Fundamentals · Recorded class · Taught by Brent Ozar
Fundamentals of Index Tuning 2026
Make all of your queries go faster by building the right indexes.
$195 one payment · recordings through Dec 31, 2026
Buy the recording See what’s inside ↓
One payment, no auto-renew, no refunds. Or get all 10 Fundamentals recordings for $695: Recorded Class Season Pass: Fundamentals →
What you’ll learn
Indexes that match the queries you actually run.
- How SQL Server decides which index to use, and why it ignores yours.
- Designing indexes for WHERE, ORDER BY, and JOINs, one query at a time.
- Setting defaults and maintaining indexes across a whole server, not one table.
Who it’s for
Developers and DBAs who have added an index because a tool told them to, and aren’t sure it helped.
Curriculum · Every lecture
What’s inside
- About 8 hours
- 4 sections
- 15 lectures
- Taught by Brent Ozar
Before the Class
- Introductions 15:08
- Prerequisites
- Change Log for This Class
- Download the Slides & Demos
The Most Important Index Internals
- Setting Good Defaults for New Tables 53:31
- Reading SQL Server’s Missing Index Requests 26:49
- How to Visualize Index Contents 30:33
Designing Indexes for Individual Queries
- Designing Indexes for the WHERE Clause 30:03
- Brent Does Your First Hands-On Lab 59:04
- Designing Indexes for ORDER BY 24:58
- Designing Indexes for JOINs 40:46
Designing and Maintaining Indexes at Scale
- Designing Indexes at Scale 55:11
- How to Maintain Databases in 2026 40:19
- Recapping What You Learned 9:52
- Brent Does the Final Lab 65:14
This class is included in…
Or get all of them.
4 bundles contain this class. Every one is cheaper than buying its classes one at a time, and the recorded passes are about half.
Recorded bundle · 10 classes
Recorded Class Season Pass: Fundamentals
Access through Dec 31, 2026. Every class links to its own page and full curriculum.
$1,950
$695
bought separately · save 64%
Recorded bundle · 13 classes
Recorded Class Season Pass: Fundamentals + Mastering
Access through Dec 31, 2026. Every class links to its own page and full curriculum.
$4,335
$2,195
bought separately · save 49%
Fundamentals · Live class
Fundamentals Week
Live Fundamentals of Index, Query, and Server Tuning, plus the Recorded Class Season Pass: Fundamentals (all 10 recordings), through Dec 31, 2027.
$1,495 one payment
Registration opens October 1, 2026Live Class Season Pass 2027
One pass. Every class. All year.
Fundamentals Week and all three Mastering classes, live, every rotation through Feb 2028. Plus the Recorded Class Season Pass: Fundamentals + Mastering (all 13 recordings) the minute you buy, and your name in the alumni directory.
$4,395 one payment
Registration opens October 1, 2026Prerequisites & logistics
The fine print, in regular-size type.
- Labs (optional)
- Your own SQL Server lab (any edition, or Azure SQL DB / Amazon RDS) with the Stack Overflow database, or rent a lab VM. Labs are optional; the lectures stand on their own.
- Access
- Recordings through Dec 31, 2026, on training.brentozar.com. One payment, no auto-renew.
- Refunds
- None. Watch the free previews and read the curriculum above first; that’s what it’s there for.
- Purchase orders
- Accepted for 10 or more seats; email help@brentozar.com for a quote. Everything else goes through the website by credit card.
Free, 3× a week
3 posts a week, in your inbox
Plus a Monday roundup of my favorite database news from around the web. No fluff, occasional jokes.
Questions first
Not sure this is the one?
Email help@brentozar.com and tell me what’s slow. It’s me answering, and I’d rather sell you the right class than the biggest one.
Email me