Quest Software, Inc.  today announced it will kick off a new cloud-based initiative at PASS Summit 2010 that will enable the SQL user community to upload, share, compare, and analyze their SQL Server performance data. The feature will be piloted as part of SQLServerPedia – a product-neutral online community hosted by Quest – and will be driven largely by user feedback. Quest will also showcase its leading SQL Server tools for backup and recovery, performance management, capacity management, administration, and development, as well as its popular online database communities, in booth 401.

“This initiative will extend the power of our free online resource, SQLServerPedia, by providing the community insightful analysis of aggregated performance data,” said Billy Bosworth, vice president and general manager, Enterprise Database, Quest Software. “When you combine performance data points from hundreds or thousands of servers, the insights you gain are off the charts.”

Today also marks the first day of voting for the first annual SQLServerPedia Awards, which recognize the best-of-the-best content contributions to SQLServerPedia in nine different categories. Voting ends Monday, Nov. 8, with winners announced at a cocktail party hosted by Quest at the Tap House Grill, Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. PT. Visit http://sqlserverpedia.com/awards/ for contest details and to vote.

“SQLServerPedia is as successful as it is because it’s driven entirely by the SQL community, for the SQL community. Without the site’s contributors – whether it be through posting a blog or writing a wiki article – SQLServerPedia would not be the trusted, collaborative knowledgebase that it has been for the past two years,” said Iain Kick, editor-in-chief of SQLServerPedia. “We have over 65 contributors, currently average 180 blog posts per month, and continue to see high standards and a broad range of excellent content. I’m really looking forward to recognizing our contributors with these awards in a range of both fun and technical categories, from ‘Book Review’ and ‘New Blog,’ to ‘SQL Server Internals,’ and ‘Indexing and Design.’”

Expert speaking sessions and activities at the show include:

• Birds of a Feather luncheon: “Involuntary DBA” track, Tuesday, Nov. 9, at noon PT.
• Spotlight Session: “End-to-End Troubleshooting for SQL Server,” presented by Kevin Kline, Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 4:30 p.m. PT.
• Poster signing: Quest expert and poster author Kevin Kline will sign free Perfmon posters during the PASS Summit Welcome Reception, Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 6:30 p.m. PT in the Quest booth.
• Breakfast seminar: “SQL and Cloud Computing – Cutting through the Fog,” presented by a panel including Quest experts Kevin Kline and Jeremiah Peschka, along with experts from Microsoft, Solid Quality Mentors and Blue Syntax, Thursday, Nov. 11, at 6:45 a.m. PT, room 606/607.