SQL Server Best Practices

Get the real-world guidelines, expert tips, and rock-solid guidance to take your SQL Server implementation to the next level. These SQL Server best practices draw on the extensive experience and expertise from respected developers and engineers at Microsoft, who walk you through the specifics on solving particularly difficult issues.

Technical White Papers

Deep level technical papers on specific SQL Server topics that were tested and validated by SQL Development.

Tuning the Performance of Change Data Capture in SQL Server 2008
The Data Loading Performance Guide
SQL Server 2008 White Paper: Analysis Services Performance Guide
Implementing a SQL Server Fast Track Data Warehouse
Running SQL Server 2008 in a Hyper-V Environment - Best Practices and Performance Recommendations
SQL Server Replication: Providing High Availability using Database Mirroring
Best Practices for Semantic Data Modeling for Performance and Scalability
Analysis Services Distinct Count Optimization
Database Snapshot Performance Considerations under I/O-Intensive Workloads
Best Practices for Migrating Non-Unicode Data Types to Unicode
Database Mirroring and Log Shipping Working Together
Analysis Services Many-to-Many Dimensions: Query Performance Optimization Techniques
The Impact of Changing Collations and of Changing Data Types from Non-Unicode to Unicode
Precision Considerations for Analysis Services Users
Scale-Out Querying with Analysis Services Using SAN Snapshots
Identifying and Resolving MDX Query Performance Bottlenecks in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services
XML Best Practices for Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Performance Optimizations for the XML Data Type in SQL Server 2005
SQL Server 2005 Security Best Practices - Operational and Administrative Tasks
SQL Server 2005 Full-Text Queries on Large Catalogs: Lessons Learned
Scale-Out Querying with Analysis Services
SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services Processing Best Practices
Predeployment I/O Best Practices
Partial Database Availability
Comparing Tables Organized with Clustered Indexes versus Heaps
SQL Server 2005 Deployment Guidance for Web Hosting Environments
Resolving Common Connectivity Issues in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services Connectivity Scenarios
Implementing Application Failover with Database Mirroring
OLAP Design Best Practices for Analysis Services 2005
DBCC SHOWCONTIG Improvements and Comparison between SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005
TEMPDB Capacity Planning and Concurrency Considerations for Index Create and Rebuild
Loading Bulk Data into a Partitioned Table
Database Mirroring Best Practices and Performance Considerations
SQL Server 2005 Performance Tuning using Waits and Queues
Analysis Services 2005 Performance Guide
SAP with Microsoft SQL Server 2005: Best Practices for High Availability, Performance, and Scalability
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Tuning Tips for PeopleSoft 8.x
Troubleshooting Performance Problems in SQL Server 2005

SQL Server Best Practices Toolbox

Scripts and Tools for Performance Tuning and Troubleshooting SQL Server 2005
SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer
DMV Stats

Top 10 Lists

Summary lists (usually consisting of 10 items) of recommendations, best practices and common issues for specific customer scenarios by the SQL Server Customer Advisory Team.

Analysis Services Query Performance Top 10 Best Practices
Top 10 Best Practices for SQL Server Maintenance for SAP
Top 10 Hidden Gems in SQL Server 2005
Top 10 SQL Server 2005 Performance Issues for Data Warehouse and Reporting Applications
OLTP Top 6 Performance Issues for OLTP Applications
Storage Top 10 Best Practices

Best Practices in SQL Server Books Online

Best Practices for Replication Administration
Replication Security Best Practices
Best Practices for Recovering a Database to a Specific Recovery Point

SQL Server Best Practices

Technical White Papers

SQL Server Best Practices Toolbox

Top 10 Lists

Best Practices in SQL Server Books Online

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Related Resources

Best Practices-Related Blogs

Best Practices Material for SQL Server 2000 (Archived)