Make SQL Server monitoring useful by relating waits, batch activity, memory indicators, and file latency to the same workload and observation window.
Peak Concurrency: The Busiest Moment From Start and End Times
Counting sessions per day tells you nothing about overlap. Here is a small event-sweep query that finds the busiest moment, with the tie trap explained.
Pulling Values Out of Text With REGEXP_SUBSTR and REGEXP_INSTR
Extract codes with REGEXP_SUBSTR in SQL Server 2025, locate matches, select occurrences and capture groups, and validate text boundaries.
How to check the ANSI Compatibility of SQL Server Queries? – Interview Question of the Week #221
How do you check the ANSI compatibility of SQL Server queries? A client asked me this unique question, and the FIPS standard helps keep your code portable.
Many-to-Many Merge Join and the Worktable in STATISTICS IO
Diagnose a many-to-many merge join and its worktable, verify true uniqueness, and compare join choices without changing legitimate matches.
Splitting an Amount Across Rows Without Losing a Cent
Make splitting an amount preserve every cent by checking rounded shares, allocating weighted remainders, and documenting deterministic ties.
Plan Properties Window: Where the Useful Numbers Hide
The execution plan picture only shows the shape. The properties window shows what really happened, and I walk through it on a tiny example.