when you are diagnosing performance problems as well as when you might be evaluating new storage solutions. However, testing the raw performance of your storage subsystems and the I/O capabilities of your SQL Server databases can be difficult, time consuming and confusing. In this webcast, we will introduce you to all the essential tools you need to be effective at performing storage and database I/O testing and validation. You’ll learn about:

• The pros and cons of synthetic testing
• Storage testing tools like DiskSpd, IOmeter, and CrystalDiskMark
• Database testing tools like VDBench and Database Hammer

The SQL Server-specific tools that enable you to test real workloads like Distributed Replay and RML utilities

Argenis Fernandez is a Principal Data Management Architect for Pure Storage based in the Seattle area. He has worked with SQL Server since 1998 and enjoys working with large SQL Server farms, busy databases, performance troubleshooting, high availability, disaster recovery, best practices, and PowerShell scripting.

Prior to Pure Storage, Argenis worked as a Lead Database Operations Engineer at SurveyMonkey, and Senior Consultant on SQL Server Core for Microsoft Consulting Services. In 2013 he founded the Security Virtual Chapter for the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) (http://security.sqlpass.org). He also handled the SQLSaturday portfolio for PASS as part of its Board of Directors for the calendar year 2016.

Argenis is a SQL community enthusiast and speaks frequently at major SQL Server conferences, including the PASS Summit, PASS SQL Rally, IT/Dev Connections, SQLBits, and TechEd. He is also a Microsoft Certified Master on SQL Server, an avid Twitter user (you can follow him at @DBArgenis), and occasional blogger on SQL Server topics at SQLBlog.com. He also blogs on more storage related topics at https://blogs.purestorage.com/blogs/Argenis.

Michael Otey, senior contributing editor for Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Pro, is president of TECA, a software-development and consulting company in Portland, Oregon. Michael has covered the topic of virtualization extensively for Windows IT Pro, having written several features articles showing how to take advantage of virtualization in the enterprise as well as reviewing all of the major virtualization products. He also previously served as technical director for Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Pro.

Rob Barker (we all know him affectionately as “Barkz”) in a Solutions Architect and has created the foundation knowledgebase for implementing Microsoft server technologies on Pure Storage. Those core items include best practices, reference architectures, management tasks, automation scripts and examples for application extensibility. With more than 20 years of experience with Microsoft solutions, Barkz has helped customers with architecture, user design, development, test, release and administration. He has experience in Windows PowerShell, Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server (Admin & Development), Microsoft SharePoint Server (Admin & Development), Microsoft Hyper-V, Visual Studio, C# and our REST API. Barkz leads Pure Storage’s efforts around DevOps and our Developer Initiatives.

Almost every type of organization has, at this point, deployed some level of virtualization. With today’s requirements around digital transformations, cloud, and virtualization, organizations are constantly looking for new ways to optimize their data centers and improve application and services delivery. Very recently, Microsoft has released new updates to their Hyper-V and System Center management framework. These benefits include deeper integration with cloud, underlying virtualization systems, and how this all integrates with the underlying data center. At the center of all of this sits your storage.

However, a big challenge for many organizations is still optimizing virtualization on top of their storage ecosystem. Furthermore, many organizations are missing out on big benefits when they integrate advanced management solutions, like Microsoft System Center, with storage systems like Pure.

In this webinar, we’ll learn about the big changes and updates to Hyper-V and System Center 2016. Furthermore, we’ll learn about the importance of your storage platform and the evolution storage has experienced. Specifically, we’ll cover how to manage System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) and Hyper-V with Pure Storage FlashArray using the new SMI-S Provider. We’ll discuss:

• Growth and importance of virtualization system
• The need to manage server, storage, and virtualization systems differently in a digital world
• Best practices to tie in virtualization, management, storage

How to effectively manage SCVMM, Hyper-V and the new Pure FlashArray platform

A big initiative for many organizations has been to reduce fragmentation and complexity within their data center. In fact, your inability to manage the extensibility of your infrastructure can seriously hinder any digital initiatives your organization might have. This is a big reason why so many IT environments turn to the power of Powershell, great REST APIs, and other tools to truly integrate their data center ecosystem. Remember, at the core of your data center sits your storage platform: the environment which helps house, manage, and distribute your most valuable data assets. The organizations that can leverage the power of their storage platform get value from their data the fastest.

However, it doesn’t stop there. Leveraging data is one thing. Integrating advanced storage and digital solutions means taking your platform to a new level… Coupled closely with the ability to make your environment more extensible, you can also enable greater levels of automation. Being able to do things like single-click provisioning, controlling data repositories, and optimizing the delivery of application data isn’t just something to improve data center operation. These benefits also help your business become a lot more competitive.

This webinar will demonstrate how you can leverage various toolkits, integrations, and strategies to enable greater amounts of extensibility and automation. Specifically, we’ll cover:

• Key trends around automation and your data center
• The power of integration and the API
• Best practices around data center, storage, and application integration
• How to leverage Pure Storage PowerShell SDK, PowerShell Toolkit, Integrations, and REST APIs
• Working with open integrations to enable support for programmatic interfaces and extensibility

How advanced toolkits will help drive automation