Successful solutions are successful solely because systems, users, and organizations have come to depend upon them. Such solutions are not necessarily successful because they were well crafted, intelligently designed, or adhere to any other theoretical standards or best practices. The most necessary and adopted application may be a well-oiled machine, somehow succeeding despite itself, or something in between.

One of the beautiful things about SQL Server is how accessible it is. It is about as complicated to install as say, Microsoft Office. The basic setup is excellent for a simple sandbox server to play around with, or a database to support just a handful of users. A typical scenario is that what started out as a prototype solution or something designed for only a few users becomes widely adopted by a company, and mission-critical. More and more users jump on board, and performance degrades. When a solution’s success starts to overwhelm its bearing capacity, there is a problem. Some applications reach this point almost immediately, either because they were more successful than anticipated or because they were haphazardly designed from inception.

This whitepaper presents the top four performance makers and breakers for SQL Server. For SQL Server to perform as an Enterprise Level DBMS, the "out of the box" install rarely cuts it. Also, there are design considerations, configuration, and maintenance that must be considered and implemented to enable the actual capability of the platform.

Presenter: Mindy Curnutt