Professional SQL Server® 2005 Performance Tuning

1.1. Art or Science?

Performance tuning has always had a certain aura of mystique around it. The few masters of the art are regarded with awe and suspicion by those who haven't mastered the skills. For those outside the inner circle of those masters, the perception is that it takes many years to acquire the skills necessary to become a performance tuner.

The reality is that with a methodical approach, the right tools, and the right knowledge, anyone with a basic knowledge of T-SQL can start taking steps to improve the performance of their database system. As you start to master these skills, performance tuning begins to look less like an esoteric art and more like a focused science.

This book is about providing you with the knowledge you need to start taking a methodical approach to performance tuning, to show you which tools to use and when, and to give you the knowledge you need to be a successful SQL Server performance tuner.