Page History
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- About the Objects tab
- How the Objects tab is structured
- About Objects tab entities
- About the Instance entity About the Database entity
- How the Objects tab can help you identify performance problems
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Objects
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About the Index and Unused Index entities
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It is important to understand the relationship between database objects and statements to make well-founded tuning decisions.
The Objects tab is a comprehensive browser that allows you to understand the relationships and associations between database schema objects. It also enables further understanding of the relationships between data dictionary components and the statements that access them. This information allows you to identify the statements that will be affected by changes to a database object, and the schema relationship impacts that are associated with an object change.
The Objects tab is also very useful for determining scaling strategies for your database. Are you considering scaling out or scaling up? If you thoroughly understand the relationship between a table, the SQL executed on the table and the resources consumed by these SQL statements, you can identify the tables that may be candidates for either a horizontal or vertical scale-out. To engage a successful scale-out, you need to ensure that the tables you are horizontally partitioning to different databases engage in enough activity and resource consumption to spread the load across multiple systems. The same is true for vertical scaling. If you know the overall resource consumption of the instance and the consumption per table, you can make educated decisions as to how to best vertically partition your tables into multiple databases.
The Objects tab is also very useful for scale-ups. Too frequently companies add CPUs to an existing server in their attempt to improve performance. Although occasionally successful, step one of any scale-up activity should be to identify the major latencies in the system and resolve them. Only once the major wait states are resolved, will a scale-up actually be able to improve performance. Otherwise, you may be simply wasting money and valuable resources.
The Objects tab also allows you to observe storage utilization, over time, at varying levels, such as, database, file group, database files.
While the Activity tab focuses on SQL tuning, the Object tab focuses on database object tuning. In many cases, you may want to tune a database object rather than a specific query or program. This is especially true if you did not personally write the application in question, as for example in ERP and CRM applications, and cannot therefore change the text of any statement.
Object tuning is a powerful tool. Taking into consideration important aspects regarding objects can ensure maximum application performance. Precise for SQL Server allows you to examine your index structure by displaying the usage of each index. Storage layout can be optimized by analyzing the object storage configuration and metric information.
Because Precise for SQL Server tracks changes in the database objects, the effect of schema changes on performance can be easily observed.
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The Objects tab displays information on a selected entity and its associated entities. When you open the Objects tab the selected entity is by default Instance, meaning that information is displayed on the instance level. When you launch the Objects tab from the Activity tab with one of the following entities—Database, Table, Index, DB file or Locked Object—the tab is launched in context with the entity you selected in the Activity tab.
If you open the Objects tab from another tab, the historical settings (those settings which were selected when you left the tab, such as the last entity you drilled down to) are taken into account and the information displayed the last time you viewed the tab is displayed (similar to clicking the History button and returning to a previous tab).
The selected entity is always reflected in the Tab heading, which serves as a point of orientation. The highest level entity you can view information for in the Objects tab is the Instance level. You can select an instance from the Instance list.
The entities displayed in the Association area are associated with the selected entity displayed in the Main area. At times, the relationship between the entity displayed in the Main area and those displayed in the Association area is that of parent to child and sometimes it merely represents that there is a relationship between the selected entity and the entities displayed in the Association area.
About the Main area in the Explore Objects tab
The Main area shows comprehensive information on the selected entity. You can choose from several views to examine the entity from different angles. You can, for example, focus exclusively on SQL Server Log data, or Instance Parameters, or Instance Parameters changes.
About the Association area in the Explore Objects tab
The Association area provides corresponding information on the child entities. You can view information on one type of child entity at a time, such as instances only or databases only, by selecting a control from the View Controls list. The selection you make is reflected in the Association area only; the Main area remains unchanged. For some entities, tabs above the Association area enable you to view additional information: Clicking a tab changes the table columns for the same type of child entities.
From the Association area, you can also drill down to another entity by clicking a table row. A drill-down affects the whole tab: When you drill down to another entity, the Tab heading reflects the new selection, the Main area displays information on the newly selected entity, and the Association area shows data on its associated entities.
For example, when you want to view information on a specific logical file, choose Logical Files from the Association controls. The Association area changes to display all the files groups associated with the selected Logical File. Note that the Tab heading and the Main area remain unchanged. In the Association area, click the row of the logical file you want to view detailed information for. The Tab heading indicates the newly selected entity; the Main area displays an overview of the logical file you want to investigate, and the Association area shows general details on the file groups that are associated with the Logical File you selected.
See “About Precise for SQL Server tabs” on page 22.
About the Recommend tab
Precise for SQL Server uses the Microsoft® Index Tuning Wizard to achieve recommended indexes or statistics for the selected table. This helps the optimizer choose a better access plan and enhances the performance of the statements or batches that access the selected table. The recommendations are based on a workload. The workload contains all the statements stored in the PMDB that were executed during the selected time period that have an average duration time exceeding the value defined in the registry (where 0 is the default). The recommend indexes process only performs the recommend process on indexes or statistics additions.
The following information is displayed in the Recommend tab:
- Recommended Index/Statistics
- Recommendation details
About viewing Recommended Indexes/Statistics
Displays the recommended indexes or statistics, as follows:
- Icon. Indicates whether the item is a recommended index or statistic.
- Table. Displays the name of the table to which the recommendation refers.
- Unique. Indicates whether the index is unique. This value is not relevant for recommended statistics.
- Clustered. Indicates whether the index is clustered. This value is not relevant for recommended statistics.
