“The SQL Server DMV Start Pack” (eBook and T-SQL) from Red Gate and more Dynamic Management Views (DMV) stuff

SQLMaster - SQL Server DMVs - where to start and how to use?

“When you need to troubleshoot a problem, prior to SQL Server 2005 you have to depend upon PROFILER or query system tables constantly or some other means to trace the system usage.

SQL Server 2005 onwards DBAs are equipped with Dynamic Management Views (and Data Mining Extenstions DMX for Analysis Services) for core database engine to obtain the snapshot of information on resource usage such as disk, cpu, memory and many more. The 2 types of DMVs are server-scoped & database scoped whics requires obvious elevated privileges to execute on that SQL instance. A note to refer about their compatibility between the version that BOL highlights "...schemas and the data they return may change in future releases of SQL Server. Therefore, dynamic management views and functions in future releases may not be compatible with the dynamic management views and functions in SQL Server 2008.....". Further the DMVs & functions are divided into various categores such as:

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Finally here is the good resource to get the important DMVs that are useful in DBAs day-to-day troubleshooting fighting arsenal get SQL Server DMV starter pack from Redgate, and to get more comfort on your troubleshooting techniques you might download the evaluation copy of SQL Response that will alert the problems on SQL Server platform as soon as they arise. Also fellow MVP Glenn Berry has done excellent work on DMVs path as DMV a DAY to that I use everytime I get to site on a troubleshooting project, follow through the link for additional techniques for your DBA experience. Also the DMV related tags from this site.”

Red Gate - The DMV Starter Pack

"The SQL Server DMV Starter Pack" will de-mystify the process of collecting information to troubleshoot SQL Server problems using Dynamic Management Views. …”

For my product at work we are now finally retiring SQL Server 2000 support. With the next release we’ll only be support SQL Server 2005+ (yeah, yeah, I know). To try to keep myself sane, I’ve not spent a great deal of time digging into the depths of SQL Server 2005+. Sure I’ve kept up with the releases, the capabilities, etc, etc (as you’ve seen in past posts), but haven’t delved into the day-to-day depths.

Well now that I can DELETE FROM Greg.Brain WHERE Technology <= “SQL Server 2000” I can begin to truly focus on SQL Server 2005+. One of the first areas I want to start digging much deeper is into DMV (i.e. I have to break the sp_who2 habit) and as such this post caught my eye…

The Red Gate DMV Start Pack contains a 84 page eBook and associated sample T-SQL scripts. Here’s a snap of the PDF;