It's not often I see an error that I have simply never seen before. Here's one that some of you may recognize. It happened on a query using SELECT * against a fairly limited table on an MSSQL 2005 database. There wasn't anything unusual about the query (except for the bad form of using the asterisk). Here's the error that was thrown: rror Executing Database Query.

Ok... you've made config changes and tested your connections and performance and you know with the certainty of Rush Limbaugh making a right turn that the server is fully tuned and as lean and mean as possible, but you still have a problem. Now what? Well, it's time to look at the code. Start by enabling slow page logging in the CF admin during a high traffic low performance period.

In step 1 we discussed gathering information. Without getting good information you are shooting in the dark. Make sure you take the time to know the system well enough to make educated guesses about what to try. That's our next step - trying stuff. I started out making a priority list... as in first try A, then B, but it soon became obvious that it wouldn't do to dictate the order in which you would attempt any of these changes.