Gregory Larsen

In order to keep your SQL Server up and running smoothly you need to constantly be performing routine maintenance and monitoring work.  If you do not keep a watchful eye over your SQL Server instances performance and stability might suffer.  Or worse yet you might not be able to recover your server should you have […]

There are lots of things to think about when you design a physical database.   What data types should I use?  What column is appropriate for the primary key? Are there particular indexes that I should use to improve performance? How should I implement data integrity rules?  This list goes on and on.  In this article […]

When you are considering performance tuning, what do you look for? There are many things that can affect SQL Server performance: CPU usage, I/O, memory utilization, bad execution plans, inappropriate or missing indexes, and so on. The one thing I tend to find most often when a query is slow is due to the amount […]

Do you find yourself managing lots of SQL Server instances? If so you might find you are connected to many different instances and have numerous query windows open that are connected to different instances. When you have lots of query windows open, do you sometimes find it confusing to know the instance in which your […]

Are your index statistics up to date? The SQL Server database engine uses statistics to determine which execution plan to use when a query is compiled. Index statistics are used to help the SQL Server engine determine the cardinality of different column values in a SQL Server table. If you want to give SQL Server […]

A few months back I wrote an article on monitoring SQL Server performance. In that article, I defined 10 counters you should watch and monitor when looking at your SQL Server performance. One of my readers asked how you might programmatically collect these counter values. This was a great question, so in this article I […]

Do you have a list of SQL Server Counters you review when monitoring your SQL Server environment? Counters allow you a method to measure current performance, as well as performance over time. Identifying the metrics you like to use to measure SQL Server performance and collecting them over time gives you a quick and easy […]

In my last article I discussed identity columns. In that article I discussed one programming issue associated with explicitly setting an identity column while inserting data into a table. In this article I will be expanding the programming discussion to explore other programming considerations when working with identity columns. Obtaining Current Identity Column Value When […]

In my last article I talked about the difference between surrogate keys and natural keys. In that article I discussed how surrogate keys are made up keys, meaning they do not appear naturally in the data. In this article I will be showing you how to generate those surrogate keys using an identity column. I […]

When designing a database to support applications you need to consider how you are going to handle primary keys. This article explores natural and surrogate keys, and discusses the pros and cons of each, allowing you to determine what makes the best sense in your environment when you are designing your databases. When designing a […]

As a Database Administrator, you need to consider setting up your environment to do instant file initialization. This article explains what instant file initialization is, why it is important, and shows you how to set it up. Additionally, we demonstrate how not setting it up can adversely affect your database performance. As a Database Administrator, […]

If you cannot afford a third-party tool that can capture database performance metrics or don’t want to roll your own solution, then using T-SQL to collect some performance metrics for SQL Server may be your solution. . What method do you use to determine how well your server is performing overtime? Do you know what […]