Establishing a Performance Baseline
To determine whether your Microsoft® SQL Server™ system is performing optimally, take performance measurements over time and establish a server performance baseline. Compare each new set of measurements with those taken earlier.
After you establish a server performance baseline, compare the baseline statistics to current server performance. Numbers far above or far below your baseline are candidates for further investigation. They may indicate areas in need of tuning or reconfiguration. For example, if the amount of time to execute a set of queries increases, examine the queries to determine if they can be rewritten or if column statistics or new indexes must be added.
At a minimum, use baseline measurements to determine:
- Peak and off-peak hours of operation.
- Production query or batch command response times.
- Database backup and restore completion times.