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.
Plan Cache Key Lookups: Finding the Worst Ones With XQuery
Not every key lookup needs fixing. Rank statements by reads, find the lookups with XQuery, then test the smallest index change on one call.
SQL Server Indexing Basics: SQL in Sixty Seconds #006
SQL Server indexing basics start with the query you want to help. The tests here use a 200,000 row table to compare a scan, a plain index and a covering index, show when SQL Server ignores an index, and measure what three extra indexes cost on an insert.
Indexing Basics Course: Learning SQL Server Performance
Vinod Kumar and I released an indexing basics course in 2012. This post keeps the original outline and cartoon, and adds tests on SQL Server 2025 for four of its practical topics: column order, functions on indexed columns, filtered indexes and disabled indexes.