SQL Data Partners Podcast

Companeros, all good things must come to an end.  While the details of what is next is uncertain, my time with the podcast is coming to an end.  A quick thank you and a glimpse of what is next.  

In this episode of the SQL Data Partners Podcast, host Carlos L. Chacón is joined by Kevin Feasel and Eugene Meidinger for a deep dive into data governance and security within Microsoft Fabric. As part of Season 8's focus on Fabric, the trio explores how governance tools and practices are evolving with Microsoft's platform, including the use of domains, Purview integration, and the challenges that arise from pricing and tool fragmentation. With their usual banter and insights, the hosts lay out foundational concepts around organizational data governance and highlight some key components Fabric offers out-of-the-box. They also candidly discuss gaps between marketing promises and real-world implementation—especially around documentation and administration. Whether you're building out your governance framework or trying to decipher where Purview fits in, this episode brings clarity and context with plenty of humor along the way. We hope you enjoyed this conversation on data governance and security in Microsoft Fabric. If you have questions or comments, please send them our way. We would love to answer your questions on a future episode. Leave us a comment and some love ❤️on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram. The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 286: Data Governance and Security In Microsoft Fabric. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Fabric personas were originally designed to break down the various functional roles within Microsoft Fabric—such as Power BI, Data Factory, Data Activator, Data Engineering, Data Science, Data Warehouse, and Real-time Analytics—into more manageable, bite-sized sections. The goal was to prevent users from feeling overwhelmed by the platform's breadth. However, this feature has since been discontinued, as it did not effectively communicate the seamless integration between these roles. Still, the underlying concepts can be useful when thinking about how you might approach Fabric from a functional standpoint. Do you like the change on one large white canvas, or did personas have a use for you? Let us know in the comments below. We hope you enjoyed this conversation on personas in Microsoft Fabric. If you have questions or comments, please send them our way. We would love to answer your questions on a future episode. Leave us a comment and some love ❤️on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram. The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 285: Who is Using Microsoft Fabric. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Once you have your data stored in OneLake, you'll be ready to start transforming it to improve it's usability, accuracy, and efficiency.    In this episode of the podcast, Belinda Allen takes us on a delightful journey through Data Flows, Power Query, Azure Data Factory (Pipelines), and discusses the merits of shortcuts. We also learn about a handy way to manually upload a table if you have some static data you need to update.  There are many tools and techniques that can be used for data ingestion and transformations. And while some of these options we discuss will be up to individual preference, there are pros and cons to each. One of the blessings and curses of Fabric is that there are many ways of achieving the same result, so what you choose may depend on the nature of the data you have and your goals, but might also be dictated by personal experience.  We hope you enjoyed this conversation with Belinda on ingesting and transforming data in Microsoft Fabric. If you have questions or comments, please send them our way. We would love to answer your questions on a future episode. Leave us a comment and some love ❤️on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram. The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 284: The Four-Letter Word ETL - Data Movement. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Microsoft Fabric offers two enterprise-scale, open-standard format workloads for data storage: Warehouse and Lakehouse. Which service should you choose? In this episode, we dive into the technical components of OneLake, along with some of the decisions you'll be asked to make as you start to build out your data infrastructure. These are two good articles we mention in the podcast that could help inform your decision on the services to implement in your OneLake. Microsoft Fabric Decision Guide: Choose between Warehouse and Lakehouse - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn Lakehouse vs Data Warehouse vs Real-Time Analytics/KQL Database: Deep Dive into Use Cases, Differences, and Architecture Designs | Microsoft Fabric Blog | Microsoft Fabric We hope you enjoyed this conversation on the nuances of data storage within Microsoft OneLake! If you have questions or comments, please send them our way. We would love to answer your questions on a future episode. Leave us a comment and some love ❤️ on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram. The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 283: Data Lakehouse vs Data Warehouse vs My House. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

In Episode 281, we introduced Microsoft OneLake with a high-level overview. Now we're going deeper with a discussion on the Parquet format, why Microsoft went with the Delta Lake variation, and what Delta Lake format brings to the table (no pun intended). We'll also examine some "behind the scenes" aspects of file management, and why you'll still be using the GUI to create most of your objects. Onelake is Microsoft's solution to the demand for centralizing all data in one location, eliminating the need to transfer it across multiple systems. We expect this to play out further however, when we consider scenarios like data sovereignty, geographical data distribution, separation of subsidiary data, and even departmental budgets that may necessitate multiple instances of OneLake. We round out our OneLake deep dive with a conversation on the Direct Lake Mode option for importing data into Power BI and Eugene shares his perspective on why everyone may not be rushing to jump on the bandwagon just yet. We hope you enjoyed this deep dive into Microsoft OneLake! If you have questions or comments, please send them our way. We would love to answer your questions on a future episode. Leave us a comment and some love ❤️ on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram. The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 282: OneLake - A Deep Dive. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

