So SQL 2016 comes with updatable non clustered columnstore index. Are you wondering why this is a big deal. It is and here’s why In SQL 2012 the […]
Fill Factor and Page split demonstrated
Recently on one of the popular SQL Forums I read a post by a DBA who seemed experienced but still had a poor understanding of fill factor and […]
Some new screens you will likely encounter when installing MS SQL 2016
Here a screenshot by screenshot tour on installing SQL 2016, please keep in mind that this is a CTP (preview) so the screens may differ from RTM – […]
The tempdb – why shrinking doesn’t always work
Recently I was working on performance issues for a client and one of the topics we were looking at was tempdb. There was some confusion about when tempdb […]
OStress.exe – use it if you aren’t already
I was recently trying to simulate the performance implications of hashing vs encryption and wanted to simulate hundreds of sessions and 1000’s of requested on a username/password table. […]
NULL Management, SPARSE Columns, Vertical partitioning and a query
When discussing DW design I often take a lot of time to emphasize the impact Nulls have on query performance, aggregations, design, storage and much more. While this […]
administration / Azure / MSSQL
Auto Update Statistics when does it occur
I was recently asked when does the actual Auto Update Stats trigger and while I know its during query compile I wasn’t exactly sure what the thresholds were […]
TRACE FLAG 1118 – Proportional Filling and the tempdb
Often when conducting trainings I ask my participants not to take my word for it but try things out for themselves. I was asked a question about the […]
Stress testing disk subsystems – SQLIOSIM
A client of ours recently bought a brand new set of disks and wanted to know best practices around tempdb optimizations during the discussion we were trying to […]
IS IT POSSIBLE? Bulk operations in Full recovery model
Here is the reason I am writing this post As per the above entry from MSDN, there cannot be any minimally logged operations in full recovery mode, which […]