Using hints in a query is something that most DBAs don't ever seem to bother with, but when they do, NOLOCK seems to be their hint of choice. Wayne Fillis brings us a detailed examination of how this particular hint actually affects the performance of your system.   Read more...

Using hints in a query is something that most DBAs don't ever seem to bother with, but when they do, NOLOCK seems to be their hint of choice. Wayne Fillis brings us a detailed examination of how this particular hint actually affects the performance of your system.   Read more...

A series of tips on optimizing XML in your SQL Server databases.   Read more...

Using hints in a query is something that most DBAs don't ever seem to bother with, but when they do, NOLOCK seems to be their hint of choice. Wayne Fillis brings us a detailed examination of how this particular hint actually affects the performance of your system.   Read more...

Gathering performance data on your servers can be a cumbersome task without paying for an expensive tool. New author Jambu Krishnamurthy brings us a short tutorial on how you can gather this data from Perfmon and import it into SQL Server for reporting.   Read more...

Dealing with text, image, and other large object data types can be confusing for many people, in all aspects of working with them. However one place that is important is performance. SQL Server MVP Simon Sabin brings us a few thoughts on improving performance with these columns and the Text in Row setting.   Read more...

Performance Tuning can be as much an art as a science when working with SQL Server, but there are many fine techniques that can help you get started. New author Michael Morin brings a great new technique helping you get started on determining where the heavy I/O users are in your database.   Read more...