Enzee Universe 2010 attendees can sign up to participate in a pre-conference Best Practices forum led by David Birmingham - author of the Netezza Underground book and Gather 'round the Grill blog, and Senior Principal Consultant at Brightlight Consulting.

During this half-day session from 8:30am to 2:30pm EST on Monday, June 21, 2010, David will share insights and best practices on the topics outlined below and then open each for discussion and QA.

Space is limited, so be sure to sign up for the Pre-conference Best Practices session when you register for Enzee Universe.

Topics for discussion will include:

• Migrating an Existing Data Warehouse to Netezza
• Super-charged Data Models
• Holistic Performance Planning
• Flexible Hierarchies, Dynamic Alignment, Snapshot Fact Views
• How-to Examples
• MViews, Views, and Aggregations
• ELT How-to's
• Recovery
• Data Intake and Staging Strategies
• Schema Switching, Replica Tables
• Data Management, Horizontal and Vertical Partitioning, High-traffic Denormalization

Register today to hold your spot.

Just when I was beginning to think Netezza's competitors were creeping in, those clever guys over at Netezza come out with a new data warehouse appliance named after a surfboard. Totally radical . I'm sure most people have asked at least one of these questions upon hearing the news:

1. Is TwinFin faster than NPS?
2. Is it cheaper?
3. What is different architecturally?
4. How much data can you cram into a TwinFin?
5. Where the heck did the "TwinFin" name come from?
6. Is this new appliance readily available to be shipped?
7. Is anyone using it yet?
   
8. When can I check it out for myself?
   

I decided to embark on a mission to answer these questions. And with the flurry of information that has gone out this week about the product, it actually wasn't very difficult to find the answers. So I figured I'd share...

1. Yes, TwinFin is faster than NPS. According to Curt Monash's blog, TwinFin delivers an immediate increase in price-performance, based on a 3X cut in price/terabyte and a 3-5X improvement in mixed workload performance.
2. Again, yes, TwinFin is cheaper. Several media outlets have reported that TwinFin offers a reduced price point of $20K per TB of user data, including:
3. • ZDNet article by Larry Dignan: Netezza launches new data warehouse appliance family
   • Xconomy Boston article by Wade Roush: Netezza Pursues Broader Customer Base with Cheaper Data Storage Technology
   • Intelligent Enterprise article by Curt Monash: Netezza Is Changing its Hardware Architecture, Slashing Prices
   • ComputerWorld article by Eric Lai: Netezza to launch faster, cheaper data-warehousing appliance
4. Rather than attempt to explain the architecture of TwinFin myself, you're better off going directly to the source: Phil Francisco (Netezza's VP of Product Management & Product Marketing)'s blog
5. While it sounds like there will be several different variations of Netezza's new appliances, the TwinFin will scale into the petabytes according to this morning's Netezza press release.
6. One of Phil Francisco's blogs hints at this, but I've also heard a rumor that Tim Young will soon divulge the full meaning of "TwinFin" in his next Enzee Frenzy article.
7. According to the press release, the TwinFin appliance is available immediately, and Netezza already has systems in production with customers.
8. Yep. See answer to #6. Plus, word on the street is that customers already using TwinFin will be at Enzee Universe to talk about their experiences.
9. The TwinFin appliance will be on site at every Enzee Universe destination. I'm really excited to check it out - and you should be too! (Register today if you haven't already - registration is free for existing and prospective Netezza users.)

There are two other resources you should check out for more info on Netezza's latest and greatest product - especially if you're too lazy to read! The first is a "hip" new video that is presently posted to Netezza's home page. The second is a podcast where Phil Francisco shares his insight into the new product.

Enjoy - and I hope to see you all at Universe!

- Brian