In March the CSS SQL Server Engineers started to blog about various new enhancements made to the SQL Server Engine in SQL Server 2016. Even though these performance enhancements don’t get as much attention as the big new features introduced in SQL Server 2016 (like Query Store), they can play a massive role in the performance of your SQL Server Instances and provide valuable insight into the inner workings of the SQL Server Engine.

To make it easier to keep track of all these blog articles I compiled the list below, showing every “It just runs faster” article.

I’ll keep this article updated when new CSS SQL Server Engineers blog posts are released.

Updated: May 4 2016

SQL Server 2016 – It just runs faster

AlwaysOn Parallel Compression / Improved Algorithms (May 3)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/05/03/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-alwayson-parallel-compression-improved-algorithms/

AlwaysOn Log Transport Reduced Context Switches (April 28)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/28/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-alwayson-log-transport-reduced-context-switches/

BULK INSERT Uses Vector Instructions (SSE/AVX) (April 27)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/27/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-bulk-insert-uses-vector-instructions-sseavx/

Column Store Uses Vector Instructions (SSE/AVX) (April 22)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/22/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-column-store-uses-vector-instructions-sseavx/

Multiple Log Writer Workers (April 19)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/19/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-multiple-log-writer-workers/

Large Data File Writes (April 15)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/15/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-larger-data-file-writes-2/

Indirect Checkpoint Default (April 12)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/12/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-indirect-checkpoint-default/

SOS_RWLock Redesign (April 7)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/07/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-sos_rwlock-redesign/

Dynamic Memory Object (CMemThread) Partitioning (April 6)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/06/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-dynamic-memory-object-cmemthread-partitioning/

Updated Scheduling Algorithms (April 1)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/04/01/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-updated-scheduling-algorithms/

Automatic Soft NUMA (March 30)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/30/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-automatic-soft-numa/

Instant File Initialization (March 25)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/25/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-instant-file-initialization/

LDF Stamped (March 22)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/22/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-ldf-stamped/

Automatic TEMPDB Configuration (March 17)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/17/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-automatic-tempdb-configuration/

T1117 and T1118 Changes for TEMPDB and User Databases (March 15)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/15/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-t1117-and-t1118-changes-for-tempdb-and-user-databases/

Spatial Index Builds Faster (March 10)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/10/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-spatial-index-builds-faster/

TVPs with Spatial Column(s) (March 8)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/08/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-tvps-with-spatial-columns/

Native Spatial Implementations (March 3)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/03/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-native-spatial-implementations/

DBCC Extended Checks (March 1)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/03/01/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-dbcc-extended-checks/

DBCC Scales 7x Better (February 25)

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/psssql/2016/02/25/sql-2016-it-just-runs-faster-dbcc-scales-7x-better/