Inside Microsoft® SQL Server(TM) 2005: Query Tuning and Optimization (Paperback)

~ (Author), Sunil Agarwal (Author), Craig Freedman (Author), Ron Talmage (Author), Adam Machanic (Author)
Key Phrases: index scan, query execution, performance troubleshooting methodology, Inner Join, Server Profiler, I--Index Seek (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Dive deep into the internals of query tuning and optimization in SQL Server 2005 with this comprehensive reference. Understanding the internals of SQL Server helps database developers and administrators to better create, access, and effectively process information from enterprise data. Written by experts on SQL Server, this volume from the Inside Microsoft SQL Server series of books focuses on query tuning and optimization. You'll take an in-depth look at the best ways to make queries more efficient and effective, while maximizing existing resources. Includes extensive code samples and table examples to help database developers and administrators understand the intricacies and help promote mastery of query tuning and optimization.

From the Publisher

Key Book Benefits:

-Provides deep background information along with best practices that help developers build and optimize more-responsive databases

-Features numerous code samples and table examples

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press (September 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735621969
• ISBN-13: 978-0735621961
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,687 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #19 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Microsoft > Development > SQL Server
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Books Online gone prolix, January 14, 2008

By	Pushin' Fifty (St Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

I was disappointed with this book, which I bought together with SQL Tuning by Dan Tow, hoping to get well-digested expert advice. SQL Tuning was all that I hoped for, and I highly recommend it.

This book, though, has that creepy quality so common to MSFT Press books, where very knowledgeable people, usually connected with the MSFT development teams, list feature after feature in long, passive-voice descriptions, failing to discriminate for the reader and advise as to what is useful and what is not. You have the sense that they spent lots of time at trade shows touting the latest horde of "features", and little time coding under the strain of deadlines and client expectations. To them, every SQL Server nuance is always useful and wonderful and should get fair mention :(

This is a simple example, but SQL Tuning tells me that table scans are normally fine when selecting above 20% of rows, and index seeks are good for row counts under a percent, the space between depending on circumstance (which gray space the book goes on to address). This book, meanwhile, provides no real guidance, and tells me that table scans can be good, and indexes are useful too, and that SQL Server handles both nicely, and that the optimizer selects one or the other, and that it uses iterators, and that they are important, and that you can see what the optimizer has selected, and that you can change that if you want, and that you can automate the change, and that you can document the change, and here are the 4 related undocumented stored procs, and that this is new for 2005, and that there are other related matters, and that SQL Server has all this. Thanks!

Seems they are always plugging the product and never can admit to having suffered with its complexity. The recommendations, if you get them, are always muted by a kool-aid soaked affinity for SQL Server, which does all things well and will never fail to offer just the feature you need to succeed.

The book runs very long and strikes me as a big core dump on 3,000 topics, none of which seem prioritized or emphasized in distinct categories. Sure, the book has distinct chapters into which related material is dumped, but this fails to serve as **guidance**, which is what you are buying the book for. Not written by people in the trenches. Not recommended unless you want to buy some additional MSFT documentation.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kalen's Magnum opus, October 12, 2007

By	Paul Nielsen (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At first glance, Inside SQL Server Query Tuning and Optimization, appears to be a multiple-author ensemble book with only 1½ chapters written by Kalen, which might be disappointing. However, the reality is that this database dream team is hand-picked by Kalen, and following Kalen's plan the book meets the high standards Kalen is known for. The flow of the information is the right way to understand and then solve query performance issues.

Chapter 1 - A Performance Troubleshooting Methodology by Sunil Agarwal (Program Manager in the SQL Server Storage Engine Group at Microsoft.) The opening chapter introduces the many factors that influence query performance. Although it fails to connect every dot, the chapter is a comprehensive overview of SQL Server performance and a sound intro for readers without a solid background in SQL Server.

Chapter 2 - Tracing and Profiling by Adam Machanic (SQL Server MVP. Leader of the New England SQL Server User Group in Boston, and all around smart guy.) Even if you use Profiler daily, you'll pick up some useful info in this thorough converge of SQL Server Engine Trace and the Profiler UI.

Chapter 3 - Query Execution by Craig Freedman (Microsoft SQL Server Query Execution Team.) This chapter has more beef than a 16 oz filet in Kansas City. Wow. If you enjoy reading Query execution plans, then you'll read this chapter 3 or 4 times. There's deep knowledge in here you won't find anywhere else. I've lost sleep wondering about some of the questions answered by this chapter, and I've lost more sleep reading it.

Chapter 4 - Troubleshooting Query Performance by Kalen Delaney and Craig Freedman. This is the practical part two of Craig's amazing chapter 3. Here Kalen and Craig show exactly how to diagnose and solve difficult query performance issues.

Chapter 5 - Plan Caching and Recompilation by Kalen Delaney. This is the topic Kalen presented at the 2007 PASS Summit pre-con and her depth shows in this chapter. Since query plan caching is so important to executing queries, this chapter makes perfect sense in this book.

Chapter 6 - Concurrency Problems by Ron Talmage (SQL Server MVP, and true gentleman. Ron leads the Pacific Northwest SQL Server Users Group which meets in Building 35, the SQL Server team building on the MIcrosoft Redmond campus.) In any high transaction production system, diagnosing and tuning locking and blocking is the difference between "it runs on my notebook" and "it runs with thousands of users." Ron goes beyond the basic explanation of locks and isolation levels to explain how to resolve specific conncurency issues.

Book prerequisite: at least 2-3 years of writing SQL Server queries and a decent understanding of SQL Server.

Like Kalen's other books, Inside SQL Server Query Tuning and Optimization, is readable, authoritative, and a requirement on every serious database developer's desk. Buy this book! and read it at least twice.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for tuning SQL Queries, January 19, 2008

By	N. Mckechnie "Neil" (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I rarely review books, but for this one I feel compelled to do so. I knew that SQL Queries were creating major bottlenecks in my web application, but I did not know which ones they were and how to fix them. My app was already live with thousands of users, and since I am primarily a web developer (and not a database expert), I needed practical help, and fast.

Because of this book, within a matter of days I went from clueless to expert in reading query execution plans, creating effective indexes, and tuning my queries. By making my application much more responsive, I am sure I retained countless customers. Another big benefit: I am saving thousands of dollars per year on postponing or cancelling hardware upgrades (more processors, faster disk/raid systems, etc) that I thought were necessary to support my users. With my queries tuned and optimized, it looks like I can handle 4-5 times the load on my current infrastructure than I had previously thought.

This book really is a must read for anyone with a web application with even a modestly sized database, who is concerned with performance and scalability.