In SQL Server 2017, when the query optimizer encounters code with a multi-statement TVF, the query optimizer will pause optimization, execute the TVF subtree to get a very accurate cardinality ...

Three important tools are now integrated into SQL Server 2000’s Query Analyzer. SQL Trace lets you trace code directly from a query window, without running the Profiler.

In part 1 of my SQL Server 2022 features series, you learned about the improvements to the cardinality estimator component of query optimization. In this installment, you will learn about another ...

One of the most common problems when running SQL Servers is slow queries. The help desk or database team usually hears that described as the application is slow or the database is slow. In the ...

SQL Server 2016 offers a new tool for performance tuning called Query Store. This holds metrics that let you quickly see when an execution plan change has negatively impacted the database.

SQL Server 2022 has more Intelligent Query Processing features to speed up existing workloads and database applications with what Khan calls “minimal implementation effort.” ...

While the last two versions of SQL Server focused on improving performance by offering new features, SQL Server 2016 looks inwards towards improving existing functionality.

As I discussed in an earlier column, SQL Server keeps a plan cached for each query it sees (assuming the query requires planning in the first place, of course). That's great for speeding up processing ...

SQL Server performance is slow. Users are complaining. Your boss wants to know what's going on and what you can do to improve SQL Server performance. Where do you start? Which SQL Server query should ...

Often, designing databases and speeding up SQL Server queries are treated as a kind of abstract problem: A just "Find this problem, apply this solution" approach to problem solving. In practice, ...