When should you use sort_in_tempdb for rebuilding indexes? A DBA asked me in a Health Check, and the simple answer is when TempDB sits on fast, separate drives.
The Ascending Key Problem: Estimates for Today’s New Rows
Diagnose ascending key estimates with histogram boundaries, modification counts, and controlled comparisons before updating statistics.
How to Track Autogrowth of Any Database? – Interview Question of the Week #205
How do you track autogrowth of any database? Constant autogrowth was slowing a client’s busy e-commerce database, and here is how we found when and who caused it.
How to Create an Empty Table and Fool Optimizer to Believe It Contains Data? – Interview Question of the Week #204
How do you create an empty table and fool the optimizer into thinking it has data? Nobody asked me that in 20 years, but I use this trick in Health Checks.
Diagnosing Blocking Chains With sys.dm_exec_requests
Trace blocking chains from active requests to a candidate head session, inspect sleeping transactions, and verify the owner before action.
Multi-Statement Table-Valued Functions and Interleaved Execution
See how interleaved execution corrects estimates for multi-statement table-valued functions and when an inline rewrite wins.
Video – Bert & Pinal Troubleshoot a Slow Performing SQL Server
At my 10th PASS Summit, Bert Wagner and I recorded a video on how to troubleshoot a slow performing SQL Server. Here it is, with a little of the story behind it.