- Columns List. Displays a list of the index's or statistic's columns separated by commas. The sort order (ASC, DESC) is also displayed for recommended indexes.
About viewing Recommendation details
Displays details on the recommended index or statistic. The following tabs are available:
- Columns. Displays a list of all the columns in the recommended index's or statistic's table as follows:
- Icon. Indicates whether the data in the column will be stored in the index in ascending (ASC) or descending (DESC) order. No icon is displayed for columns that are not part of the recommended index.
- Column. Name of the column.
- Key Number. Key number of the column in the index.
- Column Type. The physical storage type of the column.
- Part of Index. Indicates whether the column participates in an existing index.
- First Key of Index. Indicates whether the column participates as the first key in an existing index.
- Used. Number of times the column is used in the breakdown of the workload statements according to the following types: Range Scan, Table Scan, Sort and Join.
- DDL. Displays the DDL text of the recommended index or statistic.
- Table's Indexes/Statistics. Displays a list of the existing indexes or statistics of the table selected in the recommendation area.
The following information is displayed:- Icon. Indicates whether the item is an index or statistic.
- Name. Displays the name of the index or statistic.
- Unique. Indicates whether the index is unique. This value is not relevant for statistics.
- Clustered. Indicates whether the index is clustered. This value is not relevant for statistics.
- Columns List. Displays a list of the columns of the index or statistic separated by commas.
The sort order (ascending, descending) is also displayed for indexes.
- Analyzed Statements. Displays a list of all the statements in the workload.
The following information is displayed:- Statement. Indicates the statement ID.
- In MS-SQL. Displays the resource consumption (as a stacked bar) of the specified statement within the selected time period.
- Text. Displays the statement's text.
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The following entities can be examined in the Objects tab:
- Instance
- Database
- Active Objects
- Table and Table Contain Same Column
- Index and Unused Index
- Partition
- Column
- View and View Contain Same Column
- User
- Logical File
- File Group
- Statistics
- Stored Procedure
- Function
- Trigger
- Statement
- Batch
- Physical Disk
- Logical Volume
- Disk Partition
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tab
It is important to understand the relationship between database objects and statements to make well-founded tuning decisions.
The Objects tab is a comprehensive browser that allows you to understand the relationships and associations between database schema objects. It also enables further understanding of the relationships between data dictionary components and the statements that access them. This information allows you to identify the statements that will be affected by changes to a database object, and the schema relationship impacts that are associated with an object change.
The Objects tab is also very useful for determining scaling strategies for your database. Are you considering scaling out or scaling up? If you thoroughly understand the relationship between a table, the SQL executed on the table and the resources consumed by these SQL statements, you can identify the tables that may be candidates for either a horizontal or vertical scale-out. To engage a successful scale-out, you need to ensure that the tables you are horizontally partitioning to different databases engage in enough activity and resource consumption to spread the load across multiple systems. The same is true for vertical scaling. If you know the overall resource consumption of the instance and the consumption per table, you can make educated decisions as to how to best vertically partition your tables into multiple databases.
The Objects tab is also very useful for scale-ups. Too frequently companies add CPUs to an existing server in their attempt to improve performance. Although occasionally successful, step one of any scale-up activity should be to identify the major latencies in the system and resolve them. Only once the major wait states are resolved, will a scale-up actually be able to improve performance. Otherwise, you may be simply wasting money and valuable resources.
The Objects tab also allows you to observe storage utilization, over time, at varying levels, such as, database, file group, database files.
While the Activity tab focuses on SQL tuning, the Object tab focuses on database object tuning. In many cases, you may want to tune a database object rather than a specific query or program. This is especially true if you did not personally write the application in question, as for example in ERP and CRM applications, and cannot therefore change the text of any statement.
Object tuning is a powerful tool. Taking into consideration important aspects regarding objects can ensure maximum application performance. Precise for SQL Server allows you to examine your index structure by displaying the usage of each index. Storage layout can be optimized by analyzing the object storage configuration and metric information.
Because Precise for SQL Server tracks changes in the database objects, the effect of schema changes on performance can be easily observed.
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The Objects tab displays information on a selected entity and its associated entities. When you open the Objects tab the selected entity is by default Instance, meaning that information is displayed on the instance level. When you launch the Objects tab from the Activity tab with one of the following entities—Database, Table, Index, DB file or Locked Object—the tab is launched in context with the entity you selected in the Activity tab.
If you open the Objects tab from another tab, the historical settings (those settings which were selected when you left the tab, such as the last entity you drilled down to) are taken into account and the information displayed the last time you viewed the tab is displayed (similar to clicking the History button and returning to a previous tab).
The selected entity is always reflected in the Tab heading, which serves as a point of orientation. The highest level entity you can view information for in the Objects tab is the Instance level. You can select an instance from the Instance list.
The entities displayed in the Association area are associated with the selected entity displayed in the Main area. At times, the relationship between the entity displayed in the Main area and those displayed in the Association area is that of parent to child and sometimes it merely represents that there is a relationship between the selected entity and the entities displayed in the Association area.
About the Main area in the Explore Objects tab
The Main area shows comprehensive information on the selected entity. You can choose from several views to examine the entity from different angles. You can, for example, focus exclusively on SQL Server Log data, or Instance Parameters, or Instance Parameters changes.
About the Association area in the Explore Objects tab
The Association area provides corresponding information on the child entities. You can view information on one type of child entity at a time, such as instances only or databases only, by selecting a control from the View Controls list. The selection you make is reflected in the Association area only; the Main area remains unchanged. For some entities, tabs above the Association area enable you to view additional information: Clicking a tab changes the table columns for the same type of child entities.
