Size Matters: Table Rows and Database Data Pages

I’m on my way to the PASS Business Analytics conference today. If you are attending, and you are reading this blog post, come find me and Rob Collie (blog | @powerpivotpro) during the welcome reception on Wednesday night; we’d love to talk data. Speaking of data…I was finishing up a session at the Colorado Springs SQL Saturday recently … Read more

Slides From Reno SQL Server User Group Available

Well, I finally joined Slideshare. Here are the slides from my most recent presentation (Database Design, Size DOES Matter!) to the SQL Server User Group in Reno, Nevada last week: I’m going to see about pushing many of my presentations to Slideshare in the coming months. I like the idea of Slideshare, just not sure … Read more

It’s Christmas: 3 Ways To Be Wise About Your Rowsize

Empty space. That’s what you have inside your database, I’m certain of it. I am also certain that you can take steps to avoid having large amounts of empty space inside of your database. The first step, as always, is admitting you have a problem. In this case that means you need to know how … Read more

How To: Right-sizing The Datatypes Currently In The Buffer Pool

Recently I shared a piece of code that would help you to right size the datatypes inside of a database. I’ve received a lot of feedback since that post and it has spurred me to think a little bit deeper on the topic of datatypes and performance. The script I shared only examined whats are … Read more

Does This Datatype Make My Column Look Fat?

Last Wednesday I delivered a webinar for Confio titled “Database Design: Size DOES Matter”. I had a piece of code at the end that evaluated defined datatypes to the current data values in those columns. The idea being that if a column is defined as BIGINT but contains values that are best defined as a … Read more

Database Design: Size DOES Matter Recording Available

The recording of my recent webinar for Confio has been made available and you can go here to register to watch (registration required, but it is FREE). Here is the abstract: “Great database performance starts with great database design. During the design process it is important to select your SQL Server datatypes wisely. Failure to do … Read more