Monica Rathbun

Monica lives in Virginia and is a Microsoft MVP for Data Platform. She has over 15 years of experience working with a wide variety of database platforms with a focus on SQL Server. She is a frequent speaker at IT industry conferences on topics including performance tuning and configuration management. She is the Leader of the Hampton Roads SQL Server User Group and a Mid-Atlantic PASS Regional Mentor. She is passionate about SQL Server and the SQL Server community, doing anything she can to give back. Monica can always be found on Twitter (@sqlespresso) handing out helpful tips.

Blog Post

The FAST number_rows Query Hint

Query hints are always about tradeoffs—typically you are giving up something, such as flexibility, to achieve more consistency, or very specific performance characteristic. One example of this migt when...

2019-10-29 (first published: )

1,011 reads

Blog Post

New Event Calendar

Speaking Engagements Check out my new Event Calendar, to see my upcoming and past speaking engagements. You can catch me at various events throughout the year. If you are...

2019-10-15

8 reads

Blog Post

Quick SSMS Tip

It is widely known that I am a horrible speller and hate to type code. I tend to use a lot of code snippets and reuse code to avoid...

2019-09-20 (first published: )

1,258 reads

Blog Post

Are My SQL Server Indexes Being Used?

Indexes can be incredibly beneficial to your database performance; however, they do come with a cost—indexes both consume storage space and affect insert performance. Therefore, it is important as...

2019-09-11 (first published: )

2,780 reads

Blogs

Query Intelligence in SQL Server 2025: What Developers Need to Know

By

When Microsoft announced SQL Server 2025, I was curious about what would truly change...

Finding and Killing Blockers with Redgate AI Tech

By

Redgate has a research arm, called the Foundry, that has been experimenting with AIs...

Back at Small Data SF in 2025

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Today I’m in San Francisco at Small Data SF 2025. I went to the...

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Forums

Large posts full of code not allowed anymore?

By Lowell

Several times now, I've seen a post asking for a solution. I've replied, and...

Data > Hype

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Data > Hype

Create and Read the Analysis Services Flight Recorder

By Pablo Echeverria

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Create and Read the Analysis...

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Question of the Day

Slipstream parameters

What parameters are needed to enable a slipstream installation for setup.exe (SQL Server setup)?

See possible answers