Month: February 2013

What’s Better: Disabling vs. Dropping Indexes?

Last Updated April 2, 2021

In order to improve your applications and your databases, they will need to change over time. The structure of the database changes, the structure of the tables change, the data in the tables change, the application changes, the queries against the data change. Indexes that once helped performance now just bloat your database and cause extra work…

Rolling Averages in SQL Server

Last Updated May 8, 2013

Jeremiah Peschka

SQL Server

Aggregate functions are convenient – they solve a business need and they make development easy. Unfortunately, not all business requirements are so easy to solve. Let’s look at one example: rolling averages. The Rolling Average A rolling average is a simple concept; an average is computed over a fixed subset of data. Rolling average calculations…

How Does SQL Server Store Data?

Last Updated July 13, 2017

Brent Ozar

SQL Server

Let’s step back and take a look at the big picture. (Today, I’m writing for beginners, so you advanced gurus can go ahead and close the browser now. I’m going to simplify things and leave a lot out in order to get some main points across. Don’t well-actually me.) Microsoft SQL Server databases are stored…

7 Things Developers Should Know About SQL Server

Last Updated April 3, 2022

Brent Ozar

Development, SQL Server

164

Hi. I’m a former developer who’s moved into database administration, and here’s what I wish somebody would have told me when I got started. 7. SQL functions rarely perform well. Good developers like to reuse code by putting it into functions, and then calling those functions from multiple places. That’s a great practice in the…

Why You Should Care About Lori’s New Job

Last Updated February 13, 2017

Brent Ozar

Blogging, SQL Server

Right now is an incredible time to do what you love. Take this one-minute video from Red Bull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRWYNUvGohY It’s chock full of people doing cool, crazy stuff that they’re absolutely passionate about – skating, dancing, shooting hoops, singing – all the stuff the cool kids do. Red Bull’s logo is scattered in throughout the…

Why We’re Offering Training for Developers

Last Updated February 12, 2013

Brent Ozar

SQL Server

DBAs have been asking me, “Brent, why do you have a book of Lady Gaga photos on your standing desk?” Also, “Brent, why are you guys offering training for developers instead of training for DBAs? Have you lost your minds? Why have you crossed over to the other side? Have you forgotten that we know…

The Fastest Query is the One You Never Make

Last Updated February 9, 2017

Brent Ozar

Licensing, SQL Server

When someone brings me a query to tune, I start with a few questions: How long does it take to run now? I’m looking for a time at first, and later as I progress through tuning, I’ll measure it more scientifically with logical reads and CPU cycles. How long would you like it to take? …

Hive Data Warehouse: Lessons Learned (video)

Last Updated February 9, 2013

Jeremiah Peschka

SQL Server

Your company is considering a data warehouse and you’re unsure where to start; with so many tools on the market, it can be difficult to pick a solution. Jeremiah Peschka has designed and deployed several data warehouses using Hive to scale flexibly with data volume and query complexity. Learn what Jeremiah has found in real-life…

Our 2-Day SQL Server Class in Atlanta in May!

Last Updated August 18, 2021

Brent Ozar

SQL Server

You’re a developer stuck managing a SQL Server that you don’t really understand. Why is it slow? You’ve got a hunch that it’s not really your queries, but you’re not quite sure. You’ve tried adding indexes, but you’re not confident that they’re the right ones. The hardware guys say they don’t see a problem, but…

The DBA Comics: @DBAreactions

Last Updated February 3, 2013

Brent Ozar

SQL Server

Database administration is an unusual job because nobody understands what we do. You know how you get all frustrated when certain things happen, but nobody else understands what you’re thinking? Yeah, me too. I give you @DBAreactions: Twitter and Tumblr. We’ve been working on it for the last few weeks, and we’re having more fun…