Author: Tracy Boggiano and Grant Fritchey
Publisher: Apress
Pages:219
ISBN: 978-1484250037
Print: 1484250036
Kindle: B07YNL3X4X
Audience: Users and developers of SQL Server queries
Rating: 5
Reviewer: Kay Ewbank

This book looks at the new Query Store feature in SQL Server and how you can use it to identify and fix poorly performing queries.

In my experience, database developers spend most of their working time trying to figure out ways to make slow queries run faster. Query Store is a feature of SQL Server that keeps rolled-up aggregates of queries and statistics for workloads, and the data can be used to troubleshoot problems with performance. This book looks at what Query Store is and how to use it.

 

The book opens with a chapter explaining what Query Store is and why it's useful, along with a section on troubleshooting query performance without Query Store looking at options such as SQL Server Profilers, server-side tracing, and DMVs. 

The following chapters cover the architecture of Query Store and how to configure it. Chapters on standard Query Store reports and views explain how to interact with the repors , and how to use the catalog views to query data to troubleshoot problems.

From this point on the book gets increasingly useful. There's a good chapter on typical ways you can use Query Store, and another on auto plan correction and wait statistics. Auto plan correction is SQL Server's ability tolook at a query that is running slowly, and using the information in the Query Store, automate the forcing of a plan to overcome the problem. Used alongside wait statistics you get a powerful tool.

The book ends with chapters on troubleshooting issues with Query Store - what to do when it doesn't work or gets into a mess, and a final chapter on community tools that you can use alongside Query Store.

Overall, this is a good book explaining a useful tool. Many administrators and developers working with SQL Server will just accept the suggestions offered by Auto Plan correction, but if you use this book you'll understand a lot more of what's going on.

For more recommendations of SQL Server books see Pick Of The Shelf - SQL Server in our Programmer's Bookshelf section.

loadposition signup}