'The staple of every SQL Server developer's world, SSMS has been impossible to usurp for the majority of us. However, it's also been behind the development cycle of visual studio, and didn't have continual updates. That changed recently, as I've previously posted on. SSMS (Sql Server Management Studio) now being decoupled from the SQL Server database releases.
I've been enjoying some of the improvements, especially as relatest to the built in execution plan viewer. I use SQL Sentry Pro, but for a quick review, any improvements to the default viewer is a welcome addition!'...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/bit-barbarian/2016/07/11/improvements-with-ssms-2016/
'Based on the number of times I see this question on forums, it must be occurring all the time. You have two different servers that, as far as you know, are identical in terms of their options and setup (although not necessarily in terms of power, think a test or pre-production system versus production). On these servers you have a database on each that, as far as you know, is the same as the other in terms of options, objects, maybe even data (although, this does mean that you have unmasked production information in your QA environment, which potentially means you’re going to jail, might want to address this, especially now that I’ve told you about it, mens rea, you’re welcome). On each database you run, as far as you know, the exact same query (whether a straight up ad hoc query, stored procedure, parameterized query, whatever). On your production server, let’s call it PROD, the query runs for 3 hours before it returns, but on the test server, let’s call it TEST, it returns in about 3 seconds.
What. The. Hell.'...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/scarydba/2016/07/11/same-query-different-servers-different-performance-now-what/
'There is a frequently asked question among many people who work with SQL Server: "Why does SQL Server use almost all of the memory on the server, even if there is essentially no activity on the databases?" This is a common and logical question if you are not familiar with SQL Server memory management and you have not investigated the question. This tip is intended to explain the default SQL Server memory configurations and how to configure SQL Server to use a fixed amount of RAM.'...
https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/4182/setting-a-fixed-amount-of-memory-for-sql-server/