SQL Server 2005 Performance

Ongoing evaluation of the database performance helps you minimize response times and maximize throughput, yielding optimal performance. Efficient network traffic, disk I/O, and CPU usage are key to peak performance.
Monitoring and Tuning for Performance Monitoring and Tuning for Performance

This guide from the Books Online gives you an overview of monitoring your SQL Server installation and tuning it for peak performance, pointing you to further resources that can help you evaluate system performance and identify and remove system limitations.


Articles and Columns

Partitioned Tables and Indexes in SQL Server 2005
Table-based partitioning features in SQL Server 2005 provide flexibility and performance to simplify the creation and maintenance of partitioned tables. Trace the progression of capabilities from logically and manually partitioning tables to the latest partitioning features, and find out why, when, and how to design, implement, and maintain partitioned tables using SQL Server 2005.
Performance Optimizations for the XML Data Type in SQL Server 2005
This paper covers several ideas to improve query and data modification performance of XML data type in SQL Server 2005.
XML Indexes in SQL Server 2005
Use the relational query engine in SQL Server 2005 to make a single query plan for the SQL and XQuery parts of your queries, and make the implementation of XML queries fast and easy to predict and tune.
Trace and Replay Objects: A New API for SQL Server Tracing and Replay
This paper introduces Trace and Replay objects, a new feature in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Trace and Replay objects is a new managed API for tracing, trace manipulation, and trace replay.