Month: October 2018

How Much Will Compression Really Gain Me in SQL Server?

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Did you know compression can gain you more than just space on a disk, it can allow you to fit more data into the buffer pool? That means queries have faster and more efficient reads which can help reduce I/O. It is a performance tool I highly recommend you consider for your environments. But how do you know how much compression savings you can gain? SQL Server gives you a handy system stored procedure sp_estimate_data_compression_savings that will help you calculate compression gains. It’s a great tool to use when trying to decide if compression is right for your environment and… Continue Reading

Keeping Large Table Statistics Current -TF2371

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Statistics are the magic ingredient that helps the query optimizer create its best guess for generating an execution plan. Keeping statistics as accurate as possible will give the optimizer the information it uses to calculate estimated costs and cardinality, which enables it to properly allocate resources such as memory grants. In this blog I am not going to go into what statistics are and how they are used. There are many great resources out there to read, I am however going to tell you about a trace flag that can help you with keeping your large table statistics up to… Continue Reading

How to Start Speaking

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At the last few events I attended, I’ve gotten into conversations on how to begin as a speaker. So I thought I’d share some of my advice that I provided to them. First and foremost, get your first talk scheduled. Reach out to your local user group and ask to be “penciled” in for a meeting a few months out. Giving yourself a goal and deadline is essential to putting yourself out there to speak. Next, write down ten topics you may want to speak on. Narrow down that list to five by thinking about what you would be most… Continue Reading

SQL Server Data Collection and Management Data Warehouse

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We all have the need to collect system and performance information regarding our SQL Servers. Some of us use third-party tools, SQL Trace, or a homegrown solution.  Did you know Microsoft has a built-in tool to help you accomplish this? It’s called Data Collection and the data it collects (collection sets) is stored in a relational Management Data Warehouse. The data collected is used to generate reports giving us in with very readable and useful insights to our servers. Not only can you get performance information, but you can also use SQL Profiler to export trace definition and create custom… Continue Reading