Tips & Tricks with SQL Server Performance Tuning, SSAS, SSRS, SSIS, and More!

By Ike Ellis, MVP@ike_ellis

www.ikeellis.comBlog.ikeellis.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/ikeellis

So you want to be great at SQL Server…SQL Server Integration ServicesSQL Server Analysis Services

TabularMultiDimensional

SQL Server Reporting ServicesExcelData Quality ServicesService BrokerPerformance Tuning

IndexingQuery PlansPlan AnalysisMemory ManagementSANsNetwork

ClusteringAvailability GroupsPowerShellMaster Data ServicesArchitectureData Mart DesignData NormalizationCDCNoSQL/BigData (At least the MS Cloud Offerings)Competitive Knowledge (Oracle, Tablaeu, QlickView, Postgres)ORMs(Entity Framework, Nhibernate, Micros)Installation/Configuration/Upgrading/Service Packing

Power BIPowerMapPowerQueryPowerView

PowerPivotT-SQL

QueryingStored ProceduresFunctionsWindowing FunctionsAggregates

CLRMDXDAXXMLABCPSQL AzureTooling

RedgateSSMSSSDT

Past VersionsCentral ManagementDacPacs/BacPacsProfiler/Extended EventsAuditingSecurity/EncryptionReplicationSQLCMD

Tips From the SQL Consultant• For the

YouTube/Reddit/Chive/Cracked/Meme generation

• Lots of disjointed tips• Popular mistakes I see or easy things I

think you can take advantage of• Between 3 – 5 minutes each• Let’s see if we can get through all 20

TIP #1: Query Shortcuts

• SELECT COUNT(*) FROM • SELECT TOP 100 * FROM

TIP #2: Don’t forget the splitter bar

TIP #3: Low hanging fruit

• CRTL-R– F6 switches between result tabs

• Copy, Paste a line without selecting• COMMENTS CTRL-K, C, CTRL-K U• BOOKMARKS CTRL-K, K, CTRL-K N• Refresh cache – CTRL-SHIFT R– Unless RedGate then CTRL-SHIFT D

TIP #4: Block Commenting

• Easy column selection – bring up the query window– CTRL-SHIFT Q

• Format the columns comma first, like you’re supposed to– SQL PROMPT – CTRL-K, CTRL-Y

• Alias a table• CTRL-ALT arrow• Add alias

TIP #5: Code Snippets

• CTRL-K, CTRL-B – Bring up Code Snippet Manager

• Copy an existing one from a path and put it in the My Snippets Path

• Edit the XML• CTRL-K, CTRL-X to place the snippet• Great for common queries– WhoIsActive – sp_Blitz– DBCC OPENTRAN

Tip #6: SSIS for the Color Blind

Tip #7: Five minutes on report formatting = 10x more impressive

• Spend 10 minutes on design (as opposed to the zero we typically spend)     

• Choose colors wisely     – 99/100 - developers use the default

color palette        • HTML color picker websites  – http://www.lavishbootstrap.com   

• MorgueFile– http://www.morguefile.com/

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Tip #8: The right way to find hardware problems

• Merging PerfMon and Tracing• Get the Batch and Completed Events Only• Never trace from the computer you are

monitoring• Always trace to a file and then load in a

table after.

*Thanks, Grant!

Tip #9: Lifehack: Readable Presentations

• Take the average age of the people in your audience and divide by 2: That’s your font size

•USE THIS SIZE IF YOUR AUDIENCE IS 110

Tip #10: Check for heaps/clustered indexes

SELECT t.[Name] FROM sys.Indexes i JOIN sys.Tables t ON t.Object_ID = i.Object_idWHERE i.type_desc = 'HEAP'ORDER BY t.[Name]

Tip #11: The proper way to run an SSIS package

Tip #12: No reason to use ISNULL CONCAT!

• Messy vs clean code• No + symbol needed• No ISNULL needed

Tip #13: How to search schema

• F7• SQLSearch

– Free– Download it!– http://www.red-gate.com/products/sql-development/sql-

search/

– Did I mention it’s free?• Dependency Tracker

– Not Free, but still cool

select object_name(object_id), definition as namefrom sys.all_sql_moduleswhere definition like '%cust%'

Tip #14: Windowing Functions are pretty cool

• They are worth learning, and have a neat evolution

Tip #15: SSDT Search for options

• No more digging around in options• Just search for everything

Tip #16: Scripting: You have two choices

• Two Choices– Get good at boring repetitive tasks– Get good at PowerShell & Scripting

• Who adds more value to their company or their customers?

• Who gets paid more?

Tip #17: TempDB Configuration

• Current thought is 4 logical processors to 1 file

• Just a good beginning, your mileage may very

• Start there, then go to 2:1 or 1:1 if necessary

• Trace Flag 1117 or autogrow off

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Tip #18: Prettify!

http://extras.sqlservercentral.com/prettifier/prettifier.aspx

RedGate PlugIn for SQL Server Management Studio

Tip #19: Execute scripts over multiple servers?

• Super easy!

Tip #20: Life is so easy with a dates table

• Find the sales numbers for the first Monday of every month of the year

• T-SQL with no dates table• T-SQL with dates table

Tip #21: Try_Cast

• Avoiding terrible casting errors

Tip #22: Never reinvent the wheel

• Take SQL# for example• Good Documentation• Easy Syntax• Cheap (and much of it is free)

Tip #23: Save scripts for easy access

• Lots of repetitive scripts with business logic

• No reason to write the same queries for the same tables day after day

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Tip #24: Enforce Business Rules in the DB

• Foreign Keys• Unique Constraints• Check Constraints

Tip #25: Log, Log, Log (and beware of subscriptions)

select c.Name, e.InstanceName, e.UserName, e.Parameters, e.TimeStart, e.TimeEnd, e.TimeDataRetrieval, e.TimeProcessing, e.TimeRenderingfrom executionlog e join catalog c on e.reportid = c.ItemID

Send a Link, or a file on a shared folder that you can audit. Find someway to audit who opened the link or the file in the folder. Try to avoid sending the PDF without a way to audit it.

Ike Ellis

• http://blog.ikeellis.com• http://www.ikeellis.com• YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/user/IkeEllisData

• SQL Pass Book Readers – http://bookreaders.sqlpass.org/

• San Diego Tech Immersion Group• Twitter: @ike_ellis• 619.922.9801• Email address is just my first name

@ikeellis.com