Healthy SQL: A Comprehensive Guide to Healthy SQL Server Performance

Healthy SQL is about ensuring the ongoing performance health of a SQL Server database. An unhealthy database is not just an inconvenience; it can bring a business to its knees. And if you are the database administrator, the health of your SQL Server implementation can be a direct reflection on you. It's in everyone's best interest to have a healthy SQL implementation. Healthy SQL is built around the concept of a medical checkup, giving you the tools you need to assess the current health of your database and take action to improve upon that health and maintain good performance to your business.

Healthy SQL aids in developing a rigorous routine so that you know how healthy your SQL Server machines are, and how you can keep those same servers healthy and fit for duty. The book is filled with practical advice and a time-tested strategy, helping you put together a regimen that will ensure your servers are healthy, your implementation is fully optimized, your services are redundant and highly available, and you have a plan for business continuity in the event of a disaster. If your current environment doesn't match up with these criteria, then pick up a copy of Healthy SQL today and start your journey on the road to a fit and tight SQL Server deployment.

What you’ll learn

• Understand what a SQL Server health check is, and why you should perform one
• Know the right times and triggers for a comprehensive health check
• Make a comprehensive probe of your environment using the best tools and techniques
• Store the data collected for trend analysis and comparison with future checks
• Slice, dice, and glean insight from the results of your SQL Server health check
• Know what changes to make to improve performance and future health check results
• Maintain the performance of your database at the level needed by your business

Who this book is for

Healthy SQL is written for database administrators and developers responsible for managing and ensuring the performance one or more SQL Server database instances. The book is also helpful for system administrators and others who might assist or have a direct, hands-on role in SQL Server database performance troubleshooting.

About the Author

Robert Pearl, president and founder of Pearl Knowledge Solutions, Inc., has been a Microsoft SQL Server MVP since 2009, having received his fifth MVP recognition award. He is a solutions-oriented senior DBA with 15+ years of experience, and is considered a subject-matter expert on SQL Server technology. He also coined the terms Healthy SQL™ and SQL Fitness™ to kick off the worldwide healthy SQL campaign to highlight the need for regular health checks to ensure that everyone’s SQL Server environment has achieved a healthy state. He is a SQL Community and SQL Saturday evangelist, promoter, and speaker, and maintains his regular blog called Pearl Knows at SQLServerCentral.com. Pearl was voted Top Blogger in the 2011 SQL Mag Community Choice Awards. He is also the creator/developer of the award-winning product SQL Centric—a web-based database monitoring and alert system for DBAs. Robert is a SQL Saturday organizer and co-chair of the successful New York Metro PASS SQL Saturdays.