SQL Server Performance Tuning Tool

SQL performance tuning is a set of procedures and processes designed to make relational database queries run as quickly and efficiently as possible. SQL tuning involves several steps, first to identify which queries are experiencing slowdowns and then to optimize those queries for maximum efficiency and reduced response time. A number of relational databases may need SQL tuning, including SQL Server, MySQL, and more.

While administrators can seek to address server performance issues at the system level—such as through the incorporation of additional memory and processors—these measures are often relatively expensive to implement and may not be effective in addressing the root causes of slow queries to the SQL Server. SQL performance tuning helps improve performance by locating poorly written SQL queries and ineffective indexing, which can be a more pinpointed solution than improving the hardware or technical specifications.

However, performance tuning in SQL can be a difficult task, especially if it’s done manually or by organizations managing large amounts of data. Making these adjustments—even small ones—can have wide-reaching effects on the performance of SQL servers and databases.

The first step of SQL Server database performance tuning involves locating slow SQL queries not running as efficiently as needed or desired.

SQL tuning can be either proactive, to head off predictable issues down the road, or reactive, if a specific user issue pops up. SQL tuning has some basic best practices DBAs should consider when tuning database  queries:

• Index carefully. Indexes are a data structure for retrieval, allowing you to select rows more quickly, but they must be created carefully to avoid bottlenecks.
• Avoiding coding loops. You want to avoid repetition and overloading when querying.
• Don’t correlate SQL subqueries. Subqueries refer to the parent query, and they go row-by-row, which is slower.

Wait times and statistics are a good way of determining where to focus SQL Server performance tuning efforts. SQL Servers manage user requests via “threads,” and by monitoring the performance of various threads, administrators can better determine which queries are underperforming. The tuning process is meant to:

• Reduce response time: the time between a statement and a response
• Optimize throughput: the amount of resources needed to process a statement

However, to drill down to the root cause of SQL Server performance issues, database administrators may need insights into all layers of the database and server. SQL Server tuning tools can help expedite and streamline gaining a better understanding of the top SQL statements, wait types, blocked queries, and how missing indexes will affect the server or database performance.

A primary function of many businesses and organizations—from online retailers to government institutions—revolves around storage and access to information in databases. Both internal and external users expect applications and websites to work efficiently and quickly. For this reason, it’s important for servers and databases to function as efficiently as possible.

While a few milliseconds for one query might not seem like much of a delay, it can quickly add up if each query in the database experiences a delay. This, compounded the huge amounts of data continuing to be generated, can make the process of writing to and retrieving information from databases more and more cumbersome and time consuming. If business-critical processes become laggy or slow, the entire organization’s functionality may suffer.

Effective MS SQL tuning requires database administrators and IT professionals to stay on top of SQL Server performance to ensure database-related operations are running as efficiently as possible.

SQL performance tuning tools are designed to help users optimize the overall performance of databases, queries, and indexes. These tools can offer recommendations regarding indexes potentially needing to be added, removed, or altered in some way to improve database performance inefficiencies. SQL Server data tools monitor performance in real time, with tuning advisors to make recommendations about indexed views and server partitions. Many SQL performance tuning tools will also provide statistics on the steps involved in query executions, which can be useful in the process of identifying and improving database and server performance issues.

SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer is designed to help remove a lot of the guesswork from the process of SQL performance tuning by providing continuous monitoring and combining Response Time Analysis with historical behavior logs to help establish performance baselines. Using DPA, you can also quickly detect anomalous behavior—especially when combined with DPA’s intelligent machine learning capabilities.

DPA’s integrated Table Tuning Advisor functionality is designed to help you address Microsoft SQL Server optimization opportunities by analyzing queries and plans to help identify tables with inefficient SQL queries, so you can make informed tuning decisions. DPA’s built-in SQL performance analyzer tools can also allow you to view an in-depth analysis of insufficient SQLs accessing tables ranked by relative workloads.

DPA also includes a Query Performance Analyzer function designed to collect the most important data about a query and display it in an intuitive and easy-to-understand dashboard view. The Query Details page color-codes wait types, query and tuning advisors, and assembles charts, so users can easily examine and address any identified performance issues. Customizable reports and alerts also offer insight into block hierarchy and how blocking affects overall database performance.