The PASS Summit is complete and we got what we asked for from David Dewitt. He spoke on the third day of the PASS Summit and received quite the applause when his presentation ended.
David Dewitt came to us at the request of the community. When he was mentioned at an MVP meeting on there were applause and a couple cheers. This was three days before he took the stage at the keynote.
Now what could he be talking about that was so warmly received. Oh yeah – it was a hot topic. He spoke on SQL query optimization and addressed why it is difficult to always execute good plans.
Query Optimization
This might sound pretty geeky. But if you use SQL Server it is imperative to understand how SQL Server builds execution plans. David Dewitt covers this in his keynote and breaks down the methodology in which SQL Server accomplishes this in simple terms.
At the end, the presentation provides a grounding for how cost based plans are estimated. And then defines the method under which SQL Server will decide between plans. The value of the costs and the related statistics is clearly laid out with explanations that the junior to senior database administrator can understand and apply.
Good stuff? Yes, it was and you should have watched it.
Watch This
What should you do if you missed the keynote last week? I think you should grab the webcast that was recorded for the session and take a gander at it.
Oh, you got a chance to watch it?
Then watch it again. It’s great for understanding how SQL Server and cost estimation works.
Follow-Up to Dewitt
Seen the session enough? But, you want more? How could you not? Some things to check our are:
- Facebook page for Microsoft Jim Gray Systems Lab
- The SQL Server Cost Based Optimizer
- Picasso Database Query Optimizer Visualizer
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