From the Association area, you can also drill down to another entity by clicking a table row. A drill-down affects the whole tab: When you drill down to another entity, the Tab heading reflects the new selection, the Main area displays information on the newly selected entity, and the Association area shows data on its associated entities.
For example, when you want to view information on a specific logical file, choose Logical Files from the Association controls. The Association area changes to display all the files groups associated with the selected Logical File. Note that the Tab heading and the Main area remain unchanged. In the Association area, click the row of the logical file you want to view detailed information for. The Tab heading indicates the newly selected entity; the Main area displays an overview of the logical file you want to investigate, and the Association area shows general details on the file groups that are associated with the Logical File you selected.
See About Precise for SQL Server tabs.
About the Recommend tab
Precise for SQL Server uses the Microsoft® Index Tuning Wizard to achieve recommended indexes or statistics for the selected table. This helps the optimizer choose a better access plan and enhances the performance of the statements or batches that access the selected table. The recommendations are based on a workload. The workload contains all the statements stored in the PMDB that were executed during the selected time period that have an average duration time exceeding the value defined in the registry (where 0 is the default). The recommend indexes process only performs the recommend process on indexes or statistics additions.
The following information is displayed in the Recommend tab:
- Recommended Index/Statistics
- Recommendation details
About viewing Recommended Indexes/Statistics
Displays the recommended indexes or statistics, as follows:
- Icon. Indicates whether the item is a recommended index or statistic.
- Table. Displays the name of the table to which the recommendation refers.
- Unique. Indicates whether the index is unique. This value is not relevant for recommended statistics.
- Clustered. Indicates whether the index is clustered. This value is not relevant for recommended statistics.
- Columns List. Displays a list of the index's or statistic's columns separated by commas. The sort order (ASC, DESC) is also displayed for recommended indexes.
About viewing Recommendation details
Displays details on the recommended index or statistic. The following tabs are available:
- Columns. Displays a list of all the columns in the recommended index's or statistic's table as follows:
- Icon. Indicates whether the data in the column will be stored in the index in ascending (ASC) or descending (DESC) order. No icon is displayed for columns that are not part of the recommended index.
- Column. Name of the column.
- Key Number. Key number of the column in the index.
- Column Type. The physical storage type of the column.
- Part of Index. Indicates whether the column participates in an existing index.
- First Key of Index. Indicates whether the column participates as the first key in an existing index.
- Used. Number of times the column is used in the breakdown of the workload statements according to the following types: Range Scan, Table Scan, Sort and Join.
- DDL. Displays the DDL text of the recommended index or statistic.
- Table's Indexes/Statistics. Displays a list of the existing indexes or statistics of the table selected in the recommendation area.
The following information is displayed:- Icon. Indicates whether the item is an index or statistic.
- Name. Displays the name of the index or statistic.
- Unique. Indicates whether the index is unique. This value is not relevant for statistics.
- Clustered. Indicates whether the index is clustered. This value is not relevant for statistics.
- Columns List. Displays a list of the columns of the index or statistic separated by commas.
The sort order (ascending, descending) is also displayed for indexes.
- Analyzed Statements. Displays a list of all the statements in the workload.
The following information is displayed:- Statement. Indicates the statement ID.
- In MS-SQL. Displays the resource consumption (as a stacked bar) of the specified statement within the selected time period.
- Text. Displays the statement's text.
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The following entities can be examined in the Objects tab:
- Instance
- Database
- Active Objects
- Table and Table Contain Same Column
- Index and Unused Index
- Partition
- Column
- View and View Contain Same Column
- User
- Logical File
- File Group
- Statistics
- Stored Procedure
- Function
- Trigger
- Statement
- Batch
- Physical Disk
- Logical Volume
- Disk Partition
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The Instance entity displays configuration information, configuration changes, as collected by the Collect Schema Changes process, and performance information, as collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector for the entire instance.
The following views are available:
- Overview
- SQL Server Log
- Instance Parameters
- Instance/Database Changes
- Databases Created/Dropped
About getting an overview of instance configuration and performance information
The Overview displays configuration and performance information for the entire instance. The Overview is divided into the following areas:
- Server Details. Displays server configuration details such as version and number of CPUs.
- Instance Details. Displays SQL Server instance configuration details such as version, service pack and server details.
- In MS-SQL. Displays resource consumption, over the selected time period, of the selected instance, as collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector
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- Space Allocation. Displays the
The following views are available:
- Overview
- SQL Server Log
- Instance Parameters
- Instance/Database Changes
- Databases Created/Dropped
About getting an overview of instance configuration and performance information
The Overview displays configuration and performance information for the entire instance. The Overview is divided into the following areas:
- Server Details. Displays server configuration details such as version and number of CPUs.
- Instance Details. Displays SQL Server instance configuration details such as version, service pack and server details.
- In MS-SQL. Displays resource consumption, over the selected time period, of the selected instance, as collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector.
- Space Allocation. Displays the total free space and total used space (in MB) over the selected time period, of all the files in the selected instance, as collected by the Collect Space Utilization process.
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- the name of the user, object, and database it is associated with
- a summary of the time it spent in SQL Server, during the time frame you selected
- its size (in pages)
See “About About the Table and Table Contain Same Column entities” on page 113 and “About entities and About the Index and Unused Index entities” on page 117entities.
