What Students are Saying About My Latest Classes

I’ve been hard at work improving my training classes with a few fun new add-ons, like a new custom chat room with interactive polls and quizzes. You can earn Query Bucks for doing a great job on your hands-on lab homework or nailing the quizzes, and your Query Bucks score is shown on your public Alumni page. The new interactive features are paying off, too – here’s what students have said in the last month alone:

“I thought I understood Index and query tuning before I started the fundamentals course, but I was wrong. Thanks to Brent, I’ve cleared a bunch of dead wood from my indexes and managed to reduce my overall database size to half of what it once was. The query tuning knowledge I gained allowed me to get a 20% increase in performance from our application.”
— Mark Voisine, Fundamentals Week 2026, 2026-11-11

“In the past, I attended your freeware version of Fundamentals Week. I had an awareness of how it works (to be honest, I had no opportunity to use it). But this week was so amazing. I obtained a lot of information in more detail. The bonus is that I used your information directly in my projects immediately. I really appreciate that your examples are very simple and understandable. Also, typing the code directly through the class is very teachable. All the informations those I noticed that week is very usable to me.”
— Martin Starzyk, Fundamentals Week 2026, 2026-11-11

“Reading Execution Plans – One of the most valuable takeaways from the Fundamentals classes has been a better understanding of how to read execution plans and address the issues they reveal. Finding troublesome queries is one thing; knowing how to fix them is another. These classes have given me greater confidence in my ability to do both. I recognize that I still have a lot to learn, and I’m looking forward to building on that knowledge in the Mastering classes.”
— Kelly Windsor, Fundamentals Week 2026, 2026-11-11

“After taking this class, I feel more confident about troubleshooting problem SQL Servers. The class armed me with a set of tools to use as well as a general process to follow which will be very helpful to apply at my job.”
— Phillip Litchfield, Fundamentals Week 2026, 2026-11-07

“I now understand execution plans, and I have less fear of reading them. Earlier it was always a huge amount of info which I didn’t understand.”
— Rohan Purane, Fundamentals Week 2026, 2026-11-07

“Hi Brent! Thanks for the opportunity to learn more about SQL Server. I’ve been a physical DBA for many years (building systems and infrastructure, backups/recovery, high availability, etc) and never spent the time and effort to focus on index and query tuning. While I’m not feeling expert level, yet, I now have a methodology that I can follow to troubleshoot indexes and queries. With practice and the upcoming mastering classes I am looking forward to embracing with gusto this additional facet of the DBA life.”
— Randy Loeschner, Fundamentals Week 2026, 2026-11-08

“Eye opening learning and recommend for any SQL Server DBA.”
— Suren Gupta, Mastering Server Tuning 2026, 2026-10-28

“I feel I have a better grasp on using the First Responders tool kit more effectively to tune queries. I need practice, practice, practice though. The way SQL Server creates execution plans can be a bit cryptic to say the least. You brought some clarity to that. I didn’t realize how bad my ability to interpret them was until I took your class. I need to go back and review and continue improving the skill.”
— Dan Griswold, Fundamentals Week 2026, 2026-11-09

“I am better in analyzing the server. I am more confident in creating indexes and tuning queries. I know the tools with which I can try to get accurate estimates. I know the lies in the execution plan and what I can believe there and what I should better ignore.”
— Ozan Kahraman, Fundamentals Week 2026, 2026-11-09

“This is for the whole collection of tuning classes, not just Mastering Server Tuning. After the foundation and mastering classes, I better understand how to read the query plans. I understand how bad estimations in those plans can create bad plans and ways to fix them. I know about forced parameterization, how it can help group query plans so you can find the problems, how it can reduce CPU usage, and how it can blow up in your face when parameter sniffing becomes a problem. This isn’t an extensive list, just what jumps to mind.”
— Samuel Swanner, Mastering Server Tuning 2026, 2026-10-24

These classes are wildly different than any other SQL Server courses you might have taken before, either in-person or online. We have fun, and we learn practical stuff that you can use the very next day to make your servers go faster.

Right now, my classes are on sale for their lowest price all year: the recordings start at $295, and a Live Class Season Pass for $995 lets you attend my live classes all through 2027. See you in class!