Something Smells: Parameter Sniffing

Parameter sniffing is an aspect of SQL Server that is typically viewed as a bad thing. The simple fact is that SQL Server uses parameter sniffing all the time, that’s how SQL Server works. It is only those times when parameter sniffing results in performance issues that people (naturally) complain. It’s a lot like lawyers. It only … Read more

TPC-VMS Benchmark To Compare Virtual Workloads

This past November the Transaction Processing Performance Council (the TPC) released a new benchmark, the TPC-VMS. If you are interested in the details you can download the PDF by clicking here. The TPC benchmarks have been the industry standard when it comes to benchmarking database performance. As more companies move towards virtualization solutions the standard TPC … Read more

I Bet Firefighters Would Make Great DBAs

If your house were on fire who would you call? Would you call the architect first? Or would you call the fire department? Of course you would. Yet when your application performance is so poor as to be unusable, who do you call first? The architect? No! You call the database administrator. We’re the ones to … Read more

10 Ways to Avoid Datatype Mismatches

How well do you know your data? I’m not talking about user names, passwords, or credit card numbers. I don’t expect you to know the values stored inside the rows and tables of your database (although I *was* once called out for not knowing such details so apparently there are some people out there that … 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

Why Datatypes Matter: 3 Ways They Can Hurt Performance

Great database performance starts with great database design. I have yet to meet someone to argue with that statement. I have, however, met many a database that has a less than optimal design. Sometimes this is due to the evolution of the database; it was built for one purpose and it is now being used … Read more