sqlserver

Offline SQL Server analysis & recommendations engine: capture read-only system-view/DMV/catalog data from a target instance ONCE, land it as local CSV/Parquet, load it into DuckDB, and run an analysis query library that produces PRIORITIZED, EXPLAINED recommendations across table/schema design, indexing, table sizes & capacity, statistics staleness, query hotspots, waits, configuration, file/autogrowth/tempdb layout, backup & recovery cadence, and identity-exhaustion runway — the PerformanceMonitor 'Lite' pattern. Complements the live diagnostic skills; iterate analysis with zero further load on the source and trend across capture runs. WHEN: "analyze my database", "recommendations to improve the database", "table design review", "what indexes am I missing", "unused/duplicate indexes", "is my schema well designed", "offline database analysis", "DuckDB SQL Server analysis", "database health report", "capacity review", "backup review", "identity running out", "advisor", "prioritized findings".

Comprehensive Microsoft SQL Server expert and router covering the full database-management lifecycle across versions 2016-2025 and the cloud (Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, SQL on Azure VM, AWS RDS, Google Cloud SQL). Routes to specialized skills for operations, monitoring, HA/clustering, engineering, infrastructure, cloud, security, and offline DuckDB-powered analysis & recommendations (advisor). WHEN: "SQL Server", "MSSQL", "T-SQL", "SSMS", "sqlcmd", "DBA", "database administration", general or cross-cutting SQL Server questions, or when the specific management domain is unclear.

SQL Server cloud offerings and migration: Azure SQL Database (DTU/vCore, elastic pools, serverless, Hyperscale), Azure SQL Managed Instance, SQL Server on Azure VM, AWS RDS for SQL Server, and Google Cloud SQL — including feature-parity differences, geo-replication, auto-failover groups, and migration tooling (Data Migration Assistant, Azure DMS, Managed Instance link, log replay, BACPAC, backup/restore to URL). WHEN: "Azure SQL", "Azure SQL Database", "Managed Instance", "SQL MI", "Hyperscale", "elastic pool", "serverless SQL", "DTU", "vCore", "SQL Server on Azure VM", "SQL IaaS", "AWS RDS SQL Server", "RDS", "Cloud SQL", "geo-replication", "failover group", "DMA", "Azure DMS", "MI link", "cloud migration", "BACPAC", "PaaS SQL", "which Azure SQL".

SQL Server development and performance engineering: T-SQL best practices, indexing strategy (clustered, nonclustered, columnstore, filtered, covering/included), execution plans, query optimization, statistics and the cardinality estimator, parameter sniffing mitigation, partitioning, In-Memory OLTP, temporal tables, data compression, and schema design. WHEN: "T-SQL", "write a query", "index", "covering index", "columnstore", "execution plan", "query plan", "query tuning", "optimize query", "SARGable", "cardinality estimator", "statistics", "parameter sniffing", "OPTION RECOMPILE", "partitioning", "In-Memory OLTP", "temporal table", "stored procedure", "schema design", "data type", "normalization".

SQL Server high availability, clustering, and disaster recovery: Always On Availability Groups (synchronous/asynchronous, contained, distributed, basic, read-scale), Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) on Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC), database mirroring and mirroring endpoints, log shipping, replication, quorum and witnesses, listeners, automatic seeding, and failover procedures. WHEN: "Always On", "availability group", "AG", "readable secondary", "FCI", "failover cluster", "WSFC", "quorum", "witness", "database mirroring", "mirroring endpoint", "CREATE ENDPOINT", "log shipping", "replication", "distributor", "listener", "automatic seeding", "failover", "high availability", "disaster recovery", "DR", "RPO", "RTO".

SQL Server instance and platform infrastructure: hardware sizing, memory configuration (max/min server memory, Lock Pages in Memory), MAXDOP and cost threshold for parallelism, NUMA, tempdb configuration, instant file initialization, trace flags, storage layout and disk subsystem, OS settings, deployment on Windows/Linux/containers, and network/protocol/port configuration. WHEN: "max server memory", "min server memory", "MAXDOP", "cost threshold for parallelism", "NUMA", "soft-NUMA", "tempdb configuration", "trace flag", "startup parameter", "instant file initialization", "Lock Pages in Memory", "instance configuration", "sp_configure", "SQL Server on Linux", "mssql-conf", "SQL Server container", "Docker", "storage layout", "sizing", "TCP 1433", "port", "protocol", "SQL Browser".

SQL Server performance monitoring and diagnostics: wait-statistics methodology, Dynamic Management Views (DMVs), Query Store, Extended Events, blocking and deadlock analysis, performance counters, baselining, and health checks. WHEN: "slow", "performance problem", "wait stats", "wait type", "DMV", "Query Store", "Extended Events", "XEvents", "blocking", "deadlock", "high CPU", "PAGEIOLATCH", "CXPACKET", "PLE", "page life expectancy", "baseline", "perfmon counter", "sp_whoisactive", "troubleshoot performance".

SQL Server day-to-day operations and core DBA tasks: backup and recovery strategy, restore testing, recovery models, point-in-time recovery, index and statistics maintenance, DBCC CHECKDB and corruption handling, SQL Agent jobs/alerts/Database Mail, patching and cumulative-update strategy, and space/capacity management. WHEN: "backup", "restore", "recovery model", "point-in-time", "RPO", "RTO", "DBCC CHECKDB", "corruption", "maintenance plan", "Ola Hallengren", "index maintenance", "update statistics", "SQL Agent job", "alert", "Database Mail", "cumulative update", "patch", "disk space", "shrink", "VLF".

SQL Server security and authentication end-to-end: authentication modes (Windows/Active Directory with Kerberos and SPNs, SQL authentication, Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD, certificate and contained-database auth), authorization (principals, securables, the permission hierarchy, fixed and user-defined roles, schemas, least privilege), encryption (TDE, Always Encrypted with secure enclaves, TLS in transit, backup and cell-level encryption), Row-Level Security, Dynamic Data Masking, SQL Server Audit, ledger, and surface-area hardening. WHEN: "authentication", "Windows auth", "SQL auth", "mixed mode", "Entra ID", "Azure AD auth", "Kerberos", "SPN", "double hop", "login", "orphaned user", "permission", "GRANT", "DENY", "role", "least privilege", "sysadmin", "sa account", "TDE", "Always Encrypted", "secure enclave", "TLS", "encrypt connection", "row-level security", "dynamic data masking", "SQL Server Audit", "ledger", "hardening", "xp_cmdshell".