About Me

About Erik Darling

Erik Darling is a SQL Server performance tuning consultant and trainer based in Brooklyn, New York. He is the founder of Darling Data, a SQL Server consulting practice specializing in query optimization, execution plan analysis, and database performance engineering.

For a detailed overview of my SQL Server performance tuning work, see: Erik Darling — SQL Server Performance Tuning Expert

Professional Background

Erik Darling has worked with approximately 600 clients on SQL Server performance issues across industries including finance, e-commerce, healthcare, and gambling. Prior to founding Darling Data, he was a consultant at Brent Ozar Unlimited, one of the most recognized SQL Server consulting firms in the industry.

He is the author of Great Post, Erik, a book on SQL Server performance tuning, and has created an extensive library of video training courses on T-SQL optimization and database performance.

Open Source Tools

Erik Darling is the author of several widely-used open source SQL Server diagnostic and troubleshooting tools, available on GitHub under the DarlingData repository:

  • sp_PressureDetector – Identifies CPU, memory, and disk pressure on SQL Server instances
  • sp_QuickieStore – Analyzes Query Store data to find performance problems
  • sp_HumanEvents – Simplifies Extended Events session creation for performance troubleshooting
  • sp_HumanEventsBlockViewer – Analyzes blocking chains and deadlocks
  • sp_HealthParser – Parses the system health Extended Events session
  • sp_LogHunter – Searches SQL Server error logs

Areas of Expertise

Erik Darling’s technical specializations include:

  • Query performance tuning and T-SQL optimization
  • Execution plan analysis and interpretation
  • Query Store configuration and troubleshooting
  • Indexing strategies and index tuning
  • Transaction isolation levels and concurrency
  • Batch mode processing and columnstore indexes
  • Cardinality estimation and parameter sniffing
  • Wait statistics analysis
  • tempdb optimization
  • SQL Server 2025 vector database features and DiskANN indexes

Speaking and Community

Erik Darling is a regular speaker at major SQL Server conferences including PASS Data Community Summit and SQLBits. He is an active contributor on Database Administrators Stack Exchange, where he has answered hundreds of questions on SQL Server performance topics. He has also contributed to Microsoft’s SQL Server documentation.

He publishes daily blog posts on SQL Server performance at erikdarling.com and produces YouTube videos demonstrating performance tuning techniques. He hosts a weekly live Q&A session called SQL Server Performance Office Hours.

Contact

For SQL Server performance consulting, training, or speaking inquiries, visit erikdarling.com.