About the Active Objects Association area
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- Properties. Displays general table details, such as, number of columns, file group, and whether or not the table uses a clustered index.
- In MS-SQL. Displays the Using CPU and I/O Wait counters of the selected table, over the selected time period, based on its contribution to overall performance, when accessed by the execution plan.
- Space Allocation. Displays the amount of free space and used space (in MB) in the selected table, over the selected time period, and specifies whether the space is populated by an index or data.
The values may be incorrect due to out-of-date space usage information. To update the values, use theDBCC UPDATEUSAGEcommand to recalculate the space usage fields. For more information, see SQL Server Books Online. - Schema Changes. Displays an overtime graph that indicates whether changes were made to the selected table and a breakdown of its indexes or columns into the following groups:
- Table Change in Property. Indicates any change made to one of the table's properties, such as if the table was renamed.
- Table Change in Structure. Indicates any change made to the table's structure, such as whether a new column was added to the table.
- Index Change in Property. Indicates any change made to one of the index's properties, such as whether the index was changed from clustered to non-clustered.
- Index Change in Structure. Indicates any change made to the index's structure, such as whether a new key was added to the index.
- Index Created/Dropped. Indicates any addition or deletion of indexes.
- Rows. Displays the number of rows in the selected table, over the selected time period, as collected by the Collect Space Utilization process.
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The Show Contig view displays data storage and fragmentation information for the selected table. The following information is displayed:
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- Name
- File Group
- Exec is ANSI null on
- Table has Cluster Index
- Insert Trigger Count
- Owner
- No. of Columns
- Table has Index
- Delete Trigger Count
- Update Trigger Count
- Partition Schema
- Partition Function
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The Usage Report view displays usage information and access methods based on statements stored in the PMDB. The following information is displayed:
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- Properties. Displays general details on the index such as number of keys, fill factor, and whether the index is clustered or unique.
- In MS-SQL. Displays Using CPU and I/O Wait of the selected index over a selected time period, based on its contribution to overall performance when accessed by the execution plan.
Space Allocation. Displays the amount of free space and used space (in MB) in the selected index, over the selected time period.
Info The values may be incorrect due to out-of-date space usage information. To update the values, use the
DBCC UPDATEUSAGEcommand to recalculate the space usage fields. For more information, see SQL Server Books Online.- Schema Changes. Displays an overtime graph that indicates whether there where index changes, broken down into the following groups:
- Change in Property. Indicates any change made to the index properties, such as if the index was changed from clustered to non-clustered.
- Change in Structure. Indicates any change made to the index structure, such as if a new key was added to the index.
- Rows. Displays the number of rows in the selected index, over the selected time period, as collected by the Collect Space Utilization process.
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The Show Contig view displays data storage and fragmentation information for the selected index. The following information is displayed:
- Minimum Record Size. Displays the minimum record size of the pages in the leaf level of the index.
- Maximum Record Size. Displays the maximum record size of the pages in the leaf level of the index.
- Average Record Size. Displays the average record size of the pages in the leaf level of the index.
- Number of Forwarded Records. When there is not enough free space to write an updated record in its page, SQL Server allocates the updated record to another page and instructs the old record to point to the new location.
The Number of forwarded records is the number of records allocated to another page, because there was no free space available in the original page.
Every access to a forwarded record requires an additional step than access to a regular record, which affects performance. Check the number of forwarded records in your table or index in relation to the total number of records. If the ratio is high, consider reorganizing the table or index to achieve better performance. UseDBCC DBREINDEXto reorganize an index. If the index is a clustered index, reindexing will reorganize the data pages. - Pages. Displays the number of pages in the leaf level of the index.
- Number of Extents. Number of extents used to store the pages in the leaf level of the index.
- Extent Switches. Displays the number of times SQL server moved from one extent to another while scanning the leaf level pages (not including the first extent access).
- Scan Density. Indicates the ratio between the optimum number of extent switches and the actual number of extent switches. This value determines the general level of fragmentation in an index. The higher the value, the less fragmentation there is in the index. The scan density is not valid if the table spans multiple files.
- Best Count. Displays the optimum number of extent switches. This number can be achieved, if the extents and pages are perfectly linked, and there is no fragmentation.
- Actual Count. Displays the number of times SQL Server moved from one extent to another while scanning the index pages (including the first extent access).
- Average Free Bytes per Page. Displays the average free bytes per page in the leaf level pages.
- Average Page Density (%). The average page density is a percentage indicating how full the index pages are.
Space that cannot be utilized due to row size constraints is counted as used. The higher the percentage, the better.
When space is available within the index pages, that is, when the indexes are not making the most efficient use of space, this means that scanning the table involves more read operations than if no free space were available on the pages. However, maintaining free space on the pages is sometimes desirable to accommodate future expansion in the storage of the table's data and to reduce the potential for page splits. You can request to keep free space available by specifying a low fill factor value, when you create an index. For example, a fill factor of "10" means that the pages will be 10% full while creating the index. Having room on a page means that there is space to insert more rows without having to split a page. Splitting is a relatively expensive operation and can lead to a break of contiguity between pages, because usually the new page is not contiguous to the page being split. - Logical Fragmentation. Indicates how well ordered the leaf pages are inside an extent and between extents. Well ordered means that the number of the current page scanned is higher than the previous one. Logical fragmentation is computed by dividing the number of out-of-order pages by the number of pages in the table. The lower the value, the less fragmentation there is in the index. This is relevant only when there is a clustered index on the table because then there is significance to ordered pages.
