Has this query been regularly as OK? or is it a new query?

Are the statistics up to date?

Have you checked sys.dm_exec_requests for more detailed information?

Focus on consistency - is the PLE consistently low?

Have you checked for missing indexes, updated statistics?

Try and establish why there is memory pressure.

Increasing physical memory will alleviate pressure , but...

Make sure all live transactions are stopped , if there is a transaction ongoing and writing to that log file you will not be able to delete the Log.

Convince your management of paying for a "first - line support" - someone who works out of hrs - can pick up all the monitoring , deal with failed backups,...

Some considerations, although these are general guidelines and all implemenattions should be tested against real data sets . Firstly, don't forget to maintain statistics.

1) Check the WHERE clause , if...

As long as you have the sqlcmd file installed on the server from which you're executing the code, use the SQLCMD method to log onto the relevant servers. Check SQL...

What scripting framework are you using? Powershell, batch files with sqlcmd etc.

First thing you must do when you start is ensure there is a Test Server\ laborator server. Start practising various recovery scenarios - and be fanatical about BACKUPS. I know...

@bugg - Ask them details on RPO and RTO of database server. Also , enquire about any Service level agreements they may have with other groups. This will...

Do they have a Security Policy? If not , maybe that is an opportunity for you to implement. You can also develop reports which audit the security .

It depends on how large is the environment . How motivated you are to learn new skills. Focus on fundamentals , such as availability - incluing backup strategy ,...

I agree server-side trace is a good approach. Another low-intrusive method is to tune the queries against the execution plans.

For justifications:

1) high io_completion wait stats

2) high io write and io read -use sys.dm_io_virtual_file_stats, this provides useful data regarding IO statistics. An example...

Adding to comments already made.

1) Identify , whether it's a pre deployment or post deployment query. If pre- then it must be optimised, if post, then optimise if a problem....

Depending the amount of data changes , and on your STATISTCS management, some data distribution may have changed. As a first step , Force a UPDATE STATISTICS and ...