| 1 | What are Extended Events, and why are they generally recommended over SQL Server Profiler for modern monitoring needs? SQL Server › SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | SQL Server | SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | Beginner |
| 2 | How do you create an Extended Events session to capture specific long running queries on a production server? SQL Server › SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | SQL Server | SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | Intermediate |
| 3 | How do you analyze the data captured by an Extended Events session once it has been running for a period of time? SQL Server › SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | SQL Server | SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | Intermediate |
| 4 | How do you properly stop and clean up an Extended Events session once it is no longer needed? SQL Server › SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | SQL Server | SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | Intermediate |
| 5 | How would you design an Extended Events session to monitor for a very specific, hard to reproduce issue, such as intermittent deadlocks, in a production environment? SQL Server › SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | SQL Server | SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | Advanced |
| 6 | What is the performance overhead comparison between SQL Server Profiler, server side traces, and Extended Events, and how should this inform monitoring decisions on a production system? SQL Server › SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | SQL Server | SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | Advanced |
| 7 | What is SQL Server Profiler, and what is it traditionally used for? SQL Server › SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | SQL Server | SQL Server Profiler & Extended Events | Beginner |
| 8 | What error information functions are available inside a CATCH block to help you understand what went wrong? SQL Server › Error Handling with TRY CATCH | SQL Server | Error Handling with TRY CATCH | Beginner |
| 9 | What is Query Store in SQL Server, and what information does it automatically capture? SQL Server › Query Store | SQL Server | Query Store | Beginner |
| 10 | How do you view the top resource consuming queries captured by Query Store? SQL Server › Query Store | SQL Server | Query Store | Beginner |
| 11 | What tools or queries can you use to monitor the health and effectiveness of a columnstore index over time? SQL Server › Columnstore Indexes | SQL Server | Columnstore Indexes | Intermediate |
| 12 | How do you identify unused or duplicate indexes that might be safely removed to improve write performance? SQL Server › Indexes | SQL Server | Indexes | Intermediate |
| 13 | How do you capture detailed information about deadlocks that are happening on a server so you can investigate their root cause? SQL Server › Deadlocks | SQL Server | Deadlocks | Intermediate |
| 14 | What are the performance tradeoffs of using dynamic SQL compared to static, precompiled SQL statements? SQL Server › Dynamic SQL | SQL Server | Dynamic SQL | Advanced |
| 15 | How would you diagnose and resolve a blocking problem where many queries are waiting on a single long running transaction? SQL Server › Isolation & Locking | SQL Server | Isolation & Locking | Advanced |
| 16 | How can Query Store data be queried directly using its underlying system views for custom analysis beyond the built-in reports? SQL Server › Query Store | SQL Server | Query Store | Advanced |
| 17 | How do you monitor and troubleshoot SQL Server Agent job performance and failures across an entire server with many scheduled jobs? SQL Server › SQL Server Agent & Job Scheduling | SQL Server | SQL Server Agent & Job Scheduling | Advanced |
| 18 | How would you read a deadlock graph to identify the exact queries and resources that caused a specific deadlock? SQL Server › Deadlocks | SQL Server | Deadlocks | Advanced |