One thing I’ve always loved about the Scooby-Doo cartoon is that he never solved a mystery alone. Scooby and Shaggy could sniff out a clue between snacks, but it always took the rest of the Mystery Inc. gang to crack the mystery. Velma helped with her smarts, Fred with the traps, and Daphne with spotting the overlooked details—all of them used their skills to actually catch the villain. And sometimes, they even brought in special guests, such as Batman, the Harlem Globetrotters, or Don Knotts, to help tackle the really tricky cases. Performance tuning in SQL Server works the same way. The Tunnel Vision Trap When you’re buried in a…
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If there’s one thing I’ve learned in consulting, it’s that SQL Server, and other database performance tuning isn’t just about faster queries—it’s directly tied to your bottom line in the cloud. Databases, because of their large memory and IO footprint are some of the most expensive cloud resources. Every extra read, every bloated execution plan, every oversized tier you’re running? That’s money disappearing faster than Scooby Snacks at a midnight ghost chase. So, grab your Scooby-Doo hat, because it’s time to solve the mystery of runaway cloud costs. Clue 1: Start with Query Store – Your Map of Clues Every good mystery starts with clues, and in SQL Server (and…
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I am honored to be a Guest Blogger at SQLPerformance.com. As a member of the SentryOne Product Advisory Council (PAC) I will be writing occasionally for the site. You can catch my first blog post It’s Not You It’s Me (I/O Troubleshooting) through simple changes. SQLPerformance.com is about providing innovative and practical solutions for improving SQL Server performance. Whether you are running a 3rd party application database where very little can be changed, or you are a DBA at a site where getting the application developers to change anything is next to impossible, they cover both the “how” and the “why.”
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How many of you are known as the “Grumpy DBA” or have a bad reputation with users because you are always saying no or they have to wait? I know many DBAs that have this reputation. To avoid this, I use my manager as a shield and suggest you do too. As a Lone DBA, with an extremely full plate, I learned that having that shield is necessary. It prevents me from being seen as the bad guy and protects me from work overload. We all experience what I call, “Drive Bys”, when people are asking for stuff on the fly. Telling someone “No” while they are waiting in your office can be…
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As most of you know, I have been a Lone DBA for 15+ years and during that time I have learned a thing or two about how to survive on my own in relatively large environments. One of those things is knowing when to admit you cannot do it all. Working alone on 56 servers you can imagine how the workload can seem insurmountable. There are times when in one week I will do 70+ tasks, not including project work and daily monitoring. To manage and get this type of workload accomplish you have to learn to work smarter not harder. That’s when you have to enlist help and hire…
