Jer and Kendar Explore Optimized Locking
🔥 UPDATE (November 2025): Microsoft has introduced optimized locking v2 with significant improvements. The new version includes Skip Index Locks (SIL) and Query Plan LAQ Feedback Persistence, which further reduce lock overhead. The improvements are most pronounced for nonclustered indexes. Optimized locking v2 is available in SQL Server 2025 and Azure SQL.
SQL Server has a new feature that’s currently only available in Azure SQL Database: Optimized Locking.
Jeremiah Peschka joins Kendra (aka Kendar) to talk through the docs and nerd out on locks, blocks, and how to pronounce the acronym “LAQ”.
Prefer to explore optimized locking with a diagram? I’ve also got a little sketchnote for ya.