Published on

October 27, 2007

Monitoring SQL Server Performance

Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t provide the necessary information about your SQL Server’s performance because you didn’t have a historical monitoring tool? In this article, we will discuss a lightweight technique that allows you to record high-level performance statistics for both SQL Server and SQL Server databases.

Setting Up the Monitoring System

The first step is to select a SQL Server instance and database to host the monitoring data. You can use a development server for this purpose. Create two tables, one for server statistics and one for database statistics. These tables will store the performance data that we will collect.

Next, create a DTS (Data Transformation Services) package to transfer data from the servers you want to monitor into these tables. You can create separate DTS packages for server monitoring and database monitoring. Each package should contain queries that retrieve the necessary performance counters. For example, you can retrieve the number of connections, CPU usage, IO usage, and other relevant metrics.

Scheduling the Monitoring

Schedule each DTS package to run on a fixed schedule each day. This will ensure that the performance data is collected regularly. Since the performance counters are cumulative and reset to zero when SQL Server is restarted, it is important to collect the data at regular intervals to get accurate insights into the server’s performance.

Creating Views for Analysis

Since the collected performance counters are cumulative, it is useful to create views that break down the data into the desired time intervals. For example, you can create views that show the daily performance statistics for each server and database. These views subtract the previous row’s counters from the current row to calculate the performance metrics for the specified interval.

Using the Performance Data

Once you have set up the monitoring system and created the necessary views, you can query these views to get performance statistics for each server and database. You can use this data for trend analysis, capacity planning, and other performance-related tasks. For example, you can create Excel spreadsheets that link to these views and generate bar graphs for visualizing the performance trends.

Conclusion

Monitoring the performance of your SQL Server is crucial for maintaining optimal performance and identifying potential issues. By implementing a lightweight monitoring system like the one described in this article, you can easily collect and analyze performance data. This system has been proven to be effective and efficient, even in small environments. Remember to adjust the execution schedule of the DTS packages to suit your desired monitoring intervals.

If you have any questions about the performance counters or the techniques used in this article, you can refer to the documentation available in SQL Server Books Online. Feel free to explore other methods and tools for monitoring SQL Server performance, as there are various approaches to achieve similar results.

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