Navigating the Tsunami, Reshaping the Data Industry
August 18 | Register Now! For August 2026, host Andrew Miller invites Andy Yun to Coffee Break. As a DBA himself with a long career in the data + database field, Andy now talks to Everpure customers (or sometimes “future customers”) every day about data and database challenges and solutions. We’ll wander through: Andy’s history with key mentoring lessons (both those he has learned and has helped others with), the value of soft skills in a deeply technical role, and why a solution architect works at Everpure. Database & DBA landscape - simultaneously keeping up “business as usual” while adapting to the AI tsunami that’s here whether we like it or not. Andy’s top DBA & database tips on Everpure from chatting with DBAs and customers every day. What’s new in the data landscape at Everpure - everything from an Oracle 26ai readiness assessment, to mind-blowing SQL backup throughput numbers, to how recent Everpure acquisitions impact you. Register Now!
The Future of Intelligent Data Platforms: AI-Powered Search in SQL Server 2025
July 23 | Register Now! Semantic search allows applications to find relevant information based on meaning, rather than exact words. In this session, we'll look at how SQL Server 2025 implements this technology using native vector support and demonstrate how it can be used to build intelligent search experiences. You’ll see practical examples for generating, storing, and querying vectors, plus guidance on evaluation and performance trade-offs. Attendees will leave with an actionable plan to pilot semantic search and measure impact in their environment. Here is what to expect: Understand how vector search differs from keyword search Generate and store embeddings in a repeatable workflow Perform semantic searches using SQL Server's vector capabilities Evaluate performance impacts of vector indexes Register Now!
SQL Server on Kubernetes - Faster, Safer Database Operations
April 16 | Register Now! Running SQL Server in containers can speed up provisioning and customization. But standalone containers lack the high availability and data services that enterprises require, making Kubernetes essential for resilient environments. Portworx® by Everpure extends Kubernetes with enterprise-grade data services—such as volume cloning—to reliably run stateful workloads like SQL Server and simplify database lifecycle management. In this session, we’ll demonstrate how to modernize SQL Server while improving resilience, flexibility, and operational efficiency. Key Takeaways How to deploy and operate SQL Server on Kubernetes with built‑in resilience and scalability How to migrate SQL Server from Windows-based environments and explore KubeVirt as an additional deployment option How Portworx data services simplify SQL Server database management, testing, and recovery Register NowTaking Snapshots of Databases on VMFS Datastores
Hey friends - hopefully you all are taking advantage of our snapshots for copy data management? Well, those of you who use VMDKs know that there's an extra headache thanks to the VMFS datastore layer. Fortunately, I've just published some new examples in our Github repository and have written up a solution overview on my blog! Check it out! https://sqlbek.wordpress.com/2026/01/08/taking-snapshots-of-databases-on-vmfs-datastores/ Github: Refresh VMFS VMDK(s) with Snapshot Point in Time Recovery – VMFSPure Report Podcast: Databases!!!
Catch up with Anthony Nocentino on the latest episode of the Pure Report podcast where we dive into trends in database operations and the impact of AI on DBA roles - plus how new Pure platform announcements and Fusion drive better efficiency and performance for SQL Server and Oracle. Anthony tackles the pressing challenges faced by database environments today, including fragmented storage infrastructure, manual provisioning, and the complexities of compliance, disaster recovery, and hybrid cloud strategies. He sheds light on how these issues contribute to real-world burnout among DBAs and infra team members. The discussion will also cover the evolving roles of these professionals as they increasingly become platform performance engineers, cloud strategists, and data ops troubleshooters in a world of multiple database engines and unpredictable resource needs driven by AI workloads.
Accelerate Breakout Replay: What’s New in SQL Server 2025: AI, Performance, and Pure Storage Optimization
Explore SQL Server 2025’s AI, vector search, REST support, and see how Pure Storage boosts performance for modern database workloads. Speaker: Anthony Nocentino https://www.purestorage.com/video/webinars/whats-new-in-sql-server-2025/6375342106112.htmlDatabase Performance Unleashed: Where AI and Enterprise Meet
August 12 | Register Now! 11:00AM PT • 2:00PM ET This month, host Andrew Miller invites SQL DBA and Microsoft MVP Anthony Nocentino (Senior Principal Field Solutions Architect at Pure Storage) to the virtual breakroom for the third time. We’ll cover: The AI Shift into enterprise databases - Something many didn’t expect but makes sense once you dig into the reasons RAG architectures and relational databases - Exploring AI-ready, secure, and high-performance features Vector indexing in SQL Server 2025 and Oracle 23 AI - Real world reasons to use SQL Server (for instance) as a Vector Datastore FlashArray™ performance testing and data - So much performance for all workloads and especially databases. We’ll also share the results of recent performance testing from Pure Storage and its newest, fastest ever FlashArray - FlashArray//XL™ 170 R5 As always, we’ll keep it educational while exploring how Pure Storage offers capabilities and products that benefit you. The team will stay on after the webinar to answer any questions. LIVE RAFFLE: One lucky attendee will win a Coffee Lover Set (approx. value $132.16). See Terms and Conditions.Accelerate Breakout Replay: Accelerate Enterprise AI with Your SQL and Oracle Operational Databases
Demystify AI for storage pros: explore RAG, embeddings, and vector indexing in SQL Server 2025 and Oracle 23ai. Speakers: Anthony Nocentino & Ryan Arsenault https://www.purestorage.com/video/webinars/accelerate-enterprise-ai-sql-oracle/6375340112112.html
Using FlashArray Volume Snapshots with Microsoft SQL Server
FlashArray volume snapshots are an amazing tool for any DBA/DBRE managing SQL Server. You can use them to: Instantly recover from user errors or ransomware attacks Create rapid dev/test copies without full restores Offload CHECKDB to another host to avoid production performance hits Refresh reporting environments on demand Seed Always On availability groups faster, without large full backups Enable point-in-time recovery when paired with SQL log backups And the best part? Snapshots on FlashArray are: Immutable Space-efficient Fast to create and restore Fully automatable through the REST API or SDK tools! I worked very closely with our SQL Server field super stars (Anthony Nocentino, Andrew Pruski and Andrew Yun) on a white paper going VERY deep into the architecture and how to. It includes everything from crash- vs. application-consistent snapshots, to step-by-step restore and cloning procedures, to using SQL Server 2022’s new T-SQL snapshot backup. Did we miss anything ? Let us know!New Reference Architecture: SQL Server on Azure VM's with Pure Cloud Block Store
This is a brand new, weeks-old reference architecture — and I’m really excited about this one. During development, one of the most surprising discoveries was just how much Azure VM performance is limited by the IOPS cap tied to managed disks. It caught me off guard how much planning it takes just to size storage and compute together when you go the native route. With CBS, I was able to bypass those constraints. It felt more like working with enterprise storage (which is what its meant to do!) , I could pull from a pool, scale performance independently of VM size, and provision storage volumes in a clean and easy way. This new RA covers: SQL Server architecture on Azure VMs with Pure Cloud Block Store Snapshot-based backup and restore DR patterns using ActiveDR™ and HA using ActiveCluster™ Dev/test database cloning with volume snapshots Performance benchmarking vs. Azure Premium SSD v2 It prooved: ~40% more transactional throughput (TPROC-C) ~93% better analytical query performance (TPROC-H) (using queries per minute normalization) 3–5x data reduction vs. raw data Download the full reference architecture here Would love to hear your thoughts on this architecture and how we could improve the expirience!