Extent Fragmentation (%). The extent fragmentation indicates how well the extents, which contain the leaf pages, are physically contiguous on the disk.
The page number of its first page identifies an extent. If the extents 8, 16, 24, or 32 make up an index, then we can see that the extents are contiguous on the disks, which means there are no gaps. On the other hand, if the extents 8, 24, 32, and 64 make up an index, then we can see that we have a gap. The extent fragmentation is computed by dividing the number of gaps by the number of extents, so in this example, the extent fragmentation is 1/4, or 25 percent.
The lower the number, the less fragmentation there is.
This number is not relevant to heaps, because physical order has no importance in the data pages.Info By default, not all
dbccfields are displayed ion the Show Contig view.
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The Statistics view displays distribution statistics for the selected index.
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- File Group
- Fill Factor
- Is Pad Index
- Index Depth
- Is Page Lock Disallowed
- No of Keys
- Is Clustered Index
- Is Unique
- Is Auto Statistics
- Is Row Lock Disallowed
- Position
- Order by
- Partition Schema
- Partition Function
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The Usage Report view displays usage information and access methods based on statements stored in the PMDB. The following information is displayed:
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The following additional information is available for SQL Server 2005 and later objects:
- Partitions. Indicates the number of partitions defined for the selected index.
- Index Partitioned. Indicates whether or not the index is partitioned.
- Partition Schema. Indicates under which file groups to map the partition.
- Partition Function. Displays the name of the function that defines how the index should be partitioned.
- Index Aligned. Indicates whether or not the index is aligned with its table.
- Number of Non-key Columns. Displays the number of non-key columns used within an index.
- Index Non-Key Columns. Displays the non-key column names.
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The Partition entity displays information on how an index or table is partitioned. All tables and indexes in a database are considered to be partitioned , in SQL Server 2005, even if they are made up of only one partition. The data of partitioned tables and indexes is divided into units that can be spread across more than one file group in a database. The data is partitioned horizontally, so that groups of rows are mapped into individual partitions.
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The Overview displays general details on the selected index or table, as follows:
- Properties. The following information is displayed for each partition:
- Object. Name of the object being partitioned.
- Partition. Displays the partitions id.
- Filigreed. Indicates where the data related to a partition is stored.
- Rows. Displays the number of rows per partition.
- Max Value. Indicates the upper value of a partition.
- Min Value. Indicates the lower value of a partition.
- Upper Boundary. Indicates whether data falling on the maximum value will be assigned to the next partition or to the same partition—yes will assign it to the next partition; no to the same partition it falls in.
- Space Allocation Displays Allocation. Displays the amount of space utilized by the partitions.
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- Rows. Displays the number of rows in a partition, over the selected time period.
About the Partitions entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities that are associated with the selected Partition entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Partition entity from an Index or Table entity.
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The Column entity displays general details and schema changes for the selected column. The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Schema Changes
About getting an overview of a selected column
The Overview displays general details on the selected column such as type, length, and default value.
About viewing schema changes made on a selected column
The Schema Changes view shows a table that summarizes the schema changes made on the selected column, such as, if the column length has changed.
The following column information is monitored by the schema change process:■ Name
- Name
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- Length
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- Precision
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- Type
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- Scale
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- Is Nullable
About the Column entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities that are associated with the selected Column entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Column entity from the Table, Index, and View entities.
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The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Change Log Summary
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- Change Log Detailed
About getting an overview of the View and View Contain Same Column entities
The Overview displays general details on the view such as creation date, number of columns and displays the view text.
About viewing the Change Log Summary of the selected view and its indexes
The Change Log Summary displays schema changes made in the selected view and its indexes, as follows:
- Change Log Summary
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- Table. The following information is displayed:
- Sample
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- Date. The estimated last change date of the view (or/and its sub-objects). This value reflects the date that the change was first identified by the Precise for SQL Server Schema Changes Process, not the date that the object was changed.
- Object
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- Type. Indicates whether the object type is a View or Index. Object—displays the name of the View Index.
- Change
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- Type. Indicates the type of change detected. The following change types are reported:
- Type. Indicates the type of change detected. The following change types are reported:
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- Created. Indicates that the index was created
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- Dropped. Indicates that the index was dropped
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- Change in Structure.
- View
- Change in Structure.
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- . Indicates any change that was made to the view's column(s).
- Index
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- . Indicates any change that was made to the index keys of the index or to the index depth.
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- Change in Properties.
- View
- Change in Properties.
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- . Indicates any change that was made to one of the following view's properties: Name and Owner.
- Index
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- . Indicates any change that was made to one of the following index's properties: File Group, Fill Factor, Is Auto Statistics, Is Clustered Index, Is Pad Index, Is Page Lock Disallowed and Is Row Lock Disallowed.
- Schema
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- Changes. Displays an overtime graph that indicates whether changes were made to the selected view and its indexes or columns, broken down into the following groups:
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- View Change in
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- Property. Indicates any change made to the view properties. For example, whether the view was renamed.
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- View Change in
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- Structure. Indicates any change made to the view structure. For example, whether a new column was added to the view.
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- Index Change in
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- Property. Indicates any change made to one of the view's index properties, such as, the index was changed from clustered to non-clustered.
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- Index Change in
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- Structure. Indicates any change made to the index structure, for example, whether a new key was added to the index.
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- Index Created/
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- Dropped. Indicates any addition or deletion of indexes.
