22-25 April 2026 
SQLBits 2018
An introduction to SQL Server for data scientists
A little bit of knowledge about how SQL Server works can go a long way towards making large data engineering queries run faster.
A little bit of knowledge about how SQL Server works can go a long way towards making large data engineering queries run faster. Whether you use SQL Server as a data source or as a R or Python query processing platform, knowing how it processes queries, manages memory and reads from disk is key to making it work harder and faster.
This session introduces and demonstrates how SQL Server:
It then introduces some query tuning techniques to help heavyweight analytics queries run faster.
The session uses Gavin Payne’s 20 years’ experience of working with SQL Server – mostly making it run faster, stay secure and remain available.
This session introduces and demonstrates how SQL Server:
- operates internally
- performs select queries
- uses indexes to make queries run faster
- executes machine learning code to make operational predictions
It then introduces some query tuning techniques to help heavyweight analytics queries run faster.
The session uses Gavin Payne’s 20 years’ experience of working with SQL Server – mostly making it run faster, stay secure and remain available.
Speakers
Gavin Payne's previous sessions
An introduction to SQL Server for data scientists
A little bit of knowledge about how SQL Server works can go a long way towards making large data engineering queries run faster.
Designing quality SQL Server 2014 solutions
This session shows how you can use SQL Server 2014’s features to meet your solution’s non-functional requirements and ensure operational success.
The NUMA internals of SQL Server 2012
This session reviews the purpose of NUMA, how it changes the internal behaviours of Windows and SQL Server 2012 and NUMA related performance monitoring.
Through the virtual looking glass - monitoring virtualised SQL
Virtualisation changes the way you need to monitor the performance of a virtualised instance of SQL Server. In this session I will demonstrate a balanced and well-rounded approach to performance monitoring in the virtual world along with best practices to avoid poor virtualised performance.
Oracle for SQL Server DBAs
If you’ve only ever chosen to use Microsoft database products then there’s a chance you might hide a curiosity deep down about the Oracle database platform; or like me a few years ago be told that your next big production system will use it and now’s the time to upskill. This session introduces some key concepts and differences about the Oracle database platform to people like myself who are used to the UI-heavy Windows-based database world and hopefully make you curious enough to want to at least give it a try when you get back home.