SQL Server network latency can make a fast database look slow. An application that fetches 4,000 orders one query at a time pays for every round trip. I measured the loop against one query, tested what ASYNC_NETWORK_IO means, and show how to check your own round trip time.
AI Row Count Estimates Come From Nothing
AI row count estimates arrive with tremendous confidence. Cardinal said four hundred. The query returned nine million.
Outdated Statistics in SQL Server: The Optimizer Is Planning for Last Year
Outdated statistics in SQL Server can slow a query even when its code has not changed. On SQL Server 2025 with the legacy estimator, a stale statistic sent one join to 120,043 logical reads, and a targeted update brought it down to 18,220. Auto update helps, but it waits for a threshold, it samples, and it knows nothing about the rows that arrived today.
Full, Differential and Log Backups: A Practical Guide
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.
Eleven SQL Server Interview Questions That Look Far Too Easy
These eleven SQL Server interview questions look far too easy, and every one of them has stopped somebody senior.
Cost Optimization That Never Reaches the Invoice
SQL Server cost optimization has a problem nobody puts on the slide. The savings are real, and none of it reaches the invoice.
Nine Unusual Ways My Clients Use AI With SQL Server
Everyone writes about AI generating queries. Here are nine unusual ways my clients use AI with SQL Server, and I helped build every one.