DBCC TRACESTATUS checks trace flag status. Run it with -1 to list every flag that is on, or with flag numbers to test them one by one. This post turns on a harmless session flag, reads its scope, finds startup flags, and stores the result in a table.
Table Usage in the Plan Cache: Count Queries That Touch a Table
Table usage in the plan cache shows how many times the cached queries of a database touched each table. This post builds a demo database, shows why a text search of the cache misleads, reads the table names from the plan XML, and lists the queries behind one table.
Quartiles With PERCENTILE_CONT and NTILE
Compare quartiles from PERCENTILE_CONT with NTILE row buckets, calculate interquartile range, and flag candidates beyond 1.5 IQR.
percent_complete: Which Commands Show Real Progress
percent_complete tells you how far a running command has come, but only some commands fill it in. This post times eleven commands on SQL Server 2025, shows which ones report real progress and which stay at 0, and adds a way to watch the silent ones.
SQL SERVER – Delayed Durability and Flushing Log Files
Flushing with sys.sp_flush_log hardens preceding committed delayed-durable transactions in the current database. I use delayed durability only with an accepted tradeoff.
Parameters of sp_who2: Active, Session ID and the Login Trap
The parameters of sp_who2 are one optional value that can be a session ID, the word active or a login name. This post counts the rows each form returns, shows that the login form does not filter, and explains the errors.
Disable Row Goal in SQL Server: When the Hint Helps and When It Hurts
To disable row goal for one query, add the DISABLE_OPTIMIZER_ROWGOAL hint to it. This post builds a table where the row goal chooses a bad plan, shows the reads with and without the hint, and then shows a table where the row goal wins.
Number of Rows Read in an Execution Plan: What It Tells You
The number of rows read shows how many rows a scan or seek touched, and it can be far larger than the rows it returned. This post builds a demo table, compares a scan with two seeks, and explains why a seek can still read too many rows.
DBREINDEX and MAXDOP: Use ALTER INDEX to Limit Parallelism
DBREINDEX and MAXDOP do not combine: DBCC DBREINDEX has no MAXDOP option, so it follows the server setting. This post shows the three errors, rebuilds a demo index with ALTER INDEX at different MAXDOP values, and measures the degree of parallelism each one used.
Instance Level Fill Factor or Index Level: What to Set
An instance level fill factor is a default for every index that sets none, and an index level setting wins. This post reads the setting, measures what each fill factor costs in pages and saves in page splits, and gives a plan for choosing the level.