SQL Server Execution Plans, Second Edition by Grant Fritchey

Every Database Administrator, developer, report writer, and anyone else who writes T-SQL to access SQL Server data, must understand how to read and interpret execution plans. This book leads you right from the basics of capturing plans, through how to interrupt them in their various forms, graphical or XML, and then how to use the information you find there to diagnose the most common causes of poor query performance, and so optimize your SQL queries, and improve your indexing strategy.

SQL Server Performance Dashboard Reports

Setting up SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) based performance dashboard driven off servers that are registered through a Central Management Server (CMS).

The Effect of NOLOCK on Performance

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.

The Great and Powerful Internet of Things

A look at the good, and bad, of the IoT world along with the potential future.

Understanding Graphical Execution Plans - Part 3: Analyzing the Plan

Learn how to examine and read a SQL Server execution plan in this article. This is the third part of a short series from Darren White that examines execution plans and imparts the basics on an important skill for DBA's and SQL developers alike.

Using A Block Predicate to Restrict Row Updates and Inserts

If you are using row level security in SQL Server 2016 you might find users are updating or inserting rows of data that keep them from seeing the row after they have performed the update or insert statement. If you want to prevent this from occurring, you can use a blocking predicate.

Byte Me: Avoiding Detection

Introducing Minion CheckDB by MinionWare

Minion CheckDB completes the MinionWare maintenance and backups suite in style. Each solution is plug-and-play for the busy DBA, and deeply configurable for those shops with in-depth needs.

The Future is Now - An Internet of Things Infographic

A look at the positive and negative aspects of IoT in this infographic.

Planning for Successful Data Management

It is the data, in particular, that sets Database Lifecycle Management apart from the mainstream of application delivery. Data entities, and the way that organisations understand and deal with them, have their own lifespan. If we neglect the management of data, we risk disaster for the organisations that use it. If we take data management seriously, databases become a lot easier.