Free SQL Server help, 3× a week
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.
Browse the classesLive classes
Get first dibs (and the early-bird price) the moment registration opens.
Need hands-on help? SQL Critical Care® — my 2-day server assessment that finds the root cause and hands you the fix.
See consultingIn my free How to Think Like the Engine class, I gloss over the entire concept of B-trees and just hand-wavily say "SQL Server can seek to the page that has the row you're looking for." That's always kinda bothered me, so I finally gave in to temptation and whipped up an animated example of a clustered index on the Users table:
I was in Rome to attend a teaching conference, and my AirBnB had the most beautiful view overlooking Rome and Vatican City. While having my morning coffee, I went through your top-voted questions from https://pollgab.com/room/brento - and I didn't go through many questions because some of them required really long answers, and I had a great time with those.
From now on, I'm going to be releasing annual versions of the First Responder Kit, starting with this one, which I'm calling the First Responder Kit 2026. I'll still release more frequently on Github, but I won't be blogging about it here. I want to make it easier for folks who don't update that often.…
Tomorrow's your last day to join about a dozen of your closest friends - well, you're gonna be close soon - attending my live online fall rotation of all-new classes, starting with next week's Fundamentals Week 2026:
Fundamentals Week - July 13-17 - covering Fundamentals of Index Tuning, Query Tuning, and Server Tuning
Mastering Index Tuning - Aug 31-Sept 4
Mastering Query Tuning - Sept 28-Oct 2
Mastering Server Tuning - Oct 19-23
