SQL Server has two major security vectors: “Principals”, which are primarily users and roles (groups), and “Securables”, which are primarily objects on the server or in the database, like tables or views. Many applications use Logins for their users, and then tie those Instance Logins to Database Users. The Database Users are then given rights and ...

There were discussions on disk misalignment on this site. See my previous post on “Performance Impact of Disk Misalignment”, and Kevin Kline’s blog on “How to Improve Application and Database Performance up to 40% in One Easy Step”   But thanks to Jimmy May's PASS 2008 presentation on the I/O performance impact of disk partition ...