Azure Synapse MVP Corner - January 2023
About this blog series
Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, or MVPs, are technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with the community. They are always on the "bleeding edge" and have an unstoppable urge to get their hands on new, exciting technologies. They have very deep knowledge of Microsoft products and services, while also being able to bring together diverse platforms, products and solutions, to solve real world problems. To learn about the Microsoft MVP Award and to find MVPs visit the official website: https://mvp.microsoft.com/.
The Azure Synapse Analytics team presents you with a blog series "Azure Synapse MVP Corner" to highlight selected content created by MVPs.
This month's MVP content
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Shabnam Watson (Twitter: @shbWatson)
Description: In this post, Shabnam demonstrates how to set up incremental refresh in Power BI based on a numeric column such as Year when working with Delta/Parquet files using Azure Synapse Analytics serverless SQL pool. This will make sure Power BI refreshes go faster and cost less on the Azure Synapse side because of partition pruning. You can also watch Shabnam demoing Power BI Incremental Refresh with Synapse serverless SQL pool in the latest episode of the MVP Video Series. 
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Erwin de Kreuk (Twitter: @erwindekreuk)
Article: Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics Naming Conventions Description: More and more projects are using Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics, the more important it is to apply a correct and standard naming convention. When using standard naming conventions you create recognizable results across different projects, but you also create clarity for your colleagues. This post has been updated on Feb 2nd, 2023 with the latest connectors. 
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Shabnam Watson (Twitter: @shbWatson)
Description: This is an introductory blog post to Azure Synapse Analytics that shows readers how easy it is to provision a workspace and query sample data using Serverless SQL Pool. 
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Andy Cutler (Twitter: @MrAndyCutler)
Video: Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse video series. Description: This 3 part video series (parts 2 and 3 published in January 2023) include setting up Synapse Link, exploring advanced configuration options, and using the snapshot tables to reduce chances of locking whilst reading data. 
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Andy Cutler (Twitter: @MrAndyCutler)
Blog post: Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse: Understanding Advanced Configuration Settings Description: In this blog we'll be looking at how to use the advanced configuration settings within Synapse Link for Dataverse to configure the partition schema and also configure the Append Only feature, which is useful for historical data tracking in Dataverse/Dynamics 365 data. 
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Adrian Chodkowski (Twitter: @Adrian_SQL)
Blog post: Pyspark – cheatsheet with comparison to SQL Description: Cheatsheet that shows how to write pyspark scripts with comparison to SQL statements. It should help to learn Pyspark to SQL developers. 
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Blog post: Exploiter le pool Spark d’Azure Synapse Analytics Description: How to use Apache Spark pool for Big Data in Synapse Analytics ? Take profit from the mssparkutils library. 
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Nikola Ilic (Twitter: @DataMozart)
Article: Dedicated vs Serverless SQL in Azure Synapse – Which should I use?! Description: Which Synapse pool should I use in different business scenarios? If you've asked yourself this question, by the end of this article you'll have a crystal clear picture! 
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Nikola Ilic (Twitter: @DataMozart)
Article: Synapse Analytics Dedicated SQL Pools – Everything you need to know! Description: Is the Dedicated SQL pool an "incarnation" of the SQL Server? In this article, you'll learn all the concepts and techniques for performing efficient relational data workloads in Azure Synapse Analytics! 
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Kevin Chant (Twitter: @kevchant)
Blog post: Recommended Azure Synapse Analytics certifications Description: Shares some recommended Azure Synapse Analytics certifications. For those who are keen to gain certifications about it or just want to learn more about the service. 
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Kevin Chant (Twitter: @kevchant)
Blog post: CI/CD for serverless SQL Pools resources Description: Covers CI/CD for serverless SQL Pools resources that Kevin have either created or been a part of. Kevin has been asked about them a lot since the release of the MVP Series video (link in this article below) on CI/CD for dedicated SQL pools. 
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Kevin Chant (Twitter: @kevchant)
Video: CI/CD for Dedicated SQL Pools Description: Covers CI/CD for Dedicated SQL Pools. For the January 2023 edition of the Azure Synapse Analytics and Microsoft MVP series. 
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Call to action
- Read or watch the content listed above.
- If you like the content, subscribe to the blogs or YouTube channels of the MVPs.
- Follow the MVPs mentioned above on Twitter.
- Stay tuned for more "MVP Corner" blog posts!
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