5 Tips For Boosting SQL Server Performance

There is no point putting up with substandard SQL Server performance; not only is it likely to cause frustration at many levels, but it will also end up costing your company money.

So how can you fix common issues that tend to be at the root of poor performance? Here are just a few tips to get you started.

Check for problems regularly using software tools

Rather than trying to fix flaws when you find them by chance, it is better to use software like the SentryOne SQL Server monitoring tool to look out for the things you need to troubleshoot actively.

The latest solutions available will be your eyes and ears, hunting for the causes of sluggish database performance and automatically letting you know when dilemmas are detected.

Consider hardware bottlenecks

In many cases, you will find that the performance of your SQL Server is not meeting expectations because you are simply putting too much of a burden on the hardware of the server itself.

All server hardware will become obsolete over time, and the speed with which this takes place will depend on your usage requirements and your organization’s growth rate.

Because of this, it is sensible to stay abreast of how much memory and storage space is being used from day to day, as well as the proportion of your CPU’s cores and clock cycles are being taken up by database processes. This lets you put a plan in place to upgrade in the future and let you know if any unusual activity is taking place.

Rewrite suboptimal queries

Efficient query composition is at the core of any well-oiled SQL Server deployment, and you can let monitoring tools pick out the less than ideal examples for you.

Once you have the imperfect queries in your sights, you can take measures to minimize their impact and enhance them to restore performance without having to tinker with hardware whatsoever.

Deal with index fragmentation

Indexes are essential to any SQL Server, and yet over time, they can become fragmented, which will eventually mean that performance degrades as a result.

By defragmenting your indexes regularly, you will prevent a problem that can get progressively worse if left unaddressed.

Rebuilding an index is a good all-purpose option, as it can cope with particularly severe cases of fragmentation and does not take too long to complete, particularly in the case that your database is very large. Reorganizing is a concurrency-preserving alternative but is better suited to situations in which low levels of fragmentation are present.

Don’t forget network issues

Lastly, ensure that the network is not to blame for the way your SQL Server instance is performing because this is an often overlooked aspect of troubleshooting that could save you a lot of bother in the long run.

Of course, it all depends on whether your server is hosted locally fixing or whether it operates remotely, but whatever the case, prioritizing your maintenance duties is better than procrastinating.

Also Read: Web Performance Monitoring: A How to Guide for Developers