As a SQL Server DBA, one of my tasks is to monitor the performance of our databases. Our primary database holds the data of over 18 million people. A web-based application queries the database with a variety of search options. When examining the performance of these queries, most performed very well. But on the other hand, a few queries have resulted in a time-out. One of the first steps in analyzing the time out problem was to find the search pattern used in the slow running queries. I found that the fields queried were well indexed and often gave a good response time.
