SQL Performance Archives - Page 2 of 127 - SQL Authority with Pinal Dave

A library clerk filing one card into seven identical catalogues while a reader walks away with the exact book they wanted in a single step.

I Let AI Recommend SQL Server Indexes Across a Week of Queries

August 28, 2026

I let AI recommend SQL Server indexes across a week of queries, measured every number before and after, and the result was not the one I expected to write about.

Six panel office cartoon: a DBA says the nightly full backup has them covered, gets a 2am call, spends the night restoring 258 log files one at a time, and by morning has a full, differential, log and restore test schedule on the whiteboard

Full, Differential and Log Backups: A Practical Guide

August 25, 2026

Pinal Dave

SQL Performance

SQL Backup and Restore, SQL Performance, Transaction Log

Full, differential and log backups are easy to define and easy to get wrong at 2 AM. This animated guide shows which ones to restore, and in what order.

SQL Server Deadlock: Build One With Your Own Hands

August 4, 2026

Pinal Dave

SQL Performance

Deadlock, SQL Server

A SQL Server deadlock occurs when sessions form a cycle of dependencies and none can continue. This example lets you create the cycle, inspect it, and remove it.

Visual representation of database health check.

Database Performance Health Check: Six Months Slow, Fixed in 75 Minutes

July 21, 2026

Pinal Dave

SQL Performance

Comprehensive Database Performance Health Check, SQL Wait Stats

Six months of slow SQL, fixed in 75 minutes. See what a database performance health check finds, and how one focused 4-hour session ends the guessing.