Case study – Improving performance using indexes
Problem Summary The client is experiencing issues with SQL server performance. Two stored procedures that are run hundreds of times per hour were taking a long time to execute. What was done Simple. For this case, we created only a new index to improve both stored procedures. The first one: The another one: As soon […]
Case study – Removing a bad SQL query hint
Here what can be done when you have one of our DBA plans. The procedure below was extracted from a stored procedure that was found during a database Assessment What was done We removed the MAXDOP hint. In this case, the procedure was refactored, but the dev team did not change this query hint. The results The […]
Case study – Tuning a slow report
Problem summary A report was taking a long time to complete. It was also causing deadlocks during the execution. What was done We started monitoring the SQL Server environment. A comprehensive methodology was applied to look at various levels SQL depended on: CPU, RAM, networking, storage, VMWare setup, Windows Operating System settings, and few more […]
Case study – Dealing with deadlocks
Problem Summary Two procedures were involved in 80% of deadlocks related to a third-party app. Deadlocks are a common problem handled by SQL Server automatically. Nevertheless, you have to make sure that you minimize deadlocks as much as possible because every rolled back transaction negatively influences your end-users. What was done To improve the stored […]
Best practices for SQL Server Installation
SQL Server installation does not often repeat, especially if you are using on-premises servers. In this article, you will see a few settings that are recommended to be reviewed after the SQL Server installation checklist. Preparation If possible, start with a freshly installed OS and install the latest drivers. Check if BIOS power management is […]
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
What is SSMS? SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for managing any MS SQL Server infrastructure, from on-promise to an Azure SQL Database. It provides tools to query, design, and manage your databases and data warehouses, wherever they are – on your local computer or in the cloud. How to download installation […]
Database engine tuning advisor for MS SQL Server
What is a database tuning advisor? Changing database design to a proper one makes it to perform better. One of the performance-critical areas of databases is proper table indexing and their usage. Database tuning advisor helps to decide if existing indexes are correct and if new indexes are required. This tool does not require an […]
Choosing the right encryption feature for SQL Server
Encryption is the process of encoding information to protect data from unauthorized access in different scenarios. There are many different encryption technologies offered by SQL Server and Azure SQL Database. This post shows these features to help you decide which technology to choose and combine them to provide a layered security approach. SSL Transport Encryption SQL Database, […]
Performance Tuning Report – 600% gain on disk reads!
SQL Server Index Tuning Example Speed improved by 600% Some SQL Server Consulting clients chose to tune databases periodically. Once we tune, I noticed sometimes it was hard to communicate the benefit achieved. We struggled a bit with reporting, which would communicate that was done. Quickly. So non-SQL Server person could understand. Here is a […]
Performance tuning report – Disk reads 35x faster!
Some customers care about SQL Performance Tuning so much that they use our database administrators for continuous Microsoft SQL Server performance tuning. This one of those clients. Problem Summary These stored procedures were running very frequently (multiple times per minute) and consuming many server resources (CPU, storage reads, and duration). The stored procedures were performing […]