How to handle Perennial statement of “Our Database is SLOW”?
I have been involved with Database and Product Development for a decade in different Verticals.
I have heard this statement more than I could count “Database is Slow”,”Database is the reason”.
I worked for .COM Industry and anything slows down, the first suspect is Database.
Poor Databases are presumed guilty util proven innocent.
OK..Lets handle the Problem little more methodically.
What can I do to preserve the evidence and data points,so I can prove that database is not guilty?.
Just like anything else , start saving the evidence.
Our best evidence is Baseline and Benchmark Numbers. So we can deny / confirm the statement that database is slow.
Benchmark and Baseline Resources:
SQL Sentry : http://www.sqlsentry.com/white-papers/performance-baselines-and-benchmarks-for-microsoft-sql-server
Its not an easy task to monitor to pay attention to all the data available in SQL Server. There are gazillion data points collected and stored in SQL Server and it’s humanly impossible to pay attention to every single detail. But its good to pay attention to the vitals.
Performance Counters
Dynamic Management Views
Error Logs
SQL Trace / Extended Events
System Configurations
MSDN Link for SQL Server Performance Monitor Data Collecttion:
Open Source Tool to Do Performance Log Analysis:
http://pal.codeplex.com/
This tool gives nice analysis of Perfmon Data and you don’t have to crunch through numbers.
Glenn Berry Diagnostic Queries: