Is Stream Aggregate is Same as Gather Streams of Parallelism? – This was one of the brilliant questions I had received during my recent engagement.
ENABLE_PARALLEL_PLAN_PREFERENCE Limits: Rows Per Thread
The ENABLE_PARALLEL_PLAN_PREFERENCE limits are easy to miss: the hint can’t make every query parallel, and it can’t spread rows evenly over the threads. This post proves three limits from the last actual plan of demo queries, with the rows each thread processed and the reason a plan stays serial.
SQL SERVER – Public Role Permissions and Effective Security Risk
Every database user belongs to Public and cannot be removed from that role. A reader asked whether the role should be eliminated.
Force a Parallel Plan: ENABLE_PARALLEL_PLAN_PREFERENCE Hint
To force a parallel plan for one query, add the ENABLE_PARALLEL_PLAN_PREFERENCE hint to its OPTION clause. This post shows why a cheap query stays serial, runs a demo query with and without the hint, proves the difference from the last actual plan, and explains why the hint belongs in a test and not in every query.
DBCC DBREINDEX: Replace It With ALTER INDEX in SQL Server
DBCC DBREINDEX still runs on SQL Server 2025, but it is deprecated, and ALTER INDEX does everything it did and more. This post rebuilds a fragmented demo table both ways, shows the options only ALTER INDEX has, and finds old uses of DBCC DBREINDEX in your own modules, Agent jobs and the deprecation counter.
How to Use a CASE Statement in the WHERE Clause? – Interview Question of the Week #239
Question: How to Use a CASE statement in the WHERE Clause? Answer: First of all – CASE is not a statement but rather an expression.
Read Heavy Workload or Write Heavy: Measure It in SQL Server
To tell a read heavy workload from a write heavy one, compare what the server reads with what it changes, and measure it over a window. This post counts reads and writes per table, reads the buffer and log counters with two snapshots, and explains what each lens misses.