Replication:
Deciding Between Merge and Peer-to-Peer Replication
Clear guidance on the differences between Merge and Peer-to-Peer replication and how to decide which method to use.
Initializing Replication from Backup
Clear guidance on the perceived limitations and restrictions on initializing transactional replication subscribers from a backup.
Performance:
Demystify Tempdb Performance & Management
Clear guidance on best practices for managing tempdb to provide the optimum balance between performance, reliability, and manageability.
5 Reasons Your SQL Server is Slow
Explains common causes of bad performance in SQL Server and provides guidance on how to identify and fix them.
Establishing and Setting Thresholds for a SQL Server Environment
Guide for DBAs about determining the proper thresholds for monitoring a SQL Server environment.
SQL Server Statistics Primer
Introduction to statistics in SQL Server. It explains how statistics are used by the query engine and how they can affect performance.
DBA Tactics for Optimizing SQL Network Performance
Guidance on techniques DBAs can use to improve performance of SQL Server across the network.
Performance Evaluation of Hosting TempDB on FusionIO
Compares the Tempdb performance between direct-attached physical disks and the FusionIO MLC DIMMS.
Disaster Recovery:
5 Most Common Critical SQL Integrity Issues
Explains the importance of performing integrity checks, reviews the 5 issues most commonly encountered, and offers guidance on what to do in each situation.
High Availability:
Why Your AlwaysOn Solution is Not Always On
Intermediate guide for DBAs on avoiding pitfalls that can cause unexpected failures with AlwaysOn technologies like Availability Groups (AGs) and Failover Cluster Instances (FCIs).
Virtualization:
Architecting Microsoft SQL Server on VMWare vSphere®Best Practices Guide
This document outlines some of the common VM-level tweaks and adjustments that are made when running enterprise SQL Server VMs on VMware platforms. This guide is considered a must-read if you manage these sorts of SQL Servers, which cannot be treated as general purpose virtual machines.
Capture Production Error States on VMware vSphere® with PowerCLI
This whitepaper details an exciting new feature that allows you to capture the production error state. the latest revision of VMware’s PowerCLI PowerShell extensions contain a little publicized feature that allows you to capture the production server’s error state and preserve it for later investigation so that you can repair the VM as fast as possible to minimize the impact to the business.