Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

Chapter VII.3. Data Access Strategies

Believe it or not, users are often more accepting of the occasional application bug than they are of a consistently sluggish system. If you think about it, this makes sense: A periodic, spectacular crash can liven up an otherwise boring day, whereas an always-lethargic application gets annoying very quickly. This chapter shows you some common tips and tricks for getting the most speed from your SQL Server database. However, this chapter focuses exclusively on database and query-level suggestions, so if you're interested in engine tuning and disk layout concepts, check out the next chapter. Moreover, if you're curious about good database design practices, make sure to peruse Book II, which focuses on these important foundations.

We start the chapter by pointing out that it's imperative to lay the groundwork for a well-running system, as well as take advantage of all the tools and technologies at your disposal for monitoring and tuning your SQL Server installation. After that, we show you how to employ indexes as an important aid in coaxing the most speed from your database. With that out of the way, it's time to see how to design queries for maximal throughput. Finally, we close the chapter with a discussion of some techniques that you can follow to make data alterations as peppy as possible.