Scaling SQL Server With No Hardware

Database performance can be a tricky topic. When your database is performing poorly one of your first inclinations might be to throw more hardware at it -- perhaps upgrading the memory or even the server or storage subsystems with newer more powerful versions. While databases are generally very resource intensive and more memory and CPU can make a big difference there are many scenarios where you can just wind up buying a more powerful system that doesn’t deliver any better performance -- and there are few things that management likes less than hearing that the upgrade or new server that they’ve just bought is not performing any better than the old one. With database systems this can be a real possibility. For example, if your database performance is slow because of locking issues a faster CPU will not make it perform any faster. That’s where database performance tuning comes in.

Key Database Performance Factors
In some cases the configuration of SQL Server can be tuned to provide better performance. For instance, tempdb is a core system database and understanding how temdb is used, placing it on the proper storage subsystem and configuring it with the right amount of data files can go a long way toward improving system performance. Having the right indexes are another big performance factor. Nothing slows down SQL Server more than having to perform full table scans of big tables. And of course knowing how the SQL Server query optimizer uses seek and scan operations can really impact the performance of your applications.

Learn more at IT/Dev Connections 2015!
At this year’s IT/Dev Connections conference at the ARIA Resort in Las Vegas there will be a number of in-depth SQL Server performance tuning sessions where you can really dig into the nuts and bolts of making SQL Server perform better on the same hardware. Andrew Kelly will be presenting TempDB 101 Plus where you can learn how tempdb changes can impact SQL Server’s performance.  Itzik Ben-Gan will be presenting Seek and You Shall Scan: What You Need to Know About These Access methods where he will dispel the common misperceptions about using seek vs. scan in your query execution plans. Plus, Denny Cherry will be presenting a full day Index Internals workshop where he will be doing a deep dive into SQL Server indexing. You can use the following discount code to get an awesome $100 off your registration fee.

Discount code: ITDCOTEY15 ($100 off)

Register here: IT/Dev Connections 2015