One of the more essential SQL Server tools is its trace utility. With it you can view the activity occurring against a SQL Server for diagnostic, informational, and other purposes. Because it lets you ...

SQL Server Profiler has always been a great tool for tracing activity “under the hood” on a SQL Server and assessing its performance. One feature that helps us quickly set up a trace on our current ...

In an earlier blog I talked about the difference in mentality between the typical developer and the typical DBA. One of the characteristics of the DBA is the distrust of the Microsoft Wizards. “Give ...

CPU issues have long been the bane of database and system administrators. I have worked on enterprise databases since the mid-1980s and seen three significant eras for CPU architecture and ...