As you start using Fabric, having a central location for your data is crucial. OneLake acts as this unified destination, offering a single, consolidated repository for all your data. In this podcast episode, we explore the core features of OneLake and its benefits with our guest, Mariano Kovo, and discuss how it efficiently handles large amounts of data from diverse sources. We'll also dive into the importance of how your data is presented to Azure services, focusing on the Delta Parquet format. Did you know you can explore OneLake data directly through Windows Explorer? Microsoft aims to make a single copy of your data accessible across multiple services, eliminating the need for constant data movement. Shortcuts make it easier to access your data seamlessly within the OneLake environment, enhancing efficiency and accessibility. We hope you enjoyed this foundational episode on Microsoft OneLake! If you have questions or comments, please send them our way. We would love to answer your questions on a future episode. Leave us a comment and some love ❤️ on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram. The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 281: OneLake - The OneDrive for Data. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

At the Microsoft Build Conference in May 2023, Microsoft announced the new Fabric, where you could slice and dice all your data harmoniously within the environment. A few months later, Kevin, Eugene, and I discussed this evolution of the Azure Data platform in episode 267, and our thoughts on the vision for it's future, our expectations, and predictions. Now, more than a year later, we decided it's a good time to take an in-depth look at the platform to see what goals have come to fruition, what predictions have come true, and what may have changed. In this introduction to Season 8, we'll get the conversation started. In the next 10 episodes we'll be taking a deep dive into the reality of what Microsoft Fabric is today, navigating through the nuances, complexities, and sheer vastness of the product. We'll break it down into digestible chunks focused on specific aspects such as: One Lake Data Warehouse vs. Lakehouse vs. Eventhouse Data Factory Microsoft Synapse Data Governance and Security Data Activator Power BI and AI Features and much more If you have questions or comments about Microsoft Fabric, please send them our way. We would love to answer your questions on a future episode. Leave us a comment and some love ❤️ on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram. The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 280: A Focus on Microsoft Fabric. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

If you use SQL Server, you will eventually have to migrate that instance somewhere – to a new version, a new server, the cloud . . . somewhere. Or perhaps you'll find yourself migrating from another database into SQL Server. No matter which way you slice it, SQL Server migrations can be daunting, not to mention complex and time-consuming. While we know there are risks and many things that can go wrong, the "new" Microsoft continues to put time and effort towards making successful SQL Server migrations attainable for everyone. In this episode of the podcast, we chat with Tejas Shah and Sudhir Raparla, 2 of the Microsoft Project Managers responsible for SQL Server migration tooling. They share practical perspectives on approaching your SQL migration with confidence and the tools and enhancements that will help. During the conversation, Tejas and Sudhir also take us through the 5 migration steps they want you to consider as you undertake your SQL Server migration process. Even though we've migrated thousands of databases, I had to go back and peek at a couple of the new features the migration tooling team has added. One intriguing addition is the Azure SQL Pricing repository, which is part of the SQL Server Migration assistant and can help with determining costs based on industry standards, deployment recommendations, target sizing, and monthly savings based on your unique scenario. Let us know what you think! What SQL migration features have you come to trust and rely on? Did you get any good takeaways from today's podcast or have some questions? Leave us a comment and some love ❤️ on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram. The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 279: SQL Server Migrations Demystified. Have fun on the SQL Trail!

Can you run SQL Server on Azure VM? Which VM is best? Is running SQL Server on a VM in Azure the right choice? Find out in this insightful episode with Anders Pedersen! With over 10 different SQL Server services now offered in Microsoft Azure, it can be difficult to know how you want to run your environment. Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways for an organization, and running SQL Server on a VM in Azure is the right fit.    In this episode of the SQL Data Partners Podcast, we chat with Anders Pedersen about his experience moving their systems to Azure VMs. We discuss some of the tiering issues, the newest storage tier being rolled out, and how he manages upgrades.    Join us for another informative podcast where a seasoned database administrator shares their experience of managing a SQL Server environment. Did you get any good take-aways from today's podcast or have some questions? Leave us a comment and some love ❤️ on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, or Instagram.  The show notes for today's episode can be found at Episode 278: Running SQL Server on Azure VMs. Have fun on the SQL Trail!