SQLBits 2020

Baking Extended Events recipes without breaking a sweat

In this demo intensive session I will show you how to tackle the most challenging tasks with Extended Events without writing a single line of code.

OK, you got the message: Extended Events is the way to monitor SQL Server from now on. However, you feel overwhelmed by XML shredding and the simplest of tasks seems impossible.

Fear not: in this demo intensive session I will show you how to tackle the most challenging tasks without writing a single line of code. I will use the open-source tool XESmartTarget to audit logins, find unused objects, capture and notify deadlocks and much more.

Stop doing things the hard way! Join me and learn how XESmartTarget can do all the heavy lifting for you.

01:55 - introduction to extended events
07:11 - introducing XESmartTarget
10:32 - demos
11:39 - recipe 1: writing event data to a CSV file
20:13 - recipe 2: writing event data to a database table
25:25 - recipe 3: merging event columns before writing to a table
28:45 - recipe 4: capturing blocking and deadlocking and notifying by email
34:25 - recipe 5: capturing blocking and kill sleeping SPIDs
38:36 - recipe 6: auditing logins
42:26 - recipe 7: auditing unused objects
45:42 - recipe 8: workload analysis
49:16 - recipe 9: writing event data to InfluxDB

Gianluca Sartori's other proposed sessions for 2026

Babelfish: The SQL Server Killer? - 2026

Questioning My SQL Server Faith… So You Don’t Have To - 2026

Gianluca Sartori's previous sessions

Time Series with SQL Server 2022

SQL Server 2022 introduces new time series capabilities, that will allow us to to work with time series data in the same database that we use for all the rest of the data. Join me to see what SQL Server 2022 brings to the table for time series data, how to use the new features and what are the opportunities and the limitations.

3 things you don’t want to store in a database (but sometimes have to)

Some types of data are a very bad fit for a database. Join me to see how to survive with a database full of data that should not be stored there. I will demonstrate how to deal with billions of rows of logs without trashing the database, how to store millions of pictures effectively and how to deal with dynamic attributes in a sensible way.

Using WorkloadTools to analyze your workload

In this session I will show you how to use WorkloadTools to connect to a SQL Server database, on-premises or in the cloud, and analyze all the queries that are run against it.

Baking Extended Events recipes without breaking a sweat

In this demo intensive session I will show you how to tackle the most challenging tasks with Extended Events without writing a single line of code.

Benchmarking in the Cloud

Join me in this session and learn how to capture a production workload, replay it to your cloud database and compare the performance. I will introduce you to the methodology and the tools to bring your database to the cloud without breaking a sweat.

SQL Server Infernals - A Beginner’s Guide to Worst Practices

When you're in a rush, following best practices is a luxury you may not be able to afford. What about just avoiding worst practices instead? Join me for this session and learn from my mistakes!

Simplifying XEvents Management with dbatools

Bye #TeamProfiler and hi #TeamXEvents with the power of dbatools