Frankfurt - Percona Training

About the Training

This event is two separate Percona courses running back-to-back.  We recommend you reading through the course descriptions on our website, as they contains vital information, such as what prerequsites you will need coming into this class:

• Developing High Performance, Scalable Applications
  
• Performance Optimization for MySQL with InnoDB and XtraDB

Your Instructor

Both courses will be taught by Morgan Tocker, Principal Consultant and Director of Training at Percona, Inc.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much overlap is there between the two courses?

Both courses share the same introduction chapter (30 minutes) and cover the concept of query tuning.  We've tried to reduce the overlap between the two courses as much as possible, and the query tuning examples in the InnoDB course use a completely different schema to that of the Developer course, and we offer a discount for attending both days with this in mind.

Are the hours really 9AM to 5PM?

Yes.  In the morning, instructors are advised to only wait a maximum of 15 minutes for late arrivals, so please do not be late.  The day normally starts winding down at 4:30pm where the instructor will open the class for general Q&A.  You are not required to stay for the Q&A portion of the day, but this is a good opportunity to have any questions answered that needed to be taken offline.

What time is lunch?

The instructor will advise of the lunch time at the start of the day.  For most locations, it will start between 12:00 and 12:30 and be one hour in duration.

Do you cater lunch?
No (except for classes in London).  It is very logistically complicated to be able to meet the dietary requirements of all students, and so for the moment we have chosen not to.

At most locations, coffee/tea and soft-drinks are available all day and snacks are provided in the morning and afternoon.

Can I use my own laptop?

In the developer course, you need to use the PC provided as it has all of the sample data preloaded.  Instructors also rely on certain ALTER TABLE statements taking about the same time on each machine.

For the course on InnoDB, you can use your own laptop.  A wifi network is provided in all USA locations, and the instructor can advise you on how to get connected in the morning.  For international locations, wifi is not guaranteed.

What happens if I am sick on the day?

If you're contagious, we would prefer for the health of the other students that you do not attend.  We've previously refunded students for suspicion of swine flu, and may be able to swap your attendance for another class at a later date.  Please contact us as soon as possible.

Are name substitutions possible?

Yes.  If you have a substitution, please contact us as soon as possible so we can issue a new ticket.  For substitutions as the last minute, just make sure that you print out and bring the original ticket.  We will not refuse attendance provided every student has their own ticket.

The exception to this advice, is that classes in New York City require names 48 hours in advance for security purposes.

I want to send multiple people, can I have a discount?

Short Answer: Possibly.  We can normally offer a discount to companies sending 3 or more attendees to training, so get in touch!  Longer Answer: If you want to send six or more attendees, it may actually be cheaper to have your own private class (see Can you teach from our office?).  We may not offer discounts for last-minute bookings, or bookings where it looks like the class will sell out, so it is best to get in touch with us as early as possible.

Can you teach from our office?

Yes.  As well as teaching public classes, we are also available to teach onsite at your location.  For pricing information, see here.

How can I get you to come to my city?

We schedule courses locations based on a formula of user demand, where we seem to have the most blog readers, and where we have historically been successful.  If you would like us to visit your city, we are listening!  Please contact us.

How many people will be in each training class?

Our goal is to keep room sizes to 12 students and below.  Due to added travel costs for some locations, as well as scheduling complexities, that number will occasionally be up to 15 students.  We will not exceed 15 students unless there is a second instructor, or a Percona consultant available to assist students with the in-class exercises.

Will the instructor provide his slide deck?

Yes.  At the end of the day, the instructor will provide a URL where you can download slides from.  We ask that you do not share these slides in a public form, but you are free to share amongst coworkers.

Do you offer a student discount?

Possibly.  Similarly to our discount policy on I want to send multiple people, can I have a discount?, student discounts may be possible if you register very early on.  We require proof of current attendance, and a photocopy of student ID.

Who will my instructor be?

Your instructor is listed above. Occaisionally we will have to do last minute substitutions, but your instructor will always be one of Morgan, Tom or Justin.  We're all experts at MySQL, having worked with it for many years.  Tom and Morgan previously delivered training for MySQL/Sun Microsystems, and Justin has worked in some technically demanding jobs at Yahoo!, AdBrite and Proven Scaling.

I have a complaint, where can I direct it to?

At the end of each course, students are given an opportunity to fill out a feedback form.  We read every comment left by students, and treat this feedback seriously.  If you feel the need to escalate a complaint, please contact Rena Dosono directly on +1 888 401 3401 ext 519 (PST).

Do you provide a certificate at the end of the training?

Yes, we can.  Please contact us.

What steps can I take to prepare myself for class?

If you have been using MySQL for a couple of years, you've already taken most the steps necessary for the developer course.  The course on InnoDB has slightly stricter requirements - we find students with more of a developer background struggle more when we talk about hardware and operating systems (RAID10, reviewing iostat, understanding the difference between writing and 'flushing').

We teach both courses on a Linux (Fedora) desktop.  If you've used MySQL on another platform, it helps to understand the basics such as starting and stopping via /etc/init.d/mysqld start|stop.

Do you provide Virtual Training?

Not at the moment.  There's something special about having an instructor in front of a small audience and being able to bounce questions back-and-forth that is hard to replicate online.

I have a followup question for my instructor!

If the question is related to something that came up in a course, most instructors are happy to help you out with a quick reply.  Please note however, that the instructor can often take up to a few weeks to reply (as they often have to do this on their own time; or in between travel and other commitments).  If you require a more detailed or timely answer, we suggest that you engage Percona on a consulting basis, or visit our forums.

I will need to stay in a hotel - do you have any recommendations?

In the United States, our venue partner (Microtek) maintains a list of recommended hotels with negotiated rates.  To be able to find these, start by searching for the venue on the Microtek Facility Search.