Over-indexing in SQL Server can lead to hidden costs that undermine database performance, including increased storage consumption, performance overhead on data modifications, and longer maintenance windows. This article explores how excessive indexing impacts query optimization, disk I/O, and system resources. Learn why a balanced indexing strategy is critical and discover best practices for managing your indexes effectively. Avoid the pitfalls of over-indexing and optimize your SQL Server for both performance and cost-efficiency.
Month: September 2024
Combining Always On Availability Groups with Peer-to-Peer Replication
Starting with SQL Server 2019 CU13, databases participating in a peer-to-peer replication configuration can now be part of an Always On availability group. This integration is flexible—you are not required to have all members of the replication configuration within an AG. You can mix and match AG and non-AG databases within your replication setup, significantly improving the availability and scalability of your configurations.
Managing SQL Server Database Growth with Files and Filegroups
As SQL Server databases expand over time, managing their growth becomes an important task. If not handled properly, this growth can lead to performance issues and maintenance headaches. One effective way to manage database growth is by using filegroups and data files thoughtfully. With proper planning, you can distribute your data across different storage devices, enhance performance, and keep your database scalable.
Managing IDENTITY and SEQUENCE Behavior in SQL Server Always On Availability Groups
In SQL Server Always On Availability Groups, maintaining data consistency during failovers is necessary for high availability and reliability. However, certain aspects of database behavior, such as the generation of values by IDENTITY columns and SEQUENCE objects, can lead to unexpected gaps or jumps after a failover or server restart. This can affect the continuity of sequential values, which is often important in business applications. In this post, we’ll look into how SQL Server handles IDENTITY columns and SEQUENCE objects in an Always On environment, explain the role of caching, and offer strategies to manage or prevent gaps in your sequences during failovers.
Using Query Hints to Solve SQL Server Performance Issues
As professional DBAs, we’re often tasked with balancing query performance against resource consumption. While SQL Server’s query optimizer generally does an excellent job at selecting execution plans, there are times when we need more control. This is where query hints come into play. These hints provide a powerful way to override the default behavior of the query optimizer, allowing us to directly influence how queries are executed to solve performance bottlenecks. In this post, we will explore how query hints can be leveraged to address common performance issues and fine-tune your SQL Server workloads.
Understanding Kerberos Authentication in SQL Server
Kerberos, named after the mythical three-headed dog guarding the gates of the underworld, is a security protocol that enables secure authentication in network environments. It offers a significant improvement over older protocols like NTLM by allowing the delegation of credentials across multiple machines, making it ideal for distributed computing environments.
Efficient Batch Insertion in SQL Server Using ADO.NET and C#
When dealing with large datasets, the efficiency of database operations becomes crucial. Inserting records one by one into a SQL Server database can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Fortunately, ADO.NET provides a solution in the form of the SqlBulkCopy class. This tool allows for batch insertion of records, significantly improving performance and reducing overhead. In this post, we’ll explore how to use SqlBulkCopy in C# to efficiently insert large volumes of data into SQL Server.
Ensuring Smooth SSRS Subscriptions in an Always On Availability Group
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is a powerful tool for managing and delivering reports in an enterprise environment. When configuring SSRS within a SQL Server Always On Availability Group, it’s essential to take specific steps to ensure that SSRS subscriptions continue to function properly during failovers. This blog outlines the key actions required to maintain seamless SSRS operations in such a setup.