Here’s a list of tried and true references related to Internals. This list is by no means comprehensive, I’m sure I missed some good stuff. If you find an article you think I should add, send me an email!
Databases
Database Basics (MSDN)
Geek City: The Resource Database – Kalen Delany
The Hidden Database in SQL Server 2005 and 2008 (TechNet blogs)
Files and Filegroups
Understanding Files and Filegroups (MSDN)
File and Filegroups Architecture (MSDN)
My database is X GB, how big should my log be? (MSDN blog)
Transaction Log VLFs – too many or too few? – Kimberly Tripp
8 Steps to better Transaction Log throughput – Kimberly Tripp
Pages, Extents and Records
Understanding Pages and Extents (MSDN)
Inside the Storage Engine: Anatomy of a page – Paul Randal
Under the covers: GAM, SGAM, and PFS pages – MSDN Blogs, Paul Randal
Inside the Storage Engine: Anatomy of an extent – Paul Randal
Specifying Initialization Parameters (Oracle Database Administrator’s Guide)
Inside the Storage Engine: Anatomy of a record – Paul Randal
Schemas
User-Schema Separation (MSDN)
SQL Server Best Practices: User-Defined Schemas – Buck Woody
Tables and Indexes
Clustered Index Structures (MSDN)
Heap Structures (MSDN)
Special Table Types (MSDN)
Nonclustered Index Structures (MSDN)
Indexes: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! – Kimberly Tripp
Performance
Performance Considerations of Data Types – Michelle Ufford
Clustered Index Design Guidelines (MSDN)
SQL Server Best Practices Article (MSDN)
Indexes in SQL Server 2005/2008 – Best Practices, Part 1 – Kimberly Tripp
Indexes in SQL Server 2005/2008 – Best Practices, Part 2 – Internals – Kimberly Tripp
The Clustered Index Debate Continues… – Kimberly Tripp
GUIDs as PRIMARY KEYs and/or the clustering key – Kimberly Tripp
Disk space is cheap… – Kimberly Tripp
How much does that key cost (plus sp_helpindex9) – Kimberly Tripp
More considerations for the clustering key – the clustered index debate continues! – Kimberly Tripp
DBCC Page
How to use DBCC Page – MSDN Blogs, Paul Randal
The Kitchen Sink
Maximum Capacity Specifications for SQL Server (MSDN)
Reserved Keywords (MSDN)
