Top 3 Performance Killers For Linked Server Queries

Top 3 Performance Killers For Linked Server Queries

One thing I have noticed in all my years as a data professional: few users understand (or care) how far away they are from their data. Quite often they expect instant results from their queries. They don’t understand the upper bounds of resources like network bandwidth, the speed of light, and that the data is … Read more

How To: Troubleshoot Deadlocks In Windows Azure SQL Database (WASD)

On my way back from SQLBits this past Sunday I spent some time drafting a handful of blog posts. One of the posts was on troubleshooting deadlocks in Windows Azure SQL Database (WASD). Imagine my surprise when I went through my RSS feeds today and found this blog post from Chris Skorlinski, written just last … Read more

Doing It Wrong: Virtualizing SQL Server

Doing It Wrong: Virtualizing SQL Server

I’ve been involved in a virtualization projects for almost ten years now. In that time I’ve had the opportunity to track my own list of “best practice” items. It’s a list I share freely with clients and customers that seek me out for virtualization advice. I can tell that virtualization (and Cloud) efforts are on … Read more

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