Here’s a run down of the Linux training that I have available on Pluralsight!

Just getting started!

Understanding and Using Essential Tools for Enterprise Linux 7 – If you heard what Linux is and want to get started this is the place to be. We’ll cover installation, command line basics, the file system, text editors and more! This is my most popular course.

SQL Server on Linux Administration Fundamentals – SQL Server is available for Linux and Docker! This course is targeted towards both the SQL Server DBA and the Linux professional to get you started using SQL Server on Linux. We cover architecture, administration basics, Tools and backup and recovery!

In this blog post we’re going to revisit how SQL Server on Linux responds to external memory pressure. This is a very long post, and it ends with me not knowing exactly what’s going on…but the journey is pretty fun…let’s go!

On Windows-based SQL Server systems we’ve become accustomed to the OS signaling to SQL Server that there’s a memory shortage. When signaled, SQL Server will kindly start shrinking it’s memory caches, including the buffer pool, to maintain overall system stability and usability. Well that story is a little different in SQL Server on Linux…last year I wrote a similar post for SQL Server 2017 RTM and how it reacted to external memory pressure, check that out here! That was quite a dramatic story, you can literally cause SQL Serve to swap nearly its entire process address space out to disk! Now, let’s look and see how SQL Server on Linux responds to external memory pressure in SQL Server 2019 CTP2.

In this blog post, I’ll show you how to install Minikube on CentOS. Minikube is a platform you can use to test kubernetes clusters on your local machine or in a virtual machine.

Let’s start off with a fresh Install of CentoOS 7 on a virtual machine using a minimal install. If you need some help getting a Linux VM us, check out my Pluralsight course here to help you with that. You will want to ensure this virtual machine has the resource you want to run the container/pods scenarios you’d like to worth with. My configuration is dual vCPU with 10GB of RAM.

The Opportunity

Earlier this year I received an email from Jonathan Gennick, an editor at Apress books. The subject of the email was “Tech edit a book” and he asked if I was familiar with SQL Server on Linux. I excitedly replied “yes…I think I’m your guy for this”. In 2017, I had the opportunity to tech edit another book on SQL Server on Linux and had to back out of that project and this was a fantastic second chance to still be able to work on a topic I really want to participate in and help move forward. I replied to Jonathan and asked who the author is…he replied…the author is Bob Ward.

My new course “Provisioning Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines” in now available on Pluralsight here! If you want to learn about the course, check out the trailer here or if you want to dive right in check it out here! This course offers practical tips from my experiences building Azure Virtual Machines for Centino Systems clients.

This course targets IT professionals that design and maintain Azure IaaS based solutions.The course can be used by both the IT pro learning new skills and the senior system administrator preparing for using IaaS Virtual Machine services in Microsoft Azure

Speaking at SQLSaturday Cambridge!

  I’m proud to announce that I will be speaking at <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/748/EventHome.aspx">SQL Saturday Cambridge</a> on September 8th 2018! And wow, 748 SQL Saturdays! This one won’t let you down. <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/748/Sessions/Schedule.aspx">Check out the amazing schedule</a> of International Experts and Microsoft MVPs!

  If you don’t know what SQLSaturday is, it’s a whole day of free SQL Server training available to you at no cost!

  If you haven’t been to a SQLSaturday, what are you waiting for! <a href="https://www.sqlsaturday.com/748/registernow.aspx">Sign up now</a>!

  <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/748/EventHome.aspx"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/images/sqlsat748_header.png" alt="SQLSaturday #748 - Cambridge 2018" /></a>

  **This year I have TWO sessions!**

  **1. **<a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/748/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78607">**Monitoring Linux Performance for the SQL Server Admin**</a>

<blockquote>

    So you’re a SQL Server administrator and you just installed SQL Server on Linux. It’s a whole new world. Don’t fear, it’s just an operating system. It has all the same components Windows has and in this session we’ll show you that. We will look at the Linux operating system architecture and show you where to look for the performance data you’re used to! Further we'll dive into SQLPAL and how it architecture and internals enables high performance for your SQL Server. By the end of this session you’ll be ready to go back to the office and have a solid understanding of performance monitoring Linux systems and SQL on Linux. We’ll look at the core system components of CPU, Disk, and Memory and monitoring techniques for each.

