Recorded Class Season Pass: Fundamentals

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

Before the Class

• Prerequisites
• Change Log for This Class
• Introductions 1:27
• Download the Slides & Demos

How Plans Get Built

• How SQL Server Builds Query Plans 51:24
• Good Defaults for New Apps 30:04
• Tools to Improve Cardinality Estimation 92:02
• Execution Plans are Lying Liars 39:27

Recap

• Class Recap 7:31

Lab, Improving Cardinality Estimation

• Lab Setup 2:51
• Fixing usp_RptUsersByName 22:16
• Fixing usp_UsersOutracingMe 12:51
• Fixing usp_RptControversialPosts 20:08
• Fixing usp_YouVsJonSkeet 11:30

Before the Class

• Prerequisites
• Change Log for This Class
• Download the Slides & Demos
• Introductions and Lab Setup 9:55

Class Modules

• Measuring Your SQL Server 56:27
• When CX Is Your Top Wait Type 30:52
• When PAGEIOLATCH Is Your Top Wait Type 39:07
• Recap 7:42
• Brent Does the Hands-On Lab 15:18

Before the Class

• 0.1 Prerequisites Before the Class
• 0.2 How to Set Up Your Own Lab Server

How Columnstore Works

• 01 How Columnstore Data is Stored
• 02 How Columnstore Data is Deleted, Updated, and Inserted
• 03 How Columnstore Data Is Selected
• 04 How Columnstore Data is Rebuilt

Putting It to Work

• 05 Clustered Columnstore Quiz: Is Your Table a Good Fit?
• 06 Nonclustered Columnstore Advantages
• 07 A Better Clustered Columnstore Candidate
• 08 Partitioning Is a Great Partner for Columnstore
• 09 Recap

Before the Class

• 0 Prerequisites Before the Class

Class Modules

• 1 How the Version Store Affects TempDB
• 2 How Temp Tables Affect TempDB
• 3 How Table Variables Affect TempDB
• 4 Temp Tables and Table Variables at Scale: PFS/GAM/SGAM Contention
• 5 Memory-Optimized Table Variables
• 6 How Execution Plans Use TempDB
• 7 Other TempDB Consumers: Cursors, Index Builds, AG Stats
• 8 Limiting TempDB Usage with Resource Governor
• 9 How to Provision and Monitor TempDB

Before the Class

• Welcome and Class Roadmap 28:20
• Setting Up Your Environment 8:35
• Setup: Linux 17:33
• Setup: Mac 13:47
• Setup: Windows
• Setting Up JupyterLab for Notebooks 40:18
• Download the Slides and Notebooks

Your First Python, Variables, Numbers, and Strings

• How to Declare Variables and Manipulate Them 42:57
• Lab: Working with Variables 3:06
• Lab: Drew Does It 6:45

Data Structures, Lists, Dicts, Sets, and Tuples

• Working with Data Structures in Python 42:30
• Lab: Building Lists and Dictionaries 3:30
• Lab: Drew Does It 10:03

Logical Processing

• Using If/Then/Else, While, For 9:11
• Iterables 10:12
• Functions 6:59
• Demo: Putting It Together 22:47
• Lab: Doing Conditional Logic 2:52
• Lab: Drew Does It 11:16

Extending Python with Packages and Environments

• Extending Python with Packages 31:38
• Using Virtual Environments 14:48
• Lab: Extending Python 1:45
• Lab: Drew Does It 6:25

Working with Files and Databases

• Reading and Writing Files 7:29
• Reading and Writing Files, Demos 35:17
• Calling APIs from Python 23:04
• Connecting to Databases with Python 42:49
• Lab: Working with Files and APIs 6:27
• Lab: Drew Does It 12:26

Using Data Analysis Tools in Python

• Pandas Series and DataFrames 65:39
• Lab: Working with Pandas 6:51
• Lab: Drew Does It 12:38

Finishing Up

• Where to Go Next 10:43

Before the Class

• Welcome and Class Roadmap 14:23
• Download the Slide Decks

Networking 101

• VNets, Subnets, CIDR Blocks 24:11
• Demo: Creating a Virtual Network 17:04

Azure Services and Connectivity

• Security, Limiting Access, Private Links 21:56
• Demo: Using Virtual Networks for Data Services 33:21
• Demo: Private Networks Without Public Access 25:08
• Demo: Multiple Private Networks 14:26
• Demo: Network Security Groups 13:14

