23Jan 2013 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

Saving Execution Plans on Azure SQL Database

Azure
In my previous post showing how to get to execution plans in the Database Management Portal, I showed that it's pretty easy to put a query in a query window and get the execution plan. This allows you to understand query behavior in order to tune your T-SQL or your data structures, all through the Azure interface. But, what happens if you want to share an execution plan with a friend, post it to an online forum, save it for later comparisons as part of troubleshooting bad parameter sniffing, track behaviors over time as statistics change, other purposes that I can't think of at the moment? To first answer this question, let me tell you how you would do these things in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). First, and most…
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21Jan 2013 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Pro SQL Server 2012 Practices: Chapter 12

Azure
I was very privileged to get the opportunity to write a chapter in a book with some of my friends and SQL Family, Pro SQL Server 2012 Practices . Just as each of us took a chapter to write, each of us going to take a chapter to review. But, being the greedy sort, I'm going to review two. First up, Chapter 12, "Windows Azure SQL Database for DBAs", by Herve Roggero (b|t) Personally, I love Azure. And I love Azure SQL Databases. But, I get the fear and trepidation they might cause. I also get the urge to write about them, but I never really felt like I should approach them from a book. Everything changes so much, so quickly in Azure and books just take a while to…
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14Jan 2013 by Grant Fritchey 9 Comments

Execution Plans on Azure SQL Database Portal

Azure
If you've been working with the Azure SQL Database portal, you know that you have a query window. Within the query window you can run queries against your server. You'll get back results, timing, everything you need to observe behavior within the system. What's that? You never heard of this? Let's figure it out real quick. Here's my portal to my Azure SQL Databases: [caption id="attachment_2296" align="alignnone" width="150"] Azure SQL Database Portal showing usage overview[/caption] Yes, all sorts of things you can do from here, but we're focused on the bottom of the screen at the Manage button. Clicking this button will open up the Management portal window, part of which you can see below: [caption id="attachment_2298" align="alignnone" width="150"] Part of the Azure SQL Management Portal showing some of what…
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