Erin Stellato
Principal Program Manager at Microsoft
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
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Erin Stellato is a Principal Program Manager on the SQL Tools and Experiences team, helping advance tools that customers use daily with SQL databases. She is passionate about data and chocolate, not always in that order. She previously worked as a consultant and was a Data Platform MVP, and has been an active member of the SQL community as both a volunteer and speaker. Her areas of interest within the engine include Query Store, Extended Events, statistics, and performance tuning; and she also enjoys helping accidental/involuntary DBAs figure out how SQL Server works.
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Using Query Store Hints to Stabilize Query Performance
As a data professional you often get pulled in to troubleshoot a drop in performance, and it can be stressful. Once you determine the problem, people want you to fix it... immediately. But what if you don't have direct code access? Or even if you do, you have to go through a change control process which can take hours or days, and you don't know when performance will tank again.
Did you know there are built-in features that can not only help you find problematic queries, but can also help you manage query performance *without* changing the schema or the code? Whether you have SQL Server on-premises, in the cloud on a VM, or you use Azure SQL Database, this session will step through new functionality, including Query Store Hints, which leverages Query Store to help you stabilize query performance immediately.
Why You Need Query Store
Whether you run SQL Server in house, in the cloud on a VM, or use Azure SQL Database, Query Store is a tool you can leverage for troubleshooting and monitoring, as well as stabilizing query performance. This session will explain why Query Store is essential, and you will see why you want to enable it in production, immediately.
Recent Updates to the Developer’s Toolbox
There are a lot of tools available for working with SQL, but which ones can be the most helpful to developers? Come to this session to learn more about different tools that can help you when developing against a SQL environment. Some of these tools might end up in the bottom of your toolbox and only come out for “special occasions” while others might become indispensable to your day-to-day work. We’ll cover command line tools to GUIs and explain what you need to use, and when. Whether you’re all in on Azure or dedicated to on prem, there are new advances in tools for you.
Understanding Statistics in SQL Server
Troubleshooting performance issues and tuning queries in SQL Server can be easier with some level of understanding about statistics. If you want to understand how the optimizer uses statistics when creating a query plan, and why they're so important, then join me for this session. We’ll define what statistics are, examine how the optimizer uses them, and review how to find cardinality estimate information in a plan. We’ll also cover the various ways statistics can be updated, and explore what happens to plans when those updates occur, so you can understand why maintaining statistics is essential for performance. Expect lots of demos so you can fully grasp what statistics are, how they're used, and why their management is so essential for good performance.
Query Store Configuration and Use
Query Store started as a feature used to help data professionals troubleshoot changes in query performance. It has now become the underlying foundation for a suite of intelligent query processing (IQP) features. In this session we will cover the most important details you know about Query Store: proper configuration, best practices, and how to use it - both through the UX and with T-SQL. We'll step through a series of demos based on problems encountered in production environments so that you can immediately implement it for your SQL databases.
Query Store Best Practices
Almost every time I present on the topic of Query Store, someone asks about the performance overhead of implementing it. It's not just about configuration options; there are aspects related to a system’s workload that are vital to understand and consider. In this session we will discuss the best practices for Query Store – not just the what, but also the why. We'll cover what you need to consider with SQL 2022 and how new Intelligent Query Processing features interact with Query Store. And finally, we'll talk about problematic workloads and what you can do to make Query Store an option for your solution. Whether you're running Azure SQL, or SQL Server 2016 or higher on-prem, it's worth taking the time to understand all the factors to optimize your use of Query Store.
Options for Proactively Managing Statistics in SQL Server
Have you ever wondered how you could manage statistics beyond having AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS for your databases enabled, using a maintenance plan, and/or using the default options in Ola Hallengren's script? If so, this session is for you. I'll talk through the method I use to figure out what statistics need frequent updates, which ones have skew, and which ones aren't as critical. This session will move quick, so have some coffee before and be ready to keep pace!
Feedback Link - https://sqlb.it/?6967
Finding Problems and Stabilizing Performance with Query Store
As a data professional you often get pulled in to troubleshoot a drop in performance, and it can be stressful. Then, when you figure out the issue, people want you to fix it...immediately. But what if you need to change a query or the schema and you don't have direct code access? Or even if you do, you have to go through a change control process which can take hours or days, and you don't know when performance will tank again.
Did you know that Query Store can not only help you find problematic queries, but it can also help you manage query performance, *without* changing the schema or the code?
Whether you have SQL Server on-premises, in the cloud on a VM, or you use Azure SQL Database, Query Store is a tool you can use for troubleshooting and monitoring, as well as stabilizing query performance.
In this full day workshop, built using real-world examples based on customer issues resolved over the last 5 years, we will cover Query Story end to end, top to bottom. Topics include:
• Configuration best practices
• Considerations related to performance
• Using Query Store to find your problem queries
• Plan forcing (manual and automatic)
• How to leverage Query Store for upgrades
• How to determine if a different compatibility mode or Cardinality Estimator model benefits your workload, based on Query Store data
• How Query Store Hints and Intelligent Query Processing (IQP) features can stabilize query performance
Expect discussion, a lot of demos, and practical knowledge that you can apply to your environment the moment you turn on Query Store.
Feedback link: https://sqlb.it/?7154
Extending Your Use of Extended Events
If you have made the leap to using Extended Events, chances are you’re using XE to do the exact same thing you used to do in Trace. Maybe you use it to capture query performance over time, or find queries that exceed a specific duration, I/O, or CPU. Maybe you want to find what login executed a query, or from what workstation or application the query originated. But Extended Events is so much more than a replacement for Trace; it is a whole new way to think about troubleshooting.
In this session we will discuss the targets, actions, and predicates available in Extended Events and see how you can leverage them to look at problems in SQL Server in ways that you never could before. We will step through as many demos as possible in the time available so you can see why joining #TeamXE was one of the best decisions you ever made. You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of Extended Events along with a new methodology for approaching and solving issues in SQL Server.
Demystifying Statistics in SQL Server
Troubleshooting performance issues and tuning queries can be easier with some level of understanding about statistics. Something you may hear people talk about as part of query tuning are "bad cardinality estimates". If you’ve wondered what that means, and you want to understand how the optimizer uses statistics when creating a query plan, then join me for this session. We’ll set the stage with a review of what statistics are, then see how the optimizer uses them and where to find that “cardinality estimate” information in a plan. We’ll also cover the various ways statistics can be updated, explore what happens to plans when those updates occur, and ultimately you will see why understanding how it all works is critical when you’re troubleshooting performance problems. Expect lots of demos so you can truly understand what statistics are, how they're used, and why their management is so essential for good performance.
Recent Updates to the SQL Toolbox
There are a lot of tools available for working with SQL Server and Azure SQL, but which ones can be the most helpful to you and when should you use them? Come to this session to learn more about the different tools that can help you when working in your SQL database environment. Some of these might end up in the bottom of your toolbox and only come out for “special occasions” while others might become indispensable to your day-to-day work. From command line tools to GUIs we'll explain what you need to use, and when. Whether you’re all in on Azure or dedicated to on prem, there are new advances in tools for you.
Erin Stellato
Principal Program Manager at Microsoft
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
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