Summary

Configuration alone can rarely turn your slow, plodding application into a screamer. In fact, you're more likely to misconfigure your system by taking manual control of the options that SQL Server sets automatically. Knowing what each configuration option does can keep you from misconfiguring your system.

In this chapter, we looked at the configuration options and discussed some guidelines for their use. We also discussed how to monitor the effects on your system's performance using SQL Server Profiler and Performance Monitor. SQL Server Profiler lets you determine which queries, procedures, or users have the biggest performance impact. Performance Monitor gives you a scientific method of holding constant all but one variable within the system as a whole so that you can measure the effect as you vary it.