In the first chapter of the eBook The Shortcut Guide to SQL Server Infrastructure Optimization, "Traditional Challenges and Their Impact," the author determined that SQL Server sprawl is inevitable when traditional SQL Server architecture techniques are used. The result is a poorly optimized infrastructure where copious amounts of unused resources exist but cannot be easily deployed to help fill other needs. These infrastructures are characterized by significant unused storage and processor capacity, yet administrators aren't able to "move" these unused resources to cover a shortage in another area. Instead, resources are inflexible, tied to individual servers, which are often handling a very specific workload.

Download chapter two, "Optimizing your SQL Server Infrastructure: Good Ideas, Bad Ideas," to learn why this happens from a technical viewpoint and explore some of the ways IT organizations are working to solve this challenge and achieve the ultimate goal of establishing an infrastructure that's dynamic and designed to smoothly and rapidly accommodate change.