Courses

SQL Server Management Studio Shortcuts and Secrets (1 hour 30 minutes)

SQL Server Management Studio Shortcuts and Secrets (1 hour 30 minutes)

on July 10, 2017

SQL Server Management Studio has a very complex interface. Learn tricks to make using SSMS more fun and efficient.

The examples in this course were recorded using SQL Server Management Studio (free download from Microsoft) using the “default” keyboard mapping scheme (Tools -> Options -> Keyboard).

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Why Creating an Index Can Slow Down a Query (1 hour 30 minutes)

Why Creating an Index Can Slow Down a Query (1 hour 30 minutes)

on June 26, 2017

Sometimes performance can go badly wrong if SQL Server has an imperfect index for an query.

In this session, I show you a query whose performance regresses after you add a nonclustered index. Your challenge is to figure out why the query got slower.

Try your hand at speeding up the query by tuning the TSQL. Afterward, I explore the query execution plan with you and walk you through multiple potential solutions, showing the pros and cons of each one.

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Query Tuning with Hints & Optimizer Hotfixes (2 hours 15 minutes)

Query Tuning with Hints & Optimizer Hotfixes (2 hours 15 minutes)

on April 10, 2017

In this course you’ll learn the pros and cons of using hints, trace flags, and scoped database configuration to tune your queries in SQL Server. Try the course quizzes anytime: using hints, recompile, optimizer hotfixes

Demos are run against SQL Server 2016, but most of the hints and settings shown can be used against lower or higher versions of SQL Server, too!

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Problem Queries in Table Partitioning (1 hour 30 minutes)

Problem Queries in Table Partitioning (1 hour 30 minutes)

on February 18, 2017

Some queries may get slower after you partition your tables: the SQL Server optimizer doesn’t always use indexes the same way after those indexes are partitioned into chunks.

Table partitioning is a fantastic tool to help you manage tables with skyrocketing rowcounts. SQL Server 2016 SP1 made table partitioning available in Standard Edition, so you may be planning to add partitioning to your database. This course teaches you to use execution plans to troubleshoot regressed queries using partitioned tables. You will learn what “non-aligned” indexes are, how to tell how many partitions a query is really using, and see a variety of methods to speed up your queries.

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Troubleshooting Blocking and Deadlocks for Beginners (2 hours 10 minutes)

Troubleshooting Blocking and Deadlocks for Beginners (2 hours 10 minutes)

on October 18, 2016

Your SQL Server is slow, and you suspect blocking. Try the course quizzes anytime: blocking diagnosis, troubleshooting retroactively, deadlocks

You need to prove if blocking really is the culprit and set up simple, lightweight monitoring using free tools and scripts to findย the queriesย causing your blocking problems.

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