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Three blog posts a week, plus a Monday roundup of my favorite database news from around the web. No fluff, occasional jokes.
Recorded classes
The Fundamentals of Index Tuning, Query Tuning, and Server Tuning have all been updated as of July 2026, reflecting the latest advancements in the First Responder Kit, AI, and SQL Server 2025. They're perfect for folks who have never been to a formal training class, but are responsible for performance on SQL Server, Azure SQL DB, and Amazon RDS.
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Need hands-on help? SQL Critical Care® — my 2-day server assessment that finds the root cause and hands you the fix.
See consultingSo your company read my post about 5 reasons you should hire Richie Rump, and you checked out his web site and his LinkedIn. Now, your HR department wants to do a reference check with me. Alright, let's get it over with!
Would you hire him again?
Got a few minutes? Close that dating app and pay attention.
Check out this little SQL swipe quiz: "Well, Actually..."
This week's top-voted questions from https://pollgab.com/room/brento finds us opening ChatGPT multiple times! It's fun to show how I use it, and what it thinks of me.
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You've heard that page splits are bad, and they're an indication that your table design is making your storage work too hard. You've heard that the right answer to fix it is adjusting fill factor lower, or doing regular index maintenance.
Before you watch the below animation, you'll wanna get up to speed with how index seeks work. Then, let's explain page splits with an animation:
