SQL Server Query Tuning and Optimization

Get well-versed with ready-to-use techniques for creating high-performance queries and applications

Key Features

• Speed up queries and dramatically improve application performance by both understanding query engine internals and practical query optimization
• Understand how the query optimizer works
• Learn about intelligent query processing and what is new in SQL Server 2022

Book Description

SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications.

This book starts by describing the inner workings of the query optimizer, and will enable you to use this knowledge to write better queries and provide the query engine with all the information it needs to produce efficient execution plans. As you progress, you’ll get practical query optimization tips for troubleshooting underperforming queries. The book will also guide you through intelligent query processing and what is new in SQL Server 2022. Query performance topics such as the Query Store, In-Memory OLTP and columnstore indexes are covered as well.

By the end of this book, you’ll be able to get the best possible performance for your queries and applications.

What you will learn

• Troubleshoot queries using methods including extended events, SQL Trace, and dynamic management views
• Understand how the execution engine and query operators work
• Speed up queries and improve app performance by creating the right indexes
• Detect and fix cardinality estimation errors by examining query optimizer statistics
• Monitor and promote both plan caching and plan reuse to improve app performance
• Troubleshoot and improve query performance by using the Query Store
• Improve the performance of data warehouse queries by using columnstore indexes
• Handle query processor limitations with hints and other methods

Who this book is for

This book is for SQL Server developers who are struggling with slow query execution, database administrators who are tasked with troubleshooting slow application performance, and database architects who design SQL Server databases in support of line-of-business and data warehousing applications.

Table of Contents

1. An Introduction to Query Tuning and Optimization
2. Troubleshooting Queries
3. The Query Optimizer
4. The Execution Engine
5. Working with Indexes
6. Understanding Statistics
7. In-Memory OLTP
8. Understanding Plan Caching
9. The Query Store
10. Intelligent Query Processing
11. An Introduction to Data Warehouses
12. Understanding Query Hints

About the Author

Benjamin Nevarez is a database professional based in Los Angeles, California who specializes in SQL Server query tuning and optimization. He is the author of several books including “High Performance SQL Server”, “SQL Server 2017 on Linux”, “SQL Server 2014 Query Tuning & Optimization” and “Inside the SQL Server Query Optimizer” and has also co-authored other books such as “SQL Server 2012 Internals”. Benjamin has also been a speaker at many SQL Server conferences around the world