An approach to solving the underlying problems is to identify queries with excessive locking delay issues. Use the Blocked Process Report - http://www.sqlserver-dba.com/2012/10/sql-server-find-queries-causing-lock-timeouts-per-second.html , set the relevant details. Once you've identified the queries - there are various methods to optimise - such as: Query tuning Stored procedure versus adhoc queries Analyse indexes – for example , if you have a heavily updated column don’t include it in a Clustered Index as it will will also lock the non clustered index via the row locator