About viewing Change Log Details
The Change Log Detailed view displays the schema changes made on the selected view and/or its sub-objects.
About the View and View Contain Same Column entities Association area
You can display general details on the entities that can be associated with the selected View entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the View entity from the Database, Table, Column and Index entities.
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The User entity displays general details of the selected user, such as, Roles and Database Access.
About the User entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities that can be associated to the selected User entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the User entity from the Database entity.
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The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Statistics
About getting an overview of the Logical File entity
The Overview displays general details on the Logical File, as follows:Properties Displays
- Properties. Displays general details on the Logical File such as full filename (including path), file group, and file growth.
- I/O
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- Wait. Displays the I/O wait for the selected Logical File, over the selected time period, as collected by the Collect DB File Statistics process.
- I/O Read
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- Wait. Displays the I/O read wait for the selected Logical File, over the selected time period, as collected by the Collect DB File Statistics process.
- I/O Write
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- Wait. Displays the I/O write wait for the selected Logical File, over the selected time period, as collected by the Collect DB File Statistics process.
- Bytes
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- Requested. Displays the I/O activity (bytes read and written) over the selected time period, for the selected Logical File, as collected by the Collect DB File Statistics process.
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- Requests. Displays the I/O activity (number of read/writes) over the selected time period, for the selected Logical File, as collected by the Collect DB File Statistics process.
- Space
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- Allocation. Displays free space and used space (in MB) over the selected time period, for the selected logical file, as collected by the Collect Space Utilization process.
About viewing I/O statistics on a Logical File
The Statistics view displays I/O statistics on the Logical File over the selected time period, as follows:
- I/O
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- Wait. Displays the I/O wait for the selected Logical File, over the selected time period, as collected by the Collect DB File Statistics process.
- Bytes
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- Requested. Displays the I/O activity (bytes read and written) over the selected time period, for the selected Logical File, as collected by the Collect DB File Statistics process.
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- Requests. Displays the I/O activity (number of read/writes) over the selected time period, for the selected Logical File, as collected by the Collect DB File Statistics process.
About the Logical File entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated to the Logical File entity in the Overview tab in the Association area. The Statistics tab shows information on I/O wait, bytes requested, number of requests, and size of logical files. It is possible to associate to the Logical File entity from the following entities: Instance, Database, File Group, Physical Disk, Logical Volume, HP Storage Device, HDS Storage Device, Symmetrix Storage Device and Clariion Storage Device.
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The File Group entity displays general details and space utilization, over the selected time period, for the selected file group.
About the Overview
The Overview displays general File Group details such as whether the file group is read-only and information regarding the file group's space utilization, over the selected time period, as follows:Properties Displays
- Properties. Displays general File Group details such as whether the file group is read only, or whether this is the default file group.
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- Storage. Displays the amount of free space and used space of the selected file group, over the selected time period, based on the data collected by the Collect Space Utilization process.
About the File Group entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities that are associated to the selected File Group in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the File Group from the following entities: Database, Table, Index, Logical File, Physical Disk, Logical Volume, HP Storage Device and HDS Storage Device.
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The statistic entity displays distribution statistics on the selected collection (set of columns). The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Statistics
About getting an overview of the selected statistic
The Overview displays general details of the selected Statistic such as keys and an indication when the statistics were last calculated.
About viewing distribution statistics
The Statistics view displays distribution statistics for the selected statistic. see “About See About viewing distribution statistics for a selected index” on page 120index.
About the Statistics entity Association area
You can view general details on the selected Statistics entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Statistics entity from the Table and Column entities.
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The stored procedure entity displays general details and resource consumption of the selected stored procedure. The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Text
About getting an overview of a stored procedure
The Overview displays general properties of the stored procedure, provides resource consumption information, in addition to the number of times the selected stored procedure's statements were executed, based on the data collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector for the selected time period.
The following information is displayed:Properties Displays
- Properties. Displays general details of the stored procedure such as whether the stored procedure is an extended procedure, and whether the stored procedure was created during installation.
- In MS-
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- SQL. Displays the resource consumption of the selected stored procedure, based on the data collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector for the selected time period.
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- Attributes. Displays selected attributes that exist for each stored procedure, such as if the stored procedure has the flag
Anis Null Onset to On or Off. - Statement
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- Execution. Displays the number of times the selected stored procedure's statements were executed, based on the data collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector for the selected time period.
About viewing the text of a stored procedure
The Text view displays the stored procedure's text.
About the Stored Procedure entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated with the selected Stored Procedure entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Stored Procedure entity from the Database, Table, View, User, Stored Procedure and Function entities.
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The function entity displays general details and resource consumption of the selected function. The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Text
About getting an overview of the Function entity
The Overview displays general details of Function entity, as follows:Properties Displays
- Properties. Displays general properties of the function, such as type of function (inline, scalar, etc.), and whether or not the function was created during installation.
- In MS-
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- SQL. Displays the resource consumption of the selected function, based on the data collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector for the selected time period.
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- Attributes. Displays selected attributes that exist for each stored procedure, such as if the stored procedure has the
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- flag
Anis Null Onset to On or Off. - Statement
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- Executions. Displays the number of executions of the selected function's statements, based on the data collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector for the selected time period.
About viewing the text of a function
The Text view displays the text of the function.
About the Function entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated with the selected Function entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Function entity from the Database, Table, View, User, Stored Procedure and Function entities.
