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Every cook in the kitchen stands at the pie case waiting on a pie the bowling league reserved, so a new order goes untouched. In the last panel Casey hands the league the pie and all six cooks burst away in every direction: "We weren't short of cooks. We were stuck on pie!"

THREADPOOL Wait Stats: When Worker Threads Run Out

February 16, 2011
Pinal Dave
SQL Performance
SQL CPU, SQL DMV, SQL Lock, SQL Wait Stats

THREADPOOL wait stats mean a task is waiting for a worker thread because every worker is already busy. On Night 16 at the Clipboard Diner, every cook holds a ticket that can’t move, and nobody is free to take a new order. Then two queries show how close your server is to its worker limit, and how to get in when nobody else can.

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A softball team pays but keeps booth 7 and its reserved card, and three parties end up waiting in a chain behind it. In the last panel Casey offers coffee at the counter and every waiting party drops into a seat like falling dominoes: "They paid at 8:15. They never handed back the card."

LCK_M Wait Stats: Lock Waits and Blocking

February 15, 2011
Pinal Dave
SQL Performance
SQL DMV, SQL Lock, SQL Transactions, SQL Wait Stats

LCK_M wait stats show how long queries wait for a lock that another session holds. On Night 15 at the Clipboard Diner, a party in booth 7 pays and then won’t leave, and three parties wait behind it. Then two queries find the blocking chain and its head blocker on your own server.

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During the Saturday rush Casey asks each ticket what it waits for, finds three orders stuck behind a finished party in the corner booth, and clears the booth so Ace can fire all three plates. Casey says, "The quiet booth was the head blocker."

Live Wait Stats: What Is Waiting Right Now

February 4, 2011
Pinal Dave
SQL Performance
SQL DMV, SQL Lock, SQL Scripts, SQL Wait Stats

Live wait stats show what every request in SQL Server is waiting on at this moment, and who is in its way. On Night 4 at the Clipboard Diner, the Saturday rush stalls behind a party in booth 7 that isn’t waiting for anything. Then three queries find the waiting tasks, the head blocker and one session’s own waits.

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A bakery counter where cooled loaves are sold from the shelf while a fresh tray cools on a rack behind the counter.

Loading a Fact Table Without Blocking Reports

January 20, 2011
Pinal Dave
SQL Tips and Tricks
Data Warehousing, ETL, SQL Lock, SQL Server, Table Partitioning

Loading a fact table without blocking reports calls for isolated staging, aligned partition switching, short locks, and a tested reader path.

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A hand searching a tin of jumbled buttons for a matching set, an empty compartment tray beside it.

Indexing Foreign Keys

May 19, 2010
Pinal Dave
SQL Performance
SQL Constraint and Keys, SQL Index, SQL Lock, SQL Server

Indexing foreign keys can speed joins and parent deletes when child-side indexes are missing; learn how to find gaps and test write tradeoffs.

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SQL SERVER - Difference Between Update Lock and Exclusive Lock

SQL SERVER – Difference Between Update Lock and Exclusive Lock

February 15, 2010
Pinal Dave
SQL Interview Questions and Answers
SQL Lock

What is the difference between Update Lock and Exclusive Lock? An Update Lock can sit on a row that has a Shared Lock, then turns Exclusive when it writes.

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An unattended hay wagon stands in the middle of a narrow stone bridge while a line of cyclists waits behind it.

Following a Blocking Chain to the Head Blocker

November 27, 2009
Pinal Dave
SQL Performance
DBA, SQL DMV, SQL Lock, SQL Transactions

Follow SQL Server blocking_session_id through a blocking chain, identify the head blocker, and choose a safe ending for the wait.

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