I was speaking with some folks yesterday about tuning a system, and they asked me about my methodology. As time goes on, I find myself doing things differently based on the situation, but there is a general approach I use that I'll explain here. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule; it's just a guideline I use to narrow in on the problem. I start with ...

I show this little-known feature in just about every perf tuning class I give, and it’s often a surprise to most of the folks there. It’s not earth-shattering or anything, but I do find it helpful. In SQL Server Management Studio 2008, start the new Activity Monitor. Open one of the “Bands”, such as “Processes”. Move your mouse cursor over one of ...

I got a question yesterday in the mail that I thought I would just answer here in a broad context. While I can’t troubleshoot or do performance tuning from a distance, there are some interesting concepts and suggestions this e-mail brings up: “I have recently seen a change from SQL Server from 2005 to 2008 in where it handles CASE statements ...