Dive into SQL Server’s Buffer Pool and Kill Wasted Space!

Paul Wehland

Understanding what the Buffer Pool (BPool) is and how it works can help you tune and optimize your SQL Server workloads. As a DBA have you ever been asked “What is taking up all of SQL’s memory?” In this session we will take a deeper look at the BPool, so you can answer that question. We’ll look at how SQL moves data into and out of the BPool. We will explore the different ways to fit more data into the BPool for faster queries. Wasted space in the BPool is also a problem. Imagine paying for 2TB of RAM, but then SQL only uses half due to wasted space. You will come away from the session with scripts that will analyze wasted space in your BPool, along with techniques on how to avoid this wasted space so that your BPool can run fully loaded! This topic applies to all editions of SQL Server, from on-premises to the SQL PaaS offerings on Azure, and from tiny SQL Edge to massive Synapse Dedicated Pools.