One of the most annoying parts of working with any program, especially one hitched to a vast network, accessed by multiple users at any given time, is when the program begins to get sluggish. For domestic computer users, it’s what happens when the little hour glass turns itself over a few times when something as basic as Microsoft Word is opened. This is not the fault of the program but the fault of your computer’s processors and their ability to process (for lack of a better word) the function. When it get to that point, domestically, a simple reformatting, or purging of the computer would help tremendously. Now let’s move onto a larger scale. When a database-based application begins to display symptoms of sluggish behavior, there is a more than likely probability that the data access routines of that application are not being thoroughly optimized, or not written in the most functional way. Your sql server is in dire need of help. The long and short of it, would find you conducting a review of your data access/manipulation routines, with an ultimate goal of optimizing them.
When you need sql server help
It’s always suggested that if you’re not professionally adept or equipped to handle this level of programming that you leave it to the experts. If you are however so inclined and able, here are a few tips to help the processing of your processes go along much more effectively:
Apply the appropriate indexing in the tables and columns in the database:
When you implement proper indexing in the first place, should other problems crop up, you won’t have to meander the convoluted task of reconstructing it. It’s the whole putting the cart before the horse thing. When indexes are applied to and created within the database, it doesn’t require you to perform any application modification. The added bonus? There will be no requisite build or deployment.
Defragmentation of the indexes, where applicable:
What happens when you apply the indexes (or, if they are already there), but the performance you were aiming for still has not occurred? You might want to look at the possibility that an index fragmentation has occurred. Either an internal or external fragmentation may have happened, and just like there are two possible causes, there are two possible solutions. Either recognize the fragment and execute a Reorganize command OR rebuild the fragmented indexes with a Rebuild command.
Avoid deadlocks at all costs:
When setting up your database, always access tables in the same order in every one of your Stored Procedures and triggers, consistently. As far as transaction handling is concerned, keep them as short as possible, and touch as few data nodules as possible during any of the transactions. And as an extra precaution, never wait for user input in the middle of a transaction – this makes things much messier than they need to be.
We hope these tips will prove valuable to you in your quest for SQL server help. Sure, things may seem tricky, but with enough information and confidence, you will be able to speed up your sluggish processes in no time flat.