Glenn Berry lays out a convincing argument to upgrade to a modern version of SQL Server – considering not only the platform improvements but also changes to Windows, storage, and hardware.
Aaron Bertrand (@AaronBertrand) walks through several potential causes for different plans and/or performance for the same database on two "identical" servers.
Glenn Berry (@GlennAlanBerry) of SQLskills continues on database server hardware trends; today he previews some new processors that may save you some money on SQL Server 2014.
Glenn Berry (@GlennAlanBerry) of SQLskills continues his series on hardware selection, outlining his recommended processors from Intel for your SQL Server 2014 workloads.
Since Microsoft revamped the licensing model for SQL Server 2012, it is especially important to do some thoughtful analysis before you decide exactly which processor to use for a database server that will be running SQL Server 2012. The move to core-based licensing for SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition means that a careless decision about precisely what processor you will be running on can cost both a great deal of money and a great deal of performance and scalability.