SQL Server Baseline collection. SQL Server performance metrics. Using PAL with SQL Server for perfmon data.

1. SQL Server :
Performance and Baseline
Measurements
Mike Walsh – Linchpin People

2. Mike Walsh
 SQL Server MVP since 2011
 Seacoast SQL User Group
 SQL Server Consultant
 Partner at Linchpin People
 Blog:
 Straightpath SQL Blog
 Linchpin People Blog

3. Agenda
 Baselines – What/Why/How are they?
 Tools and Scripts
 PAL
 Wait and IO Statistics Collection
 “Glenn Berry Scripts”
 Telling a performance story

4. PAL – Part 1
 Performance Analysis For Logs
 Perfmon
 Template Files
 PAL Demo
 Show the tool
 Talk about perfmon
 Start collection and kick off a workload

5. Baseline &
Benchmark
Discussion
 While our workload runs.. Let’s talk about baselines…
 What are they?
 What can they do for us?
 How can we review and use them?
 Why should you all be collecting and reviewing them?

6. Wait Statistics
 What are they?
 What do we do with the information?
 Trending vs Static
 DEMO
 Look at wait statistics
 Look at interval wait statistics

7. File/IO Stats
 SQL Server’s View into Latency
 Doesn’t always match perfmon… Why?
 Perfmon doesn’t always match SAN stats… Why?
 DEMO
 Looking at Static Stats with Glenn Berry Scripts
 Looking at interval stats

8. How’s Your
Server?
 Glenn Berry Scripts – Are you shooting yourself in the foot?
 Quick Talk about the Linchpin People WellDBA™ Exam
 (not marketeering.. Talk about why it’s good to check your own
servers from time to time.. No matter how you do it.)
 What we are looking for that affects performance
 DEMO
 Running through Glenn Berry Diagnostic Scripts Live
 Looking at CPU-Z for CPU Power Saving (it really does kill
performance!)

9. PAL Part 2
 Workload is probably done now.
 Let’s talk about how to use PAL to analyze our log file.
 Instead of talking, let’s show it…
 DEMO
 Hopefully use the real file from the workload
 If not review some already staged files (ala Julia Child)
 Look at the insight in PAL for us
 Pay attention to the lessons you can get just using PAL (e.g
Forwarded Records definition and solution.. Batch Requests/sec
ratios to other counters, etc)

10. Putting it all
together
 What’s the performance story from everything we looked at?
 Getting into monthly or quarterly reviews
 Picking counters to trend the story over time
 Batch requests/sec – busier now than then?
 User connections then/now
 Basic metrics then/now – capacity planning proactively
 Fixing where it hurts
 When isn’t it the database/code?
 When isn’t it the server?
 When is it both? (hint – most of the time)

11. Resources
 Blog Posts/How-To Videos
 My post on using PAL to generate template with video walkthrough.
 My post on how to use CPU-Z to look for dangers of CPU Power saving with video walkthrough.
 Old post of mine talking about some other free tools that are great.
 Brent Ozar post on doing some perfmon analysis in Excel/CSV format.
 Old PAL/Baseline blog post on my blog.
 Glenn Berry Diagnostic Scripts
 PAL
 John Sterrett Wait and IO Statistics Interval Scripts –
 Waits File/IO
 Great Books
 Professional SQL Server 2008 Internals and Troubleshooting (still great– even now)
 Professional SQL Server 2012 Internals and Troubleshooting.
 DVD Store –What we used to generate load on the server. Great blog post walk through on
setting up from David Klee.
 Relog –Tool we discussed to turn blg into CSV (so you never have to store in CSV format from
perfmon…)
 CPU-Z –Tool I talk about in the presentation and blog post above.
 SP_Whoisactive – Anytime I deliver this session I imagine I’ll always mention this amazing
script from Adam Machanic. Link goes to lots of posts on his blog about the tool and download
link.