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The trigger entity displays general details and resource consumption of the selected trigger. The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Text
About getting an overview of general trigger properties
The following information is displayed in the Overview:Trigger Displays
- Trigger. Displays general trigger properties such as trigger name, and the name of the table on which the trigger is defined, and whether this is the first trigger fired when data is deleted from a table.
- In MS-
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- SQL. Displays resource consumption of the selected trigger, over a selected time period, based on the data on trigger statements collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector.
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- Attributes. Displays selected attributes that exist for each stored procedure, such as if the stored procedure has the
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- flag
Anis Null Onset to On or Off. - Statement
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- Executions. Displays the number of times the selected trigger's statements were executed, based on the data collected by the Precise for SQL Server Collector for the selected time period.
About viewing the text of a trigger
The Text view displays the text of the trigger.
About the Trigger entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated with the selected Trigger entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Trigger entity from the Database, Table, View and User entities.
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The Statement entity displays access plan details and resource consumption for the selected statement. The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Performance
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- SQL Text
About getting an overview of a statement
The Overview displays general details about the statement, along with details regarding its last access plan, as follows:Statement Displays
- Statement. Displays general statement details such as statement ID, database and parsing user.
- Access
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- Plan. Provides details regarding to the last access plan of the statement, such as whether a table scan, index seek and index scan was performed.
About viewing the performance of a selected statement
The Performance view displays resource consumption information on the selected statement, as follows:
- In MS-
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- SQL. Displays resource consumption information for the selected statement, over the selected time period.
- Statement
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- Executions. Displays the number of statement executions carried out over the selected time period.
About viewing the SQL text of a selected SQL statement
The SQL Text view displays the text of the selected SQL statement.
About the Statement entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated with the selected Statement entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Statement entity from the Table and Index entities.
The following tabs are available provide additional information in the Association area:Performance Provides
- Performance. Provides general details and resource consumption of the statement.
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- Plan. Displays details on the last access plan of the statement such as whether a Table Scan was used, and whether an Index Seek was.
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The Batch entity displays access plan details and resource consumption for the selected batch. The following views are available:■ Overview
- Overview
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- Performance
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- SQL Text
About getting a general overview of batch details
The Overview displays general batch details such as last show plan and most recent plan, in addition to details regarding the selected batch's last access plan, as follows:Batch Displays
- Batch. Displays general details of the batch such as database and parsing user.
- Access
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- Plan. Displays details on the last access plan of the batch such as, whether a table scan or index scan was performed.
About viewing the performance of a batch
The Performance view displays resource consumption and number of statement executions for a statement, as follows:
- In MS-
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- SQL. Displays resource consumption information for the selected statement, over the selected time period.
- Statement
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- Executions. Displays the number of statement executions carried out over the selected time period.
About viewing the SQL text of a batch
The SQL Text view displays the batch's text.
About the Batch entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated with the selected Batch entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Batch entity from the Table and Index entities.
The following tabs are available in the Association area:Performance Displays
- Performance. Displays general details and resource consumption for the selected batch.
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- Plan. Displays details on the last access plan of the selected batch such as whether a table scan or index seek was used.
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The Physical Disk entity displays general details and I/O wait data for the selected physical disk.
About getting an overview of general physical disk details
The Overview displays general physical disk details along with I/O wait data for the selected physical disk, as follows:Properties Displays
- Properties. Displays general physical disk details such as type, and number of logical volumes.
- I/O
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- Wait. Displays the I/O wait on the selected physical disk as collected by Precise for SQL Server Collector over the specified time period.
About the Physical Disk entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated with the selected Physical Disk entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Physical Disk entity from the following entities: Database, Table, Index, Logical File, File Group, Logical Volume, Disk Partition, HP Storage Device and HDS Storage Device.
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The Logical Volume entity displays general details and storage utilization for the selected logical volume.
About getting an overview of logical volume details
The Overview displays general logical volume details, in addition to the free space and used space of the selected logical volume, as collected by the Collect Space Utilization process over the specified time period, as follows:Properties Displays
- Properties. Displays general details of the logical volume such as type, and number of Logical files stored in the logical volume.
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- Storage. Displays the free space and used space of the selected logical volume as collected by the Collect Space Utilization process over the specified time period.
About the Logical Volume entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated to the selected Logical Volume entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Logical Volume entity from the following entities: database, table, index, logical file, file group, physical disk, disk partition, HP storage device and HDS storage device.
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The Disk Partition entity displays general details for the selected disk partition, such as disk partition number in physical disk and disk partition number in logical volume, disk partition offset and length.
About the Disk Partition entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated to the selected Disk Partition entity in the Association area. It is possible to associate to the Disk Partition entity from the Physical Disk, Logical Volume, HP Storage Device and HDS Storage Device entities.
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For more information about the Storage Device entity, see “About About Storage Unit entities” on page 137entities.
About the Storage Unit entity Association area
You can view general details on the entities associated to the selected Storage Units in the Association area. This information is based on the mapping carried out by the Precise for SQL Server Storage agents that are installed.
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The following section describes a few examples on how you can use the Objects tab to identify performance problems.■ Analyzing
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Changing an instance configuration parameter (or database parameter) may affect the performance of your system. Precise for SQL Server allows you to track the configuration changes and compare them with the resource consumption of your application, over time. This can be done by examining the Instance/Database Changes view in the Instance entity. The Instance/Database Changes view allows you to compare the changes made to the instance configuration parameters and the database options, with the resource consumption of the entire instance, over a selected time period. In this way you can pinpoint the changes that affect the resource consumption of the entire database.
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- In the Time Frame list, choose the period of time you want to analyze.
- In the Instance list, choose the item you want to analyze.
- On the View controls in the Main area, click Instance/Database Changes. Compare the changes made to the instance configuration parameters and the database options, with the resource consumption of the entire instance, over the selected time period. This allows you to pinpoint the changes that affect the resource consumption of the entire database.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Databases.
- Compare the changes made to the instance configuration parameters and the database options, with the resource consumption of the entire instance, over the selected time period. This allows you to pinpoint the changes that affect the resource consumption of the entire database.
- On the View controls in the Main area, click Database Created/Dropped. Analyze how changes to database options affect In MS-SQL resource consumption.
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Changing the database schema may affect the performance of your system. These changes are done to improve the performance of your application. You need to monitor them to ensure that you have achieved your goals. Precise for
SQL Server allows you track the schema changes and compare them with the resource consumption of the entire database or a table. This allows you to detect changes that affect the resource consumption of the database. The Object Changes view of the Database entity allows you to check the database objects that where changed, dropped or created in reference to the resource consumption of the entire database over time. A summary of the schema changes is displayed. Drilling down to the specific object provides detailed information on the schema changes.
See “About About the Database entity” on page 60entity.
To analyze how schema changes affect the resource consumption of various entities
- In the Time Frame list, choose the period of time you want to analyze.
- In the Instance list, choose the item you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Databases. Drill down to the database you want to analyze.
- On the View controls in the Main area, click Object Changes. Check the database objects that where changed, dropped or created in reference to the resource consumption of the entire database over time and determine if they affect In MS-SQL resource consumption.
- Drill down to a specific table entity. On the View controls in the Main area, click Change Log Detailed and view detailed information on the changes made to the table's schema.
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Space usage information, collected by the Collect Space Utilization process, allows you to examine the space allocated versus the space used, in a table and index. This enables you to easily keep track of object growth over time and decide how to spread database files over various disks and how to connect objects to file groups in the specified database.
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- In the Time Frame list, choose the period of time you want to analyze.
- In the Instance list, choose the item you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Databases. Drill down to the database you want to analyze.
- Drill down to a specific table entity. On the View controls in the Main area, click Overview.
- In the Main area, analyze the Space over Time graph to determine how tablespace has been utilized over time.
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Fragmentation of table data and indexes may affect the performance of your system. The fragmentation occurs as a result of data modification (INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements) performed on the table. Fragmentation increases the amount of page reads performed by the query, increasing their resource consumption.
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- In the Time Frame list, choose the period of time you want to analyze.
- In the Instance list, choose the item you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Databases. Drill down to the database you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Tables or Indexes. Drill down to a specific table or index entity (depending upon your selection).
- On the View controls in the Main area, click Show Contig and analyze the fragmentation information displayed for the selected table or index. Determine whether the table or index is heavily fragmented and needs to be reorganized.
See “About About viewing data storage and fragmentation information in the Show Contig view” on page 114 and “About view and About viewing data storage and fragmentation information of a selected index in the Show Contig view” on page 118.view.
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Examining the access methods used on tables and indexes can help you make decisions regarding the types of indexes you should employ. For example if most of the statements accessing the specified table are of type update (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) and only a few are of type SELECT you should add as few indexes as possible to efficiently access data, on the one hand, and avoid overhead when performing updates, on the other hand. Also if you observe an increase in I/O wait you should consider rewriting the statements using the specified table or index, making sure you implement appropriate indexes and reorganize any table data and indexes that may suffer from fragmentation.
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- In the Time Frame list, choose the period of time you want to analyze.
- In the Instance list, choose the item you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Databases. Drill down to the database you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Tables or Indexes. Drill down to a specific table or index entity (depending upon your selection).
- On the View controls in the Main area, click Usage Report to observe information on the access methods used on the table or index.
See “About About viewing usage information and access methods in the Usage Report” on page 116 and “About Report and About viewing a usage report” on page 121.report.
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Distribution statistics of an index can help you determine whether or not the index is useful to the query optimizer. The information displayed in the Statistics view of the Index entity indicates the selectivity of an index; the more selective an index is, the more useful it is, since this means more rows can be eliminated from consideration.
See “About About viewing distribution statistics for a selected index” on page 120index.
To examine the distribution statistics of indexes
- In the Time Frame list, choose the period of time you want to analyze.
- In the Instance list, choose the item you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Databases. Drill down to the database you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Indexes. Drill down to a specific index.
- On the View controls in the Main area, click Statistics and observe the distribution statistics for the selected index in the Distribution table.
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The decision to add a specific index to a table is complex. The index can improve one statement and may negatively affect another. Therefore, before adding an index, you should examine every statement accessing the table to see how the new index will impact it.
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- In the Time Frame list, choose the period of time you want to analyze.
- In the Instance list, choose the item you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Databases. Drill down to the database you want to analyze.
- On the Association controls in the Association area, click Tables. Drill down to the table you want to analyze.
- On the Recommend tab, analyze the statements that are associated with the selected table and observe their resource consumption.
The Recommend Indexes output shows a list of recommended indexes and statistics. For each recommended item, detailed information is displayed in the Details area, such as a list of key columns and the DDL of the Create Index or Statistics text.
Precise. Performance intelligence from click to storage. Learn more > >
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columns and the DDL of the Create Index or Statistics text.
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