Wow it’s been a while since I blogged. My other blog (http://www.sharepointmusings.com) has been stagnant because I haven’t done much on SharePoint stuff the past month. I have a few ones still on draft. I’ll try to find time to edit and publish them.

I am working on documenting strategies for optimizing queries. I’ve read a few books that have been helpful, but there hasn’t really been any one book or documentation that explains in depth how to read execution plans … until I came across this link: http://www.simple-talk.com/sql/performance/execution-plan-basics/

Whoa! How timely is that. Grant Fritchey has just published a book (May 2008!) : Dissecting SQL Server Execution Plans – The Art of High Performance SQL Code. I bought the ebook right away and started reading. Im just on p. 58 right now, and so far, pretty good. Some of the concepts I am familiar with, but Grant Fritchey has made it more clear what the icons are, when they are good, and when they are warning bells.

Ok, I’m going back to my reading …

Just came across a number of good free schemas for SQL Server Express:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/express/starterschemas.mspx

This is the list, which I am sure some of you will find useful:

• Database Schema 1: Assets Maintenance
• Database Schema 2: Contact Management
• Database Schema 3: Customers and Orders
• Database Schema 4: Document Management
• Database Schema 5: e-Commerce
• Database Schema 6: Help Desk
• Database Schema 7: Issue Tracking Software
• Database Schema 8: Retail Inventory Control
• Database Schema 9: Not for Profits
• Database Schema 10: Product Catalogs

These are all provided by Barry Williams, who has hundreds more in his site (www.DatabaseAnswers.org)! Will definitely check those out.