Introduction to pagination in SQL Server

May 12, 2014 by

Microsoft SQL Server distinguishes between paging and pagination. Paging refers to handling of memory bottlenecks whereas pagination, the focus of this article, refers to dividing T-SQL query result set into discrete parts. The general concept of Pagination is prevalent in various professional disciplines (i.e. journalism, publishing, web development etc.). According to Wikipedia Pagination is the […]

SQL Server query execution plans – Basics

March 15, 2014 by

Why is query execution important for SQL Server performance? SQL Server performance monitoring depends on the performance goals. The first step in monitoring is to determine optimal performance for your server and create performance trends based on the captured metric information. If performance is not satisfactory, it’s necessary to diagnose performance problems and find their […]

Troubleshooting SQL Server issues with sys.dm_os_performance_counters

March 13, 2014 by

sys.dm_os_performance_counters sys.dm_os_performance_counters is a system Dynamic Management View (DMV) that returns one row for each SQL Server performance counter. It’s useful for obtaining information about current performance counter values. These counter values are also shown in Windows Performance Monitor, besides other operating system counters

Windows Performance Monitor basics

March 12, 2014 by

Windows Performance Monitor is a tool shipped with Windows that can be used to monitor and examine how applications affect computer performance. It can measure real-time server performance and save the measured values into a log file that can be analyzed later. It enables real time system and SQL Server performance monitoring, tracking the performance […]

SQL Server disk performance metrics – Part 1 – the most important disk performance metrics

March 12, 2014 by

So far, we have presented the most important memory and processor metrics. These metrics indicate system and SQL Server performance, and are useful for troubleshooting performance issues and bottlenecks. Besides memory and processor metrics, equally important are SQL Server disk metrics. Sometimes a metric from one category can be masked by other events and be […]

SQL Server processor performance metrics – Part 4 – processor metrics useful for deeper investigation and troubleshooting

March 12, 2014 by

In the previous part of this series, we presented the processor metrics that indicate hardware component problems that can affect SQL Server performance In this part, we will present processor metrics that are not necessary in every performance monitoring scenario, but are useful for deeper investigation and troubleshooting

SQL Server processor performance metrics – Part 3 – measures that indicate hardware component problems

March 11, 2014 by

In the Part 1 and Part 2 of the SQL Server processor performance metrics series, we described the most important processor performance metrics – Processor: % Processor Time, Process: % Processor Time, Processor Queue Length, Processor: % User Time, Processor: %Privilege Time, as well as various total times and thread metrics

SQL Server processor performance metrics – Part 2 – Processor: % User Time, Processor: % Privilege Time, total times and thread metrics

March 11, 2014 by

In SQL server processor performance metrics – Part 1 – The most important cpu metrics, we described the Processor Queue Length and two most important processor time counters – Processor % Processor Time and Process % Processor time In this part, we will continue describing important time processor counters

SQL Server performance basics

February 19, 2014 by

Monitoring is recommended in dynamic environments. When it comes to SQL Server – users, DBAs, and the system itself are performing events constantly – changing data and database structure, user privileges, etc. SQL Server can manage automatically all these requests, but its self-tuning doesn’t provide best results, and additional monitoring and manual tuning can provide […]