John Sansom – SQL Server DBA in the UK Rotating Header Image

Posts under ‘Performance Tuning’

Automate SQL Server Index Defragmentation,Optimisation

This week I came across what could quite possibly be, the best SQL Server index defrag script I have seen. This little beauty is fully customisable and is freely available courtesy of Michelle Ufford (aka SQL Fool) on her blog SQLFool.com As you know, it is just not practical to use a SQL Server Maintenance [...]

SQL Server Memory Configuration, Determining MemToLeave Settings

Determining the appropriate memory configuration for a SQL Server platform is a task that all database administrators are required to perform. It is essential to ensuring that an appropriate level of performance can be provided. I am going to discuss some of the additional memory configuration tweaking that you may wish to undertake so that [...]

Performance Comparison of (SELECT TOP 1) Verses MAX()

I recently came across a post on Stackoverflow regarding the performance of using a SELECT TOP 1 query in comparison to using the MAX() function. My initial thoughts on this were that the MAX() function would provide the best performance however, in order to be absolutely certain and prove my initial hypothesis I decided to [...]

Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins

No matter how good a T-SQL programmer you think you are, it is always good to revisit the basics every once in a while and to ensure that you keep your high quality coding standards in check. One of my favourite series of articles regarding good T-SQL coding practices is by Jeff Moden over at [...]