J.D. Meier is a Principal Program Manager for Microsoft’s Patterns & Practices team.  He’s a great writer & a clear thinker.  J.D.’s Sources of Insight is devoted to getting results & balancing life. His latest-&-greatest publication...

Wait stats rock. As I shared recently with friends, when it comes to SQL Server performance, wait stats are the #1 arrow in my quiver, the first tool out of my toolbox, the Vera of guns (see the Firefly episode Our Mrs. Reynolds to divine that reference...

Preamble For those of you who are already facile with SQL Server wait stats, there’s nothing new here. However, if you’re a n00b, this is a great place to start. History As I commented here on SQL MVP Jason Massie’s blog , I first became aware of the...

A few weeks ago Cindy Gross brought this tweet to my attention from SQL Server MVP Jason Massie : statisticsio : I should pdf the essential posts from @ aspiringgeek and sqlcat because everytime I really need them blogs.msdn.com is crawling. http...

The long-awaited SQL Server 2008 SP1 was just released, available at an Internet near you right NOW : SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 The SP includes CUs 1, 2, & 3 (not 4), including “Key improvements in SP1 include Slipstream, Service Pack...