One of the first things you should check when investigating performance issues is wait statistics, which can often point you in the right direction for further analysis. Unfortunately, many people misinterpret what SQL Server is telling them and jump to conclusions about how to solve the problem, resulting in “knee-jerk performance tuning.” Below waits are layers of synchronization complexity, called latches and spinlocks. In this deep and detailed session, you’ll learn what waits, latches, and spinlocks are; how to analyze them; and potential solutions to common problem patterns.

Prerequisites: Reasonable knowledge of database structures and concepts like pages, locks, the buffer pool, the transaction log. Some experience troubleshooting.