LIKE with a leading wildcard reads the whole table. A small side table of words turns that scan into a quick lookup, and you do not need full-text installed.
SQL SERVER – Identify Columnstore Index Usage from Execution Plan
My two word Twitter reply was “From Operators,” so here is the full answer on how to spot columnstore index usage in the execution plan.
SQL SERVER – A Tricky Question and Even Trickier Answer – Index Intersection – Partition Function
Can one table, used once, give 2 join operators in an execution plan? Readers used ranking functions, and my own answer relies on index intersection.
Building an Org Chart Query With hierarchyid
Build an org chart with hierarchyid, query descendants and levels, move a team safely, and compare it with recursive queries.
Modeling Friends and Followers With SQL Server Graph Tables
Build SQL Server graph tables for follows, mutual connections and friends of friends, then use shortest paths and compare a junction table.
SQL SERVER – Cleaning Up SQL Server Indexes – Defragmentation, Fillfactor – Video
Cleaning up SQL Server indexes starts with fragmentation. Learn the two types, when to reorganize or rebuild, and how fillfactor fits in.
SQL SERVER – Online Index Rebuilding Index Improvement in SQL Server 2012
Online index rebuilding with VARCHAR(MAX) or NVARCHAR(MAX) columns failed in SQL Server 2008. SQL Server 2012 changes that, and here is my test.