As Joey explains, Activity Monitor consumes a lot of resources and yields little usable data. Here are some third-party alternatives. I get to work with a lot of customers, so I get to see a lot of ...

A popular performance tuning book gets updated for SQL Server 2025, how does it fare? Ian Stirk takes and in depth look and finds it pretty good. This well-liked SQL Server book examines performance ...

A popular performance tuning book gets updated for SQL Server 2022, how does it fare? This well-liked SQL Server book examines performance from various angles, but concentrates on improvements related ...

A common task that all database and system administrators face is patching systems. Patching your systems is very important -- first and foremost, security fixes are included in patches. Patches also ...

SQL Server performance tuning is a complex topic due to how layered it is. While performance problems can often be traced back to data storage issues, the performance tuning process is a "holistic ...

As a heavy user of other RDBMS data platforms, I have long appreciated the extra effort that Microsoft put into their data management and administration tool, the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

Tim Chapman discusses your iteration choices in SQL Server 2008 and explains why determining which option performs better depends on the situation. In a previous TechRepublic column about SQL Server ...

“Free” is a term rarely associated with Microsoft offerings, especially at the server end of the spectrum. Exchange Server, SQL Server, SharePoint, Hyper-V — IT admins know functionality comes at a ...