Queries not running fast enough? Wondering about the in-memory database features in 2014? Tired of phone calls from frustrated users? Grant Fritchey’s book SQL Server Query Performance Tuning is the answer to your SQL Server query performance problems. The book is revised to cover the very latest in performance optimization features and techniques, especially including the newly-added, in-memory database features formerly known under the code name Project Hekaton. This book provides the tools you need to approach your queries with performance in mind. SQL Server Query Performance Tuning leads you through understanding the causes of poor performance, how to identify them, and how to fix them. You’ll learn to be proactive in establishing performance baselines using tools like Performance Monitor and Extended Events. You’ll learn to 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, and upon heading off trouble before it occurs. Delight your users. Silence that ringing phone. Put the principles and lessons from SQL Server Query Performance Tuning into practice today. Covers the in-memory features from Project Hekaton Helps establish performance baselines and monitor against them Guides in troubleshooting and eliminating of bottlenecks that frustrate users

Design and configure SQL Server instances and databases in support of high-throughput applications that are mission-critical and provide consistent response times in the face of variations in user numbers and query volumes. Learn to configure SQL Server and design your databases to support a given instance and workload. You’ll learn advanced configuration options, in-memory technologies, storage and disk configuration, and more, all toward enabling your desired application performance and throughput. Configuration doesn’t stop with implementation. Workloads change over time, and other impediments can arise to thwart desired performance. High Performance SQL Server covers monitoring and troubleshooting to aid in detecting and fixing production performance problems and minimizing application outages. You'll learn a variety of tools, ranging from the traditional wait analysis methodology to the new query store, and you'll learn how improving performance is really an iterative process. High Performance SQL Server is based on SQL Server 2016, although most of its content can be applied to prior versions of the product. This book is an excellent complement to performance tuning books focusing on SQL queries, and provides the other half of what you need to know by focusing on configuring the instances on which mission-critical queries are executed. Covers SQL Server instance-configuration for optimal performance Helps in implementing SQL Server in-memory technologies Provides guidance toward monitoring and ongoing diagnostics What You Will Learn Understand SQL Server's database engine and how it processes queries Configure instances in support of high-throughput applications Provide consistent response times to varying user numbers and query volumes Design databases for high-throughput applications with focus on performance Record performance baselines and monitor SQL Server instances against them Troubleshot and fix performance problems Who This Book Is For SQL Server database administrators, developers, and data architects. The book is also of use to system administrators who are managing and are responsible for the physical servers on which SQL Server instances are run.

Optimize Microsoft SQL Server 2014 queries and applications Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Query Tuning & Optimization is filled with ready-to-use techniques for creating high-performance queries and applications. The book describes the inner workings of the query processor so you can write better queries and provide the query processor with the quality information it needs to produce efficient execution plans. You’ll also get tips for troubleshooting underperforming queries. In-Memory OLTP (Hekaton), a key new feature of SQL Server 2014, is fully covered in this practical guide. Understand how the query optimizer works Troubleshoot queries using extended events, SQL trace, dynamic management views (DMVs), the data collector, and other tools Work with query operators for data access, joins, aggregations, parallelism, and updates Speed up queries and dramatically improve application performance by creating the right indexes Understand statistics and how to detect and fix cardinality estimation errors Maximize OLTP query performance using In-Memory OLTP (Hekaton) features, including memory-optimized tables and natively compiled stored procedures Monitor and promote plan caching and reuse to improve application performance Improve the performance of data warehouse queries using columnstore indexes Handle query processor limitations with hints and other methods

The SQL Server Query Optimizer is perceived by many to be a magic black box, transforming SQL queries into high performance execution plans in the blink of an eye through some unknowable process. The truth is that, while the Query Optimizer is indeed the highly-complex result of decades of research, learning how it works its magic is not only possible, but immensely useful to DBAs and Developers alike. A better understanding of what the Query Optimizer does behind the scenes can help you to improve the performance of your databases and applications, and this book explains the core concepts behind how the SQL Server Query Optimizer works. With this knowledge, you'll be able to write superior queries, provide the Query Optimizer with all the information it needs to produce efficient execution plans, and troubleshoot the cases when the Query Optimizer is not giving you the best plan possible. With over 15 years of experience in the use of Relational Databases (including SQL Server since version 6.5), Benjamin has watched the SQL Server Query Optimizer grow and evolve. His insight will leave you with an excellent foundation in the practicalities of the Query Optimizer, and everything you need to know to start tuning your queries to perfection.

Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) are a significant and valuable addition to the DBA's troubleshooting armory, laying bare previously unavailable information regarding the under-the-covers activity of your database sessions and transactions. Why, then, aren't all DBAs using them? Why do many DBAs continue to ignore them in favour of "tried and trusted" tools such as sp_who2, DBCC OPENTRAN, and so on, or make do with the "ready made" reports built into SSMS? Why do even those that do use the DMVs speak wistfully about "good old sysprocesses"? There seem to be two main factors at work. Firstly, some DBAs are simply unaware of the depth and breadth of the information that is available from the DMvs, or how it might help them troubleshoot common issues. This book investigates all of the DMVs that are most frequently useful to the DBA in investigating query execution, index usage, session and transaction activity, disk IO, and how SQL Server is using or abusing the operating system. Secondly, the DMVs have a reputation of being difficult to use. In the process of exposing as much useful data as possible, sysprocesses has been de-normalized, and many new views and columns have been added. This fact, coupled with the initially-baffling choices of what columns will be exposed where, has lead to some DBAs to liken querying DMVs to "collecting mystic spells." In fact, however, once you start to write your own scripts, you'll see the same tricks, and similar join patterns, being used time and again. As such, a relatively small core set of scripts can be readily adapted to suit any requirement. This book is here to de-mystify the process of collecting the information you need to troubleshoot SQL Server problems. It will highlight the core techniques and "patterns" that you need to master, and will provide a core set of scripts that you can use and adapt for your own systems, including how to: * Root out the queries that are causing memory or CPU pressure on your system * Investigate caching, and query plan reuse * Identify index usage patterns * Track fragmentation in clustered indexes and heaps * Get full details on blocking and blocked transactions, including the exact commands being executed, and by whom. * Find out where SQL Server is spending time waiting for resources to be released, before proceeding * Monitor usage and growth of tempdb The DMVs don't make existing, built-in, performance tools obsolete. On the contrary, they complement these tools, and offer a flexibility, richness and granularity that are simply not available elsewhere. Furthermore, you don't need to master a new GUI, or a new language in order to use them; it's all done in a language all DBAs know and mostly love: T-SQL.

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.

Conquer SQL Server 2017 administration—from the inside out Dive into SQL Server 2017 administration—and really put your SQL Server DBA expertise to work. This supremely organized reference packs hundreds of timesaving solutions, tips, and workarounds—all you need to plan, implement, manage, and secure SQL Server 2017 in any production environment: on-premises, cloud, or hybrid. Four SQL Server experts offer a complete tour of DBA capabilities available in SQL Server 2017 Database Engine, SQL Server Data Tools, SQL Server Management Studio, and via PowerShell. Discover how experts tackle today’s essential tasks—and challenge yourself to new levels of mastery. • Install, customize, and use SQL Server 2017’s key administration and development tools • Manage memory, storage, clustering, virtualization, and other components • Architect and implement database infrastructure, including IaaS, Azure SQL, and hybrid cloud configurations • Provision SQL Server and Azure SQL databases • Secure SQL Server via encryption, row-level security, and data masking • Safeguard Azure SQL databases using platform threat protection, firewalling, and auditing • Establish SQL Server IaaS network security groups and user-defined routes • Administer SQL Server user security and permissions • Efficiently design tables using keys, data types, columns, partitioning, and views • Utilize BLOBs and external, temporal, and memory-optimized tables • Master powerful optimization techniques involving concurrency, indexing, parallelism, and execution plans • Plan, deploy, and perform disaster recovery in traditional, cloud, and hybrid environments For Experienced SQL Server Administrators and Other Database Professionals • Your role: Intermediate-to-advanced level SQL Server database administrator, architect, developer, or performance tuning expert • Prerequisites: Basic understanding of database administration procedures

Execution plans show you what's going on behind the scenes in SQL Server. They can provide you with a wealth of information on how your queries are being executed by SQL Server, including: Which indexes are being used, and where no indexes are being used at all. How the data is being retrieved, and joined, from the tables defi ned in your query. How aggregations in GROUP BY queries are put together. The anticipated load and the estimated cost that all these operations place upon the system. Grant Fritchey's book is the only in-depth look at how to improve your SQL query performance through careful design of execution plans. Sample chapters of the ebook have garnered stunning reviews, such as: "All I can say is WOW. This has to be the best reference I have ever seen on Execution Plans in SQL Server. My hats off to Grant Fritchey" Jonathan Kehayias.

This practical book provides a comprehensive overview of troubleshooting and performance tuning best practices for Microsoft SQL Server. Database engineers, including database developers and administrators, will learn how to identify performance issues, troubleshoot the system in a holistic fashion, and properly prioritize tuning efforts to attain the best system performance possible. Author Dmitri Korotkevitch, Microsoft Data Platform MVP and Microsoft Certified Master (MCM), explains the interdependencies between SQL Server database components. You'll learn how to quickly diagnose your system and discover the root cause of any issue. Techniques in this book are compatible with all versions of SQL Server and cover both on-premises and cloud-based SQL Server installations. Discover how performance issues present themselves in SQL Server Learn about SQL Server diagnostic tools, methods, and technologies Perform health checks on SQL Server installations Learn the dependencies between SQL Server components Tune SQL Server to improve performance and reduce bottlenecks Detect poorly optimized queries and inefficiencies in query execution plans Find inefficient indexes and common database design issues Use these techniques with Microsoft Azure SQL databases, Azure SQL Managed Instances, and Amazon RDS for SQL Server

* A completely revised edition of a book that is highly-regarded in the community (as evidenced by Amazon reviews and other customer feedback). * The only comprehensive, practical guide to performance optimization techniques for SQL Server applications. * Essential reading for any DBA or developer resposible for the eprformance of an exisiting SQL Server system, or the design of a new one.