28Nov 2016 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Database Clone

SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
There are a bunch of ways you could create a database clone. Backup and restore is one method. Export/Import is another. There are even third party tools that will help with that. However, each of these has a problem. It's moving all the data, not just once, but twice. You move the data when you export it and you move it again when import it (same thing with backup and restore). That makes these methods slow for larger databases. How can you create a database clone without moving the data multiple times? Don't Move the Data At All New with SQL Server 2016, expanded in SP1, and added to SQL Server 2014 SP2 is a new command, DBCC CLONEDATABASE. This is like a dream come true. The use is extremely…
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23Nov 2016 by Grant Fritchey 5 Comments

PowerShell to Test a Query

DevOps, PowerShell, SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
So you want to do some tuning, but you're not sure how to test a query on it's performance. Not a problem. Here's a very rough script that I use to do some recent testing. This script to test a query is post #11 of the #enterylevel #iwanttohelp effort started by Tim Ford (b|t). Read about it here. The Script The goal here is to load a bunch of parameter values from one table and then use those values to run a query to test it. To do this I connect up to my SQL Server instance, naturally. Then I retrieve the values I'm interested in. I set up the query I want to test. Finally a loop through the data set, calling the query once for each value. [reflection.assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo") | out-null #…
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22Nov 2016 by Grant Fritchey 19 Comments

SQL Server on Linux: Boring

SQL Server 2016
As a concept, SQL Server on Linux is thrilling. Due to this, the OS doesn't stand in the way of taking advantage of everything that SQL Server offers. Because we have Linux, we have opportunity for all sorts of new fun. I first saw SQL Server running on Linux about six months ago. The install was shockingly easy. I saw a few command line commands run and it all looked good. I didn't have the opportunity to set up my own full blown install then, but I do now. My Installation Today I did all the work necessary to get this thing running. I got a copy of Ubuntu Desktop and put it on VMWare Workstation in a virtual machine. That was a painless process. SIDE NOTE: It was a painless process…
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07Nov 2016 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

sp_executesql Is Not Faster Than an Ad Hoc Query

SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
This requires an immediate caveat. You should absolutely be using sp_executesql over any type of non-parameterized execution of T-SQL. You must parameterize your T-SQL because the lack of parameters in building up and executing strings is a classic SQL Injection attack vector. Using straight ad hoc T-SQL is an extremely poor coding choice because of SQL Injection, not because there is something that makes one method faster than the other. Yet, I see in performance checklists that you should be using sp_executesql over straight ad hoc T-SQL because it will perform faster. That statement is incorrect. Some Discussion Let me reiterate the caveat before we continue. I 100% advocate for the use of sp_executesql. This function is preferred over ad hoc SQL because, used properly (and isn't that usually one of the main problems,…
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24Oct 2016 by Grant Fritchey 10 Comments

A Sub-Query Does Not Hurt Performance

SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
The things you read on the internet, for example, "don't use a sub-query because that hurts performance." Truly? Where do people get these things? Let's Test It I've written before about the concept of cargo cult data professionals. They see one issue, one time, and consequently extrapolate that to all issues, all the time. It's the best explanation I have for why someone would suggest that a sub-query is flat out wrong and will hurt performance. Let me put a caveat up front (which I will reiterate in the conclusion, just so we're clear), there's nothing magically good about sub-queries just like there is nothing magically evil about sub-queries. You can absolutely write a sub-query that performs horribly, does horrible things, runs badly, and therefore absolutely screws up your system. Just as…
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17Oct 2016 by Grant Fritchey 32 Comments

SELECT * Does Not Hurt Performance

SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
I read all the time how SELECT * hurts performance. I even see where people have said that you just have to supply a column list instead of SELECT * to get a performance improvement. Let's test it, because I think this is bunkum. The Test I have here two queries: SELECT * FROM Warehouse.StockItemTransactions AS sit; --and SELECT sit.StockItemTransactionID, sit.StockItemID, sit.TransactionTypeID, sit.CustomerID, sit.InvoiceID, sit.SupplierID, sit.PurchaseOrderID, sit.TransactionOccurredWhen, sit.Quantity, sit.LastEditedBy, sit.LastEditedWhen FROM Warehouse.StockItemTransactions AS sit; I'm basically going to run this a few hundred times each from PowerShell. I'll capture the executions using Extended Events and we'll aggregate the results. The Results I ran the test multiple times because, funny enough, I kept seeing some disparity in the results. One test would show a clear bias for one method, another test would…
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10Oct 2016 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

Statistics Are Vital For Query Performance

SQL Server, SQL Server 2016
This is post #10 supporting  Tim Ford’s (b|t) initiative on #iwanttohelp, #entrylevel. Read about it here. When you send a query to your SQL Server database (and this applies to Azure SQL Database, APS, and Azure SQL Data Warehouse), that query is going to go through a process known as query optimization. The query optimization process figures out if you can use indexes to assist the query, whether or not it can seek against those indexes or has to use a scan, and a whole bunch of other stuff. The primary driving force in making these decisions are the statistics available on the indexes and on your tables. What Are Statistics Statistics are a mathematical construct to represent the data in your tables. Instead of scanning through the data each and every…
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03Oct 2016 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Correlated Datetime Columns

SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
SQL Server is a deep and complex product. There's always more to learn. For example, I had never heard of Correlated Datetime Columns. They were evidently introduced as a database option in SQL Server 2005 to help support data warehousing style queries (frequently using dates and times as join criteria or filter criteria). You can read up on the concept here from this older article from 2008 on MSDN. However, doing a search online I didn't find much else explaining how this  stuff worked (one article here, that didn't break this down in a way I could easily understand). Time for me to get my learn on. The concept is simple, turning this on for your database means that dates which have a relationship, the example from MSDN uses OrderDate and…
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26Sep 2016 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

Query Store and What Happened Earlier On Your Server

SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
Here's a great question I received: We had a problem at 9:02 AM this morning, but we're not sure what happened. Can Query Store tell us? My first blush response is, no. Not really. Query Store keeps aggregate performance metrics about the queries on the database where Query Store is enabled. Aggregation means that we can't tell you what happened with an individual call at 9:02 AM... Well, not entirely true. The aggregations that Query Store keeps are actually broken up into intervals that you can control. The default interval is 60 minutes. This means that the information stored in the DMV covers sets of intervals. This means that if, at 9:02AM, you had a query, or queries, that ran considerably longer than normal, you may be able to take a look…
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19Sep 2016 by Grant Fritchey 9 Comments

Query Store and Plan Forcing: What Do You Use It For

SQL Server 2016, T-SQL
If you're working with Azure SQL Database or you've moved into SQL Server 2016, one of the biggest new tools is the Query Store. It provides a mechanism of capturing query performance over time and persisting it with the database. You also get the execution plans for those queries. Finally, you can choose to have the Query Store override execution plan selection by use of Plan Forcing. I've written about Query Store a few times: Query Store, Force Plan and "Better" Plans Query Store, Force Plan and Dropped Objects Precedence Goes to Query Store or Plan Guide Query Store, Forced Plans and New Plans Query Store and Optimize For Ad Hoc Query Store and Recompile Finding Your Query in Query Store Removing All Query Store Data Monitor Query Performance OK,…
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