SQLServerFast

SQL TuneIn Zagreb 2014 – Session material

Hugo Kornelis
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I spent the last few days in Zagreb, Croatie, at the third edition of the SQL TuneIn conference, and I had a very good time here. Nice company, good sessions, and awesome audiences. I presented my “Understanding Execution Plans” precon to a small but interested audience on Monday. Participants have received a download link for the slide deck. On Tuesday I had a larger crowd for my session on cardinality estimation. The slide deck and demo code used for that presentation will be available through the conference website, but for those who cannot wait, I have also attached them to…
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TechDays 2014 – Session material

Hugo Kornelis
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Last week in the Hague, I had the honor to present two very different sessions at the Dutch TechDays conference. A deep-dive session on internals of the SQL Server 2012 nonclustered columnstore index, and a very developer-oriented session on the bare basics of performance tuning. To my delight, both times the room was filled with very interested people, asking great questions and, I guess, enjoying my presentations. All sessions were recorded, and I have been told that in due time, all will be available on Channel 9. But what if you can’t stand the wait? What if you just want…
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Fake statistics, and how to get rid of them

Hugo Kornelis
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There are two ways to test how your queries behave on huge amounts of data. The simple option is to actually use them on huge amounts of data – but where do you get that if you have no access to the production database, and how do you store it if you happen not to have a multi-terabyte storage array sitting in your basement? So here’s the second best option: you cheat. Luckily, SQL Server has a feature that allows you to do just that. I must warn you that this feature is undocumented and unsupported. You should never under…
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Database Design training – for free?

Hugo Kornelis
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When I started this blog, my plan was to focus on two main subject areas. One of them is SQL Server, T-SQL, and performance. The other is database design. Looking back over my post history, I honestly cannot say I delivered on the second area. Not because I have nothing to say about database design, but because I found it doesn’t lend itself for a blog. In the SQL Server / T-SQL area, there are subjects that can be isolated and described in a single post, or in a short series. In database design, I do not see such objects.…
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Parameterization and filtered indexes (part 2)

Hugo Kornelis
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In my previous post, I demonstrated how the presence of a filtered index can get in the way of successful parameterization, possibly resulting in too much query compilations and procedure cache bloat. I suggest reading that first, because I will go straight where I left off. Use the Force, Luke If you read the previous post very carefully, you will have noticed that I wrote that if a plan is unstable, it is “unsafe for simple parameterization” – and that suggests that SQL Server will not have such inhibitions when using forced parameterization. Let’s have a look. Assuming you still…
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Parameterization and filtered indexes (part 1)

Hugo Kornelis
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Parameterization is a process where SQL Server slightly modifies a query in the parse phase: it replaces constant values by parameters. So if you submit — Query 1 SELECT COUNT(*) FROM   Sales.SalesOrderDetail WHERE  ProductID = 706; the parser will replace this by (and fool the optimizer into thinking you submitted): DECLARE @1 smallint = 706; SELECT COUNT(*) FROM   Sales.SalesOrderDetail WHERE  ProductID = @1; You can verify this very easily. If you go to the actual execution plan and hover over the left-most icon (the SELECT), a popup window will open that shows (a.o.) the query that was fed into the…
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Understanding Execution Plans

Hugo Kornelis
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To me, it feels as if 2014 is a long time away. But it isn’t. Sinterklaas has already dropped off his presents and is probably already back in his castle in Spain. Christmas is almost upon us. And before we know it, we’ll be washing oliebollen down with Champagne. That also means that I need to get cracking on preparing my precon seminar on execution plans. What precon seminar you say? Oh right – I didn’t tell you yet. The good folks organizing SQL Saturday #269 in Exeter (UK) (on March 22) have decided to extend the event with a…
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SQLRally and SQLRally – Session material

Hugo Kornelis
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I had a great week last week. First at SQLRally Nordic, in Stockholm, where I presented a session on how improvements to the OVER clause can help you simplify queries in SQL Server 2012 enormously. And then I continued straight on into SQLRally Amsterdam, where I delivered a session on the performance implications of using user-defined functions in T-SQL. I understand that both events will make my slides and demo code downloadable from their website, but this may take a while. So those who do not want to wait can download the material from this blog post. Both SQLRally events…
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Decks and demos – Session material for Silicon Valley Code Camp

Hugo Kornelis
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This weekend, I will be presenting two sessions at Silicon Valley Code Camp, in Los Altos Hills, CA. On Saturday, I will have an early start – the first time slot of the day, at 9:45 AM, I will present on how T-SQL user-defined functions can easily wreck your performance – and how you can prevent that. On Sunday afternoon (1:15 PM), I will then present a session on the OVER clause, focusing on how both the SQLL Server 2005 version and the enhanced SQL Server 2012 syntax of this feature can help you solve common problems without having to…
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Book review: SQL Server Transaction Log Management

Hugo Kornelis
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It was an offer I could not resist. I was promised a free copy of one of the newest books from Red Gate Books, SQL Server Transaction Log Management (by Tony Davis and Gail Shaw), with the caveat that I should write a review after reading it. Mind you, not a commercial, “make sure we sell more copies” kind of review, but a review of my actual thoughts. Yes, I got explicit permission to be my usual brutally honest self. A total win/win for me! First, I get a free book – and free is always good, right? And second,…
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Hugo Kornelis

Married, father of 2 children.

Awarded 13x MVP (2006-2016; 2019-now), in the areas SQL Server and Data Platform.

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