12 - Monitoring Performance

Abstract

It is noted that physical database design is not a static, one-off process. Once the database has gone into production, the user requirements are likely to change. This chapter describes tools that the database administrator uses in order to monitor SQL Server performance. These tools include System stored procedures, Windows operating system tools, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Server Profiler, Database Engine Tuning Advisor, and SQL OS. SQL Server keeps resource use information available through system statistical functions and sp_monitor then formats and displays this information. It displays the current values of resource use and the difference between these current values. The System Monitor, Performance Logs, and Alerts are provided with the Windows server operating system in order to facilitate performance monitoring through a graphical interface. There are many objects that can be monitored for the Windows operating system. These objects include the processor object and the memory object, and for each object various counters can be monitored.