</blockquote>

  **2. **<a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/757/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78317">**Containers – You Better Get on Board**</a>

<blockquote>

    Containers are taking over, changing the way systems are developed and deployed…and that’s NOT hyperbole. Just imagine if you could deploy SQL Server or even your whole application stack in just minutes. You can do that, leveraging containers! In this session, we’ll get your started on your container journey learning container fundamentals in Docker, then look at some common container scenarios and introduce deployment automation with Kubernetes. In this session we’ll look at Container Fundamentals with Docker Common Container Scenarios Automation with Kubernetes.

</blockquote>

Thanks to everyone who attended the PASS Marathon Containers edition and to PASS for the opportunity to present. I received the Questions from the session and wanted to provide answers to the attendees and the community.

If you want to see the session again, check it out on YouTube. The decks are available online at http://www.centinosystems.com/blog/talks/

Here’s the list of questions from the session and my answers.

• What do you mean it is not for production environment in Windows?

Speaking at SQLSaturday Sacramento!

  I’m proud to announce that I will be speaking at <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/757/eventhome.aspx">SQL Saturday Sacramento</a> on July 28th 2018! And wow, 757 SQL Saturdays! This one won’t let you down. <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/757/Sessions/Schedule.aspx">Check out the amazing schedule</a>!

  If you don’t know what SQLSaturday is, it’s a whole day of free SQL Server training available to you at no cost!

  If you haven’t been to a SQLSaturday, what are you waiting for! <a href="https://www.sqlsaturday.com/757/registernow.aspx">Sign up now</a>!

  <a href="https://www.sqlsaturday.com/757/registernow.aspx"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/images/sqlsat757_header.png" alt="SQLSaturday #757 - Sacramento 2018" /></a>

  **This year I have TWO sessions!**

  **1. **<a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/757/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78312">**Monitoring Linux Performance for the SQL Server Admin**</a>

<blockquote>

    So you’re a SQL Server administrator and you just installed SQL Server on Linux. It’s a whole new world. Don’t fear, it’s just an operating system. It has all the same components Windows has and in this session we’ll show you that. We will look at the Linux operating system architecture and show you where to look for the performance data you’re used to! Further we'll dive into SQLPAL and how it architecture and internals enables high performance for your SQL Server. By the end of this session you’ll be ready to go back to the office and have a solid understanding of performance monitoring Linux systems and SQL on Linux. We’ll look at the core system components of CPU, Disk, Memory and Networking monitoring techniques for each and look some of the new tools available.

</blockquote>

  **2. **<a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/757/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=78317">**Containers – You Better Get on Board**</a>

<blockquote>

    Containers are taking over, changing the way systems are developed and deployed…and that’s NOT hyperbole. Just imagine if you could deploy SQL Server or even your whole application stack in just minutes. You can do that, leveraging containers! In this session, we’ll get your started on your container journey learning container fundamentals in Docker, then look at some common container scenarios and introduce deployment automation with Kubernetes. In this session we’ll look at Container Fundamentals with Docker Common, Container Scenarios and Orchestration with Kubernetes

</blockquote>

Today, I’m proud to announce that I have been renewed as an Microsoft MVP – Data Platform for the 2018-2019 award year, my second MVP award. This is an truly an honor and I’m humbled to be included in this group of exceptional data professionals. I really look forward to continuing to work with everyone in the MVP community and continuing to contribute to our unmatched SQL Community!

****

I’m proud to announce the completion of my first Pluralsight Learning Path. This learning path is built to advance your Linux knowledge to the system administrator or system engineer level. In this series of courses you’ll learn the theory behind how things work and also practice demonstrations and tips to really nail home the things you need to know to run production Linux systems.

The learning objectives of this series align with the Linux Foundation Certified Engineer (LFCE) certification “Domains and Competencies” however these courses will be very valuable to your development as a Linux professional even if you’re not interested in certification.