Many of us have used the free version of Plan Explorer from SQLSentry for a long time to help tune and explore query plans in a way that SSMS can only dream of. Unlike most free tools this one still had plenty of useful features that served the community well. The Pro version did however contain a bunch of great features that many ...

ALWAYS LEARNINGAbout mid-way into August of 2015, I learned some important new factors in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that caused me to make some big changes to the way in which I blogged. Namely - simply reposting a slight variant of a given blog post could hurt your overall SEO rankings for any or all of the given posts. Now you ...

 I was just made aware of a bunch of resources that you may find very useful. I especially liked the Windows 10 jumpstart videos but there are a lot of good resources here for free. Have fun everyone.  Opportunity Links Remarks Developer Tools Download ...

The //build TourIf you build software using Visual Studio or code against the Microsoft stack, you don't want to miss the //build traveling road show.The Microsoft //build tours bring the Build conference experience to you for in-depth, usable knowledge about Windows 10 and much more. There's coding sessions and lots of ...

Here are some oldies, but goodies that I recommend you read:Two Partitioning Peculiarities and Aggregates and PartitioningMost of us know that partitions are one of the best ways to scale very large databases or very large IO workloads.  However, there are risks, two of which are explored in detail by internals master Paul White ...

Do you do a bit of query tuning? Then check out this treasure trove of performance tuning advice!Optimization Phases and Missed Opportunities andWorking Around Missed OptimizationsPaul White (b | t) writes two fascinating blog posts that go hand-in-hand concerning query optimization.  He goes into some deep details about ...

Great Articles at SQLPerformance.comThere are so many good articles from SQLPerformance.com this ICYMI article that it’s hard to know which are best to highlight in the limited space. So, I’ll be arbitrary and simply choose a few of my favorite entries as we look back:Troubleshooting SQL Server CPU Performance IssuesThis outstanding ...

Update 09-Mar-2015: The original PASS links I provided were behind a firewall. Thanks reader MMcDonald, we have a working link on YouTube. One of the benefits of joining PASS is that you get access to their expansive library of conference videos. (Membership is free. So join now. What'dya want, a hand-written ...

The SQL Sentry forum for SQL Statement TuningHave you ever looked at our community site specifically dedicated to helping users tune their SQL queries, http://answers.SQLPerformance.com?You can easily upload an execution plan directly from our free Plan Explorer tool or from good ol' SQL Server Management Studio.  Once ...

Central USA IT Pro Community News – Jan 2015 There are lots of free, in-person and virtual events happening in the central USA over the next few weeks. Don't miss out on training, ebooks, and other goodies! Come to the Nashville SQL Saturday on Jan 17!Upcoming Events Jan 10th – Kansas City – SharePoint Saturday Jan ...