Evaluating a SQL Server Monitor With Sample Data
The advice to point a monitor at a real server first is wrong. Here is how sample data, the connect card and the tour work, and what each one does not tell you.
Month: October 2026
Scalar Function Performance: Read the Blocker Matrix First
Improve scalar function performance by reading one screen in the right order: the verdict strip, the blocker matrix, then the grid beneath them.
SQL Server Untrusted Constraint: Why Plans Quietly Rot
A SQL Server untrusted constraint breaks nothing and costs you plan quality everywhere. Here is how to find them, rank them and re-check them safely.
Pending RECONFIGURE: Find Settings That Never Took Effect
A pending RECONFIGURE means a setting you changed is not the one SQL Server is running. Here is how to spot it, and what else the settings list gives away.
Database Health Monitor 4.1743: Query Tuning Workbench, Backup SLA Policies and 920 Fixes
Version 4.1743 adds the Query Tuning Workbench, Backup SLA policies with a compliance report and alert, a Default Trace Events report, safer Quick Scan fixes, easier navigation and 920 fixes.
SQL Server Connections: Who Is on Your Database?
Twenty SQL Server connections can be healthy or a leak. Split them into running and sleeping, spot the open transaction and the sa login, then act.
Wait Based Tuning: Which Part of the Bar to Read First
Wait based tuning starts with one question: is this query running or waiting? Read the Waits by Query report in the right order.
SQL Server Disabled Index: Why Your Query Ignores It
A SQL Server disabled index sits in the catalog and does nothing. Here is how to find it, plus the low fill factor and hypothetical indexes hiding beside it.
SQL Server Missing Indexes: Read Write Cost First
SQL Server missing indexes look like free speed until the writes pay for them. Learn to weigh benefit against write cost before you build anything.
Silent Job Failure: Read Missed Runs in This Order
A silent job failure writes no history and raises no alert. Here is the order to read the Missed Runs report so the gaps tell you what happened.