1. Tweet Tweet Part II – The Best
One-Line Things to Improve
Databases and Apps
Brent Ozar
SQL Server DBA, Microsoft MVP
Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server

2. Intro
I recently hosted a Twitter Chat on everything developers would need to know
about designing databases. I was joined by Richard Douglas, a SQL server
expert from Dell Software.
We asked our followers and participants to share their tips and best practices
using the hashtag: #dellsql. The following slideshow content is the 2nd
installment in what we deemed as most useful to our audience. Enjoy!
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3. @billinkc says “Embrace Your New Skill Set.”
• Learning SQL is an opportunity to
expand your skill set. Embrace it like
you run to the flavor of the week
language/ORM
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4. @onupdatacascade says “Stop and Smell the Roses”
• Check your design against t-sql code
smells.
Remember
• They are different than other
languages.
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5. @SQLintheWild says “Clean Up the Clutter”
• Data integrity. A database
that stores garbage is
useless.
Remember
• Apps can enforce integrity
but database should as
well.
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6. @Nick Craver says “Keep an Eye Out”
• Actually watch performance, have
some idea of what queries are
running and how they’re performing
• Nick Craver is from StackExchange,
the guys who built Opserver, an
open source monitoring system.
They’re brilliant about watching the
top resource-intensive queries on
the database server and you should
be too.
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7. @kbriankelley says “Take the Time to Read”
• Understand how indexes
work. Read a query plan and
work from it.
Remember
• Query execution plans are
road maps for how SQL
Server will process the data
for your query.
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8. @mecheph says “Growing, Growing, Gone!”
• You don’t have to know how
to FIX the bottlenecks,
necessarily, but you have to
know what’s going to be the
pain point as you scale.
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9. @kbriankelley says “Loop Them In!”
• Include DBAs early on in a
development project and
keep them in the loop for
better results.
Remember
• The best DBAs are partners,
not predators. When you
find a good one, they’re
willing to make you look like
a star.
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10. @Nick Craver says “I Get By with a Little Help from My
Friends”
• Be conscious that as you
push a database to the limits,
fewer rules are absolutes,
don’t be afraid to seek
expert advice.
Remember
• As someone who gets
brought in a lot for advice,
I’ve observed that the best
practice guidelines aren’t
usually working for them,
and they need to learn how
to bend the rules.
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11. For More Information
• To view the twitter chat, go to: http://bit.ly/HVh4m3
• To learn more about Solutions for SQL Server from Dell:
http://dell.to/1cxeM7Q
• For our Spotlight Freemium Version, go to: http://dell.to/1b2CAjp
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