Networking Between On-Premises and Azure

• Extending Networks to Azure with VPNs 11:45
• Demo: Working With a VPN 32:35

Networking Topologies

• Hub and Spoke vs Mesh Design Patterns 14:28

Managed Virtual Networks

• Microsoft-Managed Virtual Networks 5:10
• Demo: Azure Data Factory Networking 15:53

What’s Next

• Recap and Resources 7:56

Before the Class

• Welcome and Class Roadmap 17:45
• How Drew Sets Up His Workstation 7:06
• Setting Up Your Computer 2:13
• Download the Slide Decks and Helper Files

Working with Variables and CMDLETs

• What’s PowerShell? 13:08
• Using Variables and Lab 1 23:58
• CMDLETs and the Pipeline: Lecture 8:25
• Demos 14:46
• Aliasing and the Pipeline: Lecture 4:47
• Demo 9:17
• Lab 2 1:51

Working with Objects

• Lecture 6:39
• Demo 4:56
• Object Properties and the Pipeline: Lecture 3:35
• Demo 9:19
• Object Methods 8:42
• Making Your Own Objects 5:34
• Lab 3 2:00

Logical Operators and Loops

• Lecture 6:30
• Demo 15:06
• Filtering with WHERE 9:54
• WHILE Loops: Lecture 5:59
• Demo 6:03
• IF/THEN/ELSE 5:21
• Lab 4 2:30

Functions and Parameters

• Lecture 9:21
• Demo 7:19
• Parameters and Error Handling: Lecture 9:26
• Demo 29:54
• Lab 5 5:21

Using PowerShell with SQL Server

• The SQL Server Module: Lecture 12:57
• Demo 13:21
• The SQLSERVER:\ Drive 20:34
• Working With SQLSERVER Objects 12:45
• Lab 6 2:28

Scripting SQL Server Objects

• Lecture 4:03
• Demo 15:53
• Objects and Namespaces 8:05
• Lab 7 2:46

SQL Server Agent Jobs

• PowerShell and the SQL Server Agent 12:58
• Creating Agent Jobs 5:39
• Scheduling PowerShell Job Steps 19:17
• Lab 8 3:04

Putting It All Together: Auditing Permissions

• Lecture 6:26
• Demo 15:30
• Exporting the Permissions to CSV 11:18
• Lab 9 2:07

Recap and What To Do Next

• Okay, What’s Next? 8:41

Making Sure You're Ready for Class: Free Prerequisites

• Welcome to the Class 3:59
• Concepts to Grasp First
• Getting Your Computer Ready
• Download the Scripts and Resources

1: Which Columns to Index

• Which Columns Should You Index at First? 22:55
• Why You Shouldn't Start With Multi-Column Indexes 23:46
• Lab: Picking Columns to Index 4:32
• Watch Brent Do the Lab 31:10

2: How Functional Indexes Help Timestamps and Varchars

• Why Timestamp Columns Often Need Functional Indexes 15:26
• Lab: Designing Functional Indexes for Timestamp Columns 16:10
• Watch Brent Do the Lab 14:24

3: Indexing for Sorts & Order By

• Sorting Many Rows From One Table 24:28
• Sorting a Few Rows From One Table 10:54
• Lab: Designing Indexes for Order By 1:03
• Watch Brent Do the Lab 14:24

4: How Partial Indexes Reduce Size and Overhead

• Where Partial Indexes Make Sense 9:00
• Lab: Design Partial Indexes Where They Make Sense 1:19
• Watch Brent Do the Lab 7:37

Making Sure You're Ready for Class: Free Prerequisites

• Concepts to Grasp First
• Getting Your Computer Ready

Explaining Why Table Performance Degrades

• How Postgres Stores Data in 8KB Pages 12:06
• Unvacuumed Tables are Bigger and Slower 14:20
• How Indexes are Affected Too 12:13

How Autovacuum Tries to Fix It in the Background

• What Autovacuum Does - and Doesn't Do 10:50
• Autovacuum Problem 1: Many Active Tables 16:33
• Autovacuum Problem 2: Blocking on a Single Table 12:27