SQL query performance tuning tips for non-production environments
It is a common misconception that you need real production data, or production like data, to effectively tune queries in SQL Server. I am going to explain how you can compile the same execution plans...
View ArticleHow to Index Foreign Key Columns in SQL Server
Before going through the main concern of this article, indexing the foreign key columns, let’s take a small trip back to review the SQL Server Indexes and Foreign Key concepts. SQL Server Indexes...
View ArticleWhat is the difference between Clustered and Non-Clustered Indexes in SQL...
Indexes are used to speed-up query process in SQL Server, resulting in high performance. They are similar to textbook indexes. In textbooks, if you need to go to a particular chapter, you go to the...
View ArticleSQL Server reporting – SQL Server Index Utilization
Understanding indexing needs allows us to ensure that important processes run efficiently and that our server hardware is not being over-taxed by poorly performing queries. Collecting metrics on SQL...
View ArticleAll about SQL Server spinlocks
As discussed in the article All about latches in SQL Server, spinlocks are also a special form of locks that SQL Server uses to protect data. Spinlocks are lightweight objects used by the SQL Server...
View ArticleIn-Memory OLTP Enhancements in SQL Server 2016
SQL Server In-Memory OLTP, also known as Hekaton when it was introduced in SQL Server 2014, provides us with the ability to move specific database tables and suitable stored procedures into memory and...
View ArticleHow to monitor object space growth in SQL Server
Introduction There are many situations in a DBA’s life that lead him or her to monitor space growth over time in SQL Server. In short, we often want to know which tables are growing the most and how...
View ArticleAll about Latches in SQL Server
SQL Server locks, discussed in the article All about locking in SQL Server, which is applied on data for the duration of the logical operation to preserve logical transaction consistency. SQL Server...
View ArticleSQL Server system databases – the model database
Introduction This is my fourth article about SQL Server system databases. In previous articles of the series, I wrote about the tempdb database, the master database and the msdb database. This article...
View ArticleSQL Server universal comparison quantified predicates (ANY, ALL, SOME)
SQL server provides us with comparison operators to modify subqueries. This article will start with the definition of universal quantification, with a quick brush up with real life logical examples. In...
View ArticleHow to control online Index Rebuild Locking using SQL Server 2014 Managed...
When you perform a SQL Server Online Index Rebuild operation, introduced for the first time in SQL Server 2005, the index will not be taken down. But at a specific point, in which the new index new is...
View ArticleSQL Server system databases – the msdb database
Introduction This article is the third I am writing about Microsoft SQL system databases. The first article Configuration, operations and restrictions of the tempdb SQL Server system database was about...
View ArticleHow to automate SQL Server deadlock collection process using Extended Events...
Introduction This article is the last one of a series in which we discussed how to collect data about deadlocks so that we can not only monitor them but also build reports based on our collection...
View ArticleHow to analyze SQL Server database performance using T-SQL
The performance of a database is the most challenging and critical part of database optimization. The challenge every DBA faces is to identify the most resource-intensive databases. This article talks...
View ArticleHow to monitor the SQL Server tempdb database
When it comes to the monitoring of SQL Server system databases, the tempdb database is one of the most important for consideration, since it holds most of the internally created objects. Beside some...
View ArticleSQL Server system databases – the master database
Introduction There are at least 4 system databases in any SQL Server instance as shown by the following SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) screen capture: master model msdb tempdb This is my second...
View ArticleSQL Server SET Options that Affect the Query Result – SET...
In the previous article of this two-part series SQL Server SET Options that Affect the Query Result – SET ANSI_NULLS, SET ANSI_PADDING, SET ANSI_WARNINGS and SET ARITHABORT, we described the first four...
View ArticleSQL Server SET Options that Affect the Query Result – SET ANSI_NULLS, SET...
SQL Server provides us with a number of options to control SQL Server behavior on the connection level. These session-level options are configured using the SET T-SQL command that change the option...
View ArticleHow to use SQL Server Extended Events to parse Deadlock XML and generate...
Introduction Context In previous article entitled “How to report on SQL Server deadlock occurrences“, we’ve seen how to extract deadlock information from either system_health or specialized Extended...
View ArticleConfiguration, operations and restrictions of the tempdb SQL Server system...
Introduction tempdb is one of the 4 system databases that exists in all SQL Server instances. The other databases are master, model and msdb. In case of using Replication, a fifth system database named...
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