When I first discovered DMVs, I was enthralled because they made many difficult
things so easy. It was simple to identify, typically within seconds, the core performance
problems that affect SQL Server databases. For example, I could quickly
discover which queries were taking the longest time to run, which indexes were missing,
and why queries were being blocked. This was only the tip of the iceberg; the
deeper I dug into DMVs, the more information they provided to help me fix performance
problems.
Although I was captivated by the power of DMVs, I was frustrated because there was
very little awareness, even among experienced DBAs, of their existence. In response to
this I wrote an article for Microsoft’s MSDN magazine that was published in January
2008, which showed how useful DMVs could be. I then waited, expecting someone to
write a book about the subject.
Time passed, and although several articles about DMVs were subsequently published,
the book I wanted to read was not forthcoming. So late in 2009 I contacted
Manning Publications to discuss the possibility of writing such a book. You’re now
holding the fruit of that conversation.
I’m confident this book will help you successfully identify and target your performance
problems as well as suggest solutions to these problems, giving you betterperforming
SQL Server databases.
It’s heartening to hear comments from people when they first discover the power
of DMVs; they too are amazed at how easily DMVs can help identify problems and propose
possible solutions to these problems. Like me, they’re probably mystified why
DMVs aren’t more widely used. I hope this book will help correct this situation.