'SQL Server 2012 is known for a few amazing performance features and columnstore index is one of them. According to Microsoft, this new type of index can bring up to a 10x performance improvement for certain queries and is recommended for large data warehouse and real time operational analytics solutions. Columnstore indexes are best suited for queries involving large table scans, especially fact/dimension joins and aggregations, which are typical to data warehouses. However, some data warehouse reports targeting a smaller data range may still benefit more from traditional B-Tree indexes than columnstore indexes. The choice between B-Tree and columnstore is further complicated with SQL Server 2014, which allows a hybrid solution, tables with both B-tree and columnstore indexes. In this tip I'll explore a few query types with different data ranges to see the advantages of each option.'...
https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/4158/sql-server-columnstore-btree-and-hybrid-index-performance-comparison-for-data-warehouses/
'Today I’d like to share a quick script that is useful when working with a new domain of SQL servers. It’s also good for anyone who doesn’t know their environment very well or suspects there might be some hidden or rarely used servers. There are probably many ways to do this scattered around the internet, but this method is easy and as long as you have a properly designed Active Directory, you’ll be good to go.'...
https://sqlsanctum.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/powershell-get-sql-servers-from-ad/
'We’re happy to announce the availability of our newest free ebook, Introducing Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview (ISBN 9780735697737), by John McCabe and the Windows Server team. Enjoy!
Get a head start evaluating Windows Server 2016—guided by the experts. Based on Technical Preview 4, John McCabe and the Windows Server team introduce the new features and capabilities, with practical insights on how Windows Server 2016 can meet the needs of your business. Get the early, high-level overview you need to begin preparing your deployment now!'...
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/microsoft_press/2016/04/20/free-ebook-introducing-windows-server-2016-technical-preview/
'Dear Customers,
The 12th cumulative update release for SQL Server 2012 SP2 is now available for download at the Microsoft Support site.
To learn more about the release or servicing model, please visit:
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlreleaseservices/the-12th-cumulative-update-release-for-sql-server-2012-sp2-is-now-available-for-download/
'Dear Customers,
The 3rd cumulative update release for SQL Server 2012 SP3 is now available for download at the Microsoft Support site.
To learn more about the release or servicing model, please visit:
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlreleaseservices/the-3rd-cumulative-update-release-for-sql-server-2012-sp3-is-now-available-for-download/
'One of the most important new features in the SQL Server 2016 release is the support for Stretch Databases. If you haven’t had a chance to keep up with the latest enhancements in SQL Server 2016, Stretch Databases refer to a feature that enables you to seamlessly extend a database from your on-premise SQL Server instance to Azure. Stretch Databases transparently migrate your historical data to Microsoft Azure. Unlike typical cold data storage, your historical data on Azure is always online and available to query. Stretch Databases can make your operations more efficient by allowing you to provide longer data retention times using low cost Azure storage without the need to scale up your more expensive on-premises storage.'...
http://sqlmag.com/scaling-success-sql-server-2016/increasing-your-storage-efficiency-sql-server-stretch-databases
'SQL Server 2005 is out of support and you might be (Or rather, you should be) planning an enterprise wide upgrade of SQL Server. Are you thinking of upgrading to SQL Server 2014? If yes, then wait! SQL Server 2016 is packed with great features and mainly, there is plenty of enhancements. Here is a quick walk-through of my 6 favorite features, and I will explain why SQL Server 2016 is a great choice for your next platform upgrade(When it’s released(RTM))'...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/sqlsailorcom/2016/05/01/why-you-should-think-about-upgrading-to-sql-server-2016/
'Another new feature in SQL 2016 is the Temporal Table (or System Versioning, as its referred to in the documentation). It allows a table to be versioned, in terms of data, and for queries to access rows of the table as they were at some earlier point in time,
I’m quite excited about this, because while we’ve always been able to do this manually, with triggers or CDC or CT, it’s been anything but trivial. I remember trying to implement a form of temporal tables back in SQL 2000, using triggers, and it was an absolute pain in the neck.'...
http://sqlinthewild.co.za/index.php/2016/05/10/sql-server-2016-features-temporal-tables/
'I’ve been working on tuning a query for the last week and I’ve had to make several changes to the query’s logic. I’m always a little nervous when making those types of changes so I try to do some careful testing before I even suggest the changes to the developers. Who presumably at that point will put the changes into the test environment and run their own tests.
One of the tests I like to run is to generate a fair amount of output (10-50k rows) from both the original and the new queries (if possible), store them into temporary (not temp) tables, and then compare the two tables.
There are lots of ways to do compare the contents and structure of two tables but all have pros and cons.'...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/sqlstudies/2016/05/12/comparing-the-contents-of-two-tables/
'This site lists all wait types in SQL Server 2005 onward and gives detailed information about where they occur inside SQL Server. I created this site to be a comprehensive resource for the SQL Server community as this information is not available anywhere else. I hope it helps you with SQL Server performance tuning and understanding SQL Server in more depth.'...
https://www.sqlskills.com/help/waits/