SQL Server-related performance problems come up regularly and diagnosing and solving them can be difficult and time consuming. 

Reading Holger's booklet is a great way of brushing up on the subject of Statistics and query-optimization. It is reasonably short, and geared to the practitioner rather than the theoretician. It is careful to stick with the things you need to know.

The goal of Defensive Programming is to produce resilient code that responds gracefully to the unexpected. To the SQL Server programmer, this means T-SQL code that behaves consistently and predictably in cases of unexpected usage, doesn't break under concurrent loads,

Our purpose in Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is to point out both the new and the improved in the latest version of SQL Server. This book is for anyone who has an interest in SQL Server 2008 R2 and wants to understand its capabilities.

In this book, the authors explain how SQL Server 2014 incorporates in-memory technology to boost performance in online transactional processing (OLTP) and data-warehouse solutions. They also describe how it eases the transition from on-premises solutions to the cloud with added support for hybrid environments. ...

Database professional Buck Woody leads you through the many aspects of designing, administering, and developing for your SQL Server platform. Recommended for DBAs and developers alike, this Reference Guide covers SQL Server 2000 up to SQL Server 2008 R2.