An update to the cardinality estimator feature in SQL Server 2022 will be one of the biggest changes to the database engine since its inception. Database engines like SQL Server are incredibly complex ...

JSON has stolen some of XML's thunder with features such as human and machine readability, a lightweight, compact text structure and support for many software and hardware platforms. JSON (JavaScript ...

Microsoft has just added support for query hints to Azure SQL Database, giving database administrators a powerful tool to manage the performance of ISV application code. Here's how it works. Database ...

PolyBase, a data virtualization feature for SQL Server, allows users to seamlessly query data from various external sources directly using T-SQL (Transact-SQL) without the need for separate client ...

With the latest public preview available, it’s time to decide if you want to upgrade to Microsoft’s most cloud-connected version of SQL Server so far. Three decades on, SQL Server is still a database ...

When you use index views in the right situations, they can dramatically improve the performance of SQL Server queries. Tim Chapman explains why performance testing is the best way to tell if indexed ...

I have been testing SQL Server 2008 RC0 (Release Candidate Zero) that was made available recently and I must admit I am beginning to like it. Even the new logo is growing on me. There are many new ...

SQL Server Profiler has always been a great tool for tracing activity “under the hood” on a SQL Server and assessing its performance. One feature that helps us quickly set up a trace on our current ...

At Microsoft's Ignite digital event this week, the company is announcing the private preview of SQL Server 2022, the next version of its three-decades-old relational database management system (RDBMS) ...