How to automatically re-run deadlocked transaction? (ASP.NET MVC/SQL Server)

Question

I have a very popular site in ASP.NET MVC/SQL Server, and unfortunately a lot of deadlocks occur. While I'm trying to figure out why they occur via the SQL profiler, I wonder how I can change the default behavior of SQL Server when doing the deadlocks.

Is it possible to re-run the transaction(s) that caused problems instead of showing the error screen?

Answer 1

Remus's answer is fundamentally flawed. According to https://stackoverflow.com/a/112256/14731 a consistent locking order does not prevent deadlocks. The best we can do is reduce their frequency.

He is wrong on two points:

1. The implication that deadlocks can be prevented. You will find both Microsoft and IBM post articles about reducing the frequency of deadlocks. No where do they claim you can prevent them altogether.
2. The implication that all deadlocks require you to re-evaluate the state and come to a new decision. It is perfectly correct to retry some actions at the application level, so long as you travel far back enough to the decision point.

Side-note: Remus's main point is that the database cannot automatically retry the operation on your behalf, and he is completely right on that count. But this doesn't mean that re-running operations is the wrong response to a deadlock.