In the ever-evolving world of database administration, visibility is power. Understanding what is happening inside SQL Server is crucial for diagnosing problems, optimizing performance, and ensuring stability. That is where Extended Events come in. Extended Events is a lightweight and highly customizable replacement of SQL Trace and Profiler which offer deep insights into SQL Server’s internal behavior without imposing significant overhead. These make Extended Events a perfect choice for troubleshooting deadlocks, monitoring long-running queries, analyzing I/O bottlenecks, trace, filter, and respond to specific database events with precision.
In this guide, we will walk through how to set up Extended Events in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), explain the key configuration options, and explore real-world use cases that make Extended Events an essential tool in every DBA’s toolbox.
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That day, one of my team members asked me how he could generate a table creation script and a data insert script of that table. I replied that "Table creation script is pretty straightforward. You can tweak creation script option to include the insert script as well." Here goes the steps.
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As a human being, your SQL Server tries to express its pain point with you — but not in words. It whispers through wait stats, sending subtle signals when something is off. But, you have to learn how to decode these signals.
In this article, we will decode the most common SQL Server wait types—like CXPACKET, PAGEIOLATCH, and SOS_SCHEDULER_YIELD—and understand what they are quietly telling you about your server’s workload, health, and bottlenecks. If you have ever wondered why your queries slow down despite healthy hardware, the answer might just be in these whispers.
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As a DBA, you are often alert to the usual suspects—blocking, deadlocks, or long-running queries. But sometimes, performance issues creep in silently, and one of the quietest yet most impactful culprits is latch contention. Unlike locks, latches are lightweight synchronization primitives that protect internal memory structures. When these get overwhelmed, even the most well-tuned queries can slow to a crawl.
In this guide, you will explore what latch contention is, how it differs from locks, when it occurs, how to detect it, and most importantly—how to tune your system to minimize its impact. Whether you are running a high-throughput OLTP workload or managing a reporting environment, understanding latches could be the missing piece in your performance puzzle.
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Recently, Mark Varnas posted a client's experience in his LinkedIn profile. The client has 16 core virtual processors however, SQL Server was using only 4 cores and performance was terrible. My favorite SQL Server expert Brent Ozar also commented and shared his relevant blog's link in the post. I was curious how Mark Varnas identified and resolved this. Robert Concepcion's comments and Brent's blog showed me the path. Let's go through the problem!
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In the world of SQL Server performance tuning, intuition is helpful—but data is essential. Without a solid performance baseline, DBAs are left guessing whether a system slowdown is an anomaly or just another busy working day. Creating a baseline gives you a point of comparison to understand what "normal" looks like for your SQL Server environment. This article will guide you through what to capture, how to capture it, and how to turn that information into actionable insight—so the next time someone says, "the database is slow", you will have data to prove or disprove it.
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In today’s data-driven environments, SQL Server performance is not just about fast queries, efficient indexes — it also heavily depends on how well your database communicates over the network. Whether it is a slow application response, timeout errors, or replication delays, the network often plays an invisible but critical role. As DBAs, we tend to focus on CPU, memory, and disk — yet overlooking network performance can leave significant bottlenecks unresolved.
This guide will walk you through essential network-related metrics, troubleshooting techniques, and tuning tips to ensure your SQL Server operates smoothly. Let’s decode what is happening between your servers — and keep the data flowing efficiently.
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CPU performance plays a critical role in the responsiveness and scalability of SQL Server. When CPU resources are overwhelmed, even well-optimized queries and tuned indexes may not deliver expected performance. Understanding how SQL Server utilizes CPU, identifying bottlenecks, and analyzing workload patterns are essential tasks for any DBA aiming to maintain a high-performing environment.
This guide walks you through the fundamentals of CPU behavior in SQL Server, the key metrics to monitor, common causes of CPU pressure, and practical strategies for diagnosing and resolving CPU-related issues.
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When it comes to SQL Server performance, disk I/O is often one of the most critical and overlooked components. While CPU and memory get much of the spotlight, the underlying storage subsystem plays a foundational role in how efficiently SQL Server can read and write data. Slow or misconfigured disk I/O can lead to query bottlenecks, long transaction times, and degraded user experience—especially under heavy workloads.
This guide helps DBAs understand how SQL Server interacts with storage, how to monitor disk I/O, and how to optimize it for better performance. From key metrics to practical tuning tips, you will gain the insights needed to keep your SQL Server running smoothly at the storage layer.
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Memory is one of the most critical resources in SQL Server. It affects query performance, workload efficiency, and overall server stability. As a DBA, understanding how SQL Server uses memory—and how to manage it effectively—can make the difference between a system that runs smoothly and one that is constantly under pressure.
In this guide, we will walk through the basics of SQL Server memory architecture, explore key configuration settings, and cover simple techniques to troubleshoot memory-related issues. Whether you are managing a small instance or supporting enterprise workloads, this article will help you build a solid foundation in memory management—without diving too deep into internals.
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