You've got some troubling wait stats in SQL Server. How can you tell which queries are causing those waits? Kendra discusses the pros and cons of different techniques to track down the cause of both common and tricky waits in SQL Server, including CXPACKET, PAGEIOLATCH, LCK, RESOURCE_SEMAPHORE, and THREADPOOL waits.

If you need to add, remove, or replace hints from ad-hoc queries and you can't change the code, plan guides can help. See a demo of removing hints from parameterized TSQL run from an application, and get tips on how to make your plan guides work in SQL Server.

Get code samples from this episode here: https://sqlworkbooks.com/2017/05/removing-query-hints-with-plan-guides-dear-sql-dba-episode-43/

Learn what batch mode is in SQL Server, and how you can trick SQL Server into using it (even without a "real" columnstore index).

For clickable links and demo code, head to https://sqlworkbooks.com/2017/05/batch-mode-hacks-for-rowstore-queries-in-sql-server/

Find out if getting certified will help you land an entry level DBA job, and if you do want to get certified, get Kendra's tips on preparing for the exam.