Expert Performance Indexing for SQL Server 2012 is a deep dive into perhaps the single-most important facet of good performance: indexes, and how to best use them. The book begins in the shallow waters with explanations of the types of indexes and how they are stored in databases. Moving deeper into the topic, and further into the book, you will look at the statistics that are accumulated both by indexes and on indexes. All of this will help you progress towards properly achieving your database performance goals. What you'll learn from Expert Performance Indexing for SQL Server 2012 will help you understand what indexes are doing in the database and what can be done to mitigate and improve their effects on performance. The final destination is a guided tour through a number of real-world scenarios and approaches that can be taken to investigate, mitigate, and improve the performance of your database. Defines indexes and provides an understanding of their role Uncovers and explains the statistics that are kept in indexes Teaches strategies and approaches for indexing databases

This book is a deep dive into perhaps the single-most important facet of good performance: indexes, and how to best use them. The book begins in the shallow waters with explanations of the types of indexes and how they are stored in databases. Moving deeper into the topic, and further into the book, you will look at the statistics that are accumulated both by indexes and on indexes. You’ll better understand what indexes are doing in the database and what can be done to mitigate and improve their effect on performance. The final destination is a guided tour through a number of real life scenarios showing approaches you can take to investigate, mitigate, and improve the performance of your database. Defines the types of indexes and their implementation options Provides use cases and common patterns in applying indexing Describes and explain the index metadata and statistics Provides a framework of strategies and approaches for indexing databases

Take a deep dive into perhaps the single most important facet of good performance: indexes, and how to best use them. Recent updates to SQL Server have made it possible to create indexes in situations that in the past would have prevented their use. Other improvements covered in this book include new dynamic management views, the ability to pause and resume index maintenance, and the ability to more easily recover from failures during index creation and maintenance operations. This new edition also brings new content around the indexing of columnstore and in-memory tables, showing how these new types of tables and the queries that execute against them can also benefit from good indexing practices. The book begins with explanations of the types of indexes and how they are stored in databases. Moving deeper into the topic, and further into the book, you will look at the statistics that are accumulated both by indexes and on indexes. You will better understand what indexes are doing in the database and what can be done to mitigate and improve their effect on performance. You will get a look at the Index Advisor now available in Azure SQL Database, and learn how to review and maintain the health of your indexes. The final chapters present a guided tour through a number of scenarios showing approaches you can take to investigate, mitigate, and improve the performance of your database. What You Will Learn Properly index row store, columnstore, and in-memory tablesReview statistics to understand indexing choices made by the optimizerApply indexing strategies such as covering indexes, included columns, and index intersectionsRecognize and remove unnecessary indexesDesign effective indexes for full-text, spatial, and XML data typesManage the big picture: Encompass all indexes in a database, and all database instances on a server Who This Book Is For Database administrators and developers who are ready to lift the performance of their database environment by thoughtfully building indexes to speed up queries that matter the most and make a difference to the business

Pro SQL Server 2012 Administration is a one-stop source for all the knowledge you'll need to professionally manage a database under Microsoft SQL Server 2012. SQL Server administration is a complex field requiring an unusually broad and well-rounded skill set. A good database administrator must be part system administrator, part database design expert, and part SQL tuning optimization guru. Above all, he or she must be capable of restoring a damaged database at any time. Database administration requires excellent people skills for dealing with management and clients, and solid technical skills for dealing with the hardware and the software. Pro SQL Server 2012 Administration addresses all aspects of database administration, regardless of the size of the implementation. Install SQL Server 2012 and create new database environments. Develop a sound backup strategy for your database. Perform recovery as needed, which many consider to be job #1. Authors Ken Simmons and Sylvester Carstarphen also help you automate your work through the use of policy-based management. Performance optimization gets good coverage, so that you can render assistance when developers need help with problem queries. Rare among database and other technical books is solid guidance on the people side of the equation. Success as a database administrator comes from working well with others, becoming involved in the community, and building the right combination of technical knowledge and people skills to solve problems and get things done professionally and amicably. Simmons and Carstarphen pay special attention to these aspects of the job in this new edition of their comprehensive book on SQL Server administration. Helps you manage a SQL Server 2012 database at professional level Covers the gamut of database administration skills Provides guidance on performance optimization

Pro SQL Server 2012 Practices is an anthology of high-end wisdom from a group of accomplished database administrators who are quietly but relentlessly pushing the performance and feature envelope of Microsoft SQL Server 2012. With an emphasis upon performance—but also branching into release management, auditing, and other issues—the book helps you deliver the most value for your company’s investment in Microsoft’s flagship database system. Goes beyond the manual to cover good techniques and best practices Delivers knowledge usually gained only by hard experience Focuses upon performance, scalability, reliability Helps achieve the predictability needed to be in control at all times

Identify and fix causes of poor performance. You will learn Query Store, adaptive execution plans, and automated tuning on the Microsoft Azure SQL Database platform. Anyone responsible for writing or creating T-SQL queries will find valuable the insight into bottlenecks, including how to recognize them and eliminate them. This book covers the latest in performance optimization features and techniques and is current with SQL Server 2017. If your queries are not running fast enough and you’re tired of phone calls from frustrated users, then this book is the answer to your performance problems. SQL Server 2017 Query Performance Tuning is about more than quick tips and fixes. You’ll learn to be proactive in establishing performance baselines using tools such as Performance Monitor and Extended Events. You’ll recognize bottlenecks and defuse them before the phone rings. You’ll learn some quick solutions too, but emphasis is on designing for performance and getting it right. The goal is to head off trouble before it occurs. What You'll Learn Use Query Store to understand and easily change query performance Recognize and eliminate bottlenecks leading to slow performance Deploy quick fixes when needed, following up with long-term solutions Implement best practices in T-SQL to minimize performance risk Design in the performance that you need through careful query and index design Utilize the latest performance optimization features in SQL Server 2017 Protect query performance during upgrades to the newer versions of SQL Server Who This Book Is For Developers and database administrators with responsibility for application performance in SQL Server environments. Anyone responsible for writing or creating T-SQL queries will find valuable the insight into bottlenecks, including how to recognize them and eliminate them.

Business Intelligence with SQL Server Reporting Services helps you deliver business intelligence with panache. Harness the power of the Reporting Services toolkit to combine charts, gauges, sparklines, indicators, and maps into compelling dashboards and scorecards. Create compelling visualizations that seize your audience’s attention and help business users identify and react swiftly to changing business conditions. Best of all, you'll do all these things by creating new value from software that is already installed and paid for – SQL Server and the included SQL Server Reporting Services. Businesses run on numbers, and good business intelligence systems make the critical numbers immediately and conveniently accessible. Business users want access to key performance indicators in the office, at the beach, and while riding the subway home after a day's work. Business Intelligence with SQL Server Reporting Services helps you meet these need for anywhere/anytime access by including chapters specifically showing how to deliver on modern devices such as smart phones and tablets. You'll learn to deliver the same information, with similar look-and-feel, across the entire range of devices used in business today. Key performance indicators give fast notification of business unit performance Polished dashboards deliver essential metrics and strategic comparisons Visually arresting output on multiple devices focuses attention

Beginning Database Design, Second Edition provides short, easy-to-read explanations of how to get database design right the first time. This book offers numerous examples to help you avoid the many pitfalls that entrap new and not-so-new database designers. Through the help of use cases and class diagrams modeled in the UML, you’ll learn to discover and represent the details and scope of any design problem you choose to attack. Database design is not an exact science. Many are surprised to find that problems with their databases are caused by poor design rather than by difficulties in using the database management software. Beginning Database Design, Second Edition helps you ask and answer important questions about your data so you can understand the problem you are trying to solve and create a pragmatic design capturing the essentials while leaving the door open for refinements and extension at a later stage. Solid database design principles and examples help demonstrate the consequences of simplifications and pragmatic decisions. The rationale is to try to keep a design simple, but allow room for development as situations change or resources permit. Provides solid design principles by which to avoid pitfalls and support changing needs Includes numerous examples of good and bad design decisions and their consequences Shows a modern method for documenting design using the Unified Modeling Language

Beginning T-SQL is a performance-oriented introduction to the T-SQL language underlying the Microsoft SQL Server database engine. T-SQL is essential in writing SQL statements to get data into and out of a database. T-SQL is the foundation for business logic embedded in the database in the form of stored procedures and functions. Beginning T-SQL starts you on the path to mastering T-SQL, with an emphasis on best-practices and sound coding techniques leading to excellent performance. This new edition is updated to cover the essential features of T-SQL found in SQL Server 2014, 2012, and 2008. Beginning T-SQL begins with an introduction to databases, normalization, and to SQL Server Management Studio. Attention is given to Azure SQL Database and how to connect to remote databases in the cloud. Each subsequent chapter teaches an aspect of T-SQL, building on the skills learned in previous chapters. Exercises in most chapters provide an opportunity for the hands-on practice that leads to true learning and distinguishes the competent professional. Important techniques such as windowing functions are covered to help write fast executing queries that solve real business problems. A stand-out feature in this book is that most chapters end with a "Thinking About Performance" section. These sections cover aspects of query performance relative to the content just presented. They'll help you avoid beginner mistakes by knowing about and thinking about performance from Day 1. Imparts best practices for writing T-SQL Helps you avoid common errors Shows how to write scalable code for good performance

Apply powerful window functions in T-SQL—and increase the performance and speed of your queries Optimize your queries—and obtain simple and elegant solutions to a variety of problems—using window functions in Transact-SQL. Led by T-SQL expert Itzik Ben-Gan, you’ll learn how to apply calculations against sets of rows in a flexible, clear, and efficient manner. Ideal whether you’re a database administrator or developer, this practical guide demonstrates ways to use more than a dozen T-SQL querying solutions to address common business tasks. Discover how to: Go beyond traditional query approaches to express set calculations more efficiently Delve into ordered set functions such as rank, distribution, and offset Implement hypothetical set and inverse distribution functions in standard SQL Use strategies for improving sequencing, paging, filtering, and pivoting Increase query speed using partitioning, ordering, and coverage indexing Apply new optimization iterators such as Window Spool Handle common issues such as running totals, intervals, medians, and gaps