Monitoring
The Monitoring tab provides real-time and historical observability for your SQL Server database service. Metrics are grouped into OS Metrics, DB Metrics, and Performance Insights. By default, graphs show metrics for the current primary node; for HA services you can select a specific node.
What time range and granularity options are available?
Preset intervals: 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h (default: 1h). Graphs display averaged values over the selected period.
Custom range:
Select Custom.
Choose the desired date and time.
Click Apply.
Granularity controls the interval between data points, using the dropdown at the top right of the Monitoring tab. Options: 1 Min, 5 Mins, 15 Mins, 30 Mins, 1 Hour.
What interactive features are available on each monitoring chart?
Full-screen view
Click the full-screen icon (top-right of graph) to open an expanded view with metrics shown at 5-minute intervals
Zoom
Click and drag over a section of the graph (using the selection zoom button, top-right) to zoom in for granular analysis
Drag and explore
Use the crosshair cursor to select and drag across a portion of the graph
Download
Click the menu icon (top-right) → choose SVG or PNG for an image capture of the graph as-is, or CSV for an Excel-ready file of the underlying metric data
Use the refresh button (top-right of the Monitoring tab) to manually refresh all metrics. Use the search bar to locate a specific metric chart by name.
What does the Service Availability graph show?
The Service Availability graph displays database service uptime, with green indicating availability and gray representing unavailability. Data is updated every five minutes.
Note: This graph represents the availability of the current primary node. For HA services, select a specific node using the node selector at the top of the Monitoring tab.
What OS metrics does the Monitoring tab provide?
The OS Metrics section graphs the following operating system metrics (default interval: 10 minutes; zoom in via full-screen for a 5-minute view):
CPU Usage
CPU resource usage as a percentage. Shows the latest used value.
Memory Usage
Used and available memory in GiB (two lines).
Disk IO
Read and write operations per second (two lines).
Filesystem: Data
Used and available disk space on the volume where database files are stored, in GiB.
Filesystem: TempDB
Used and available disk space on the volume where TempDB files are stored, in GiB.
Network Usage
Sent and received network data in MiB/s (two lines).
Top Processes by CPU
Table: PID, process name, average CPU % (current data only, not historical).
Top Processes by Memory
Table: PID, process name, average memory % (current data only, not historical).
What SQL Server DB metrics does the Monitoring tab provide?
The DB Metrics section graphs the following SQL Server–specific metrics (default interval: 10 minutes):
Connections
Count of user connections. Shows latest, maximum, and minimum values.
Batch Requests
Batch requests per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Stored Procedure Compilations
Compilations and recompilations per second (two lines).
Active Transactions
Total count of active transactions. Shows latest, maximum, and minimum values.
Processes Blocked
Count of blocked processes. Shows latest, maximum, and minimum values.
Deadlocks
Deadlocks per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Page File
Total and available page file size in GiB (two lines).
Buffer Pool
Committed target and committed buffer pool memory in GiB (two lines).
Buffer Database Pages
Target and current page count of buffer database pages (two lines). Shows latest, maximum, and average values.
Buffer Cache Hit Ratio
Buffer cache hit ratio as a count. Shows latest, maximum, and minimum values.
Locked Page Allocation
Count of locked page allocations. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Transaction Delay
Count of transaction delays. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Page Stats
Reads, lookups, and writes per second (three lines). Shows latest, maximum, and average values.
Write Transactions
Write transactions per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
TempDB Log/Data File Size
Size of log files used, log files, and data files in MiB (three lines).
Wait Times
Page IO latch waits and Network IO waits in milliseconds (two lines).
Log Flushes
Log flushes per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Log Flush Waits
Log flush waits per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Average Latch Wait Time
Average latch wait time in milliseconds. Shows latest, maximum, and average values.
Memory Grants Pending
Count of memory grants pending. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Page Life Expectancy
Page life expectancy count. Shows latest, maximum, and average values.
Connection Resets
Connection resets per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Logins/Logouts
Logins and logouts per second (two lines). Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Active Temp Tables
Count of active temporary tables. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Checkpoint Pages
Checkpoint pages per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Log Send Queue
Count of the log send queue. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
TempDB Version Store
Size of the TempDB version store in MB. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Mirrored Write Transactions
Mirrored write transactions per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
Bytes Sent to Replica
Bytes sent to the replica per second. Shows latest, maximum, average, and minimum values.
How does Performance Insights work and how do I enable it?
Performance Insights is a database load analysis tool that identifies bottlenecks by measuring the Average Active Sessions (AAS) — the average number of sessions concurrently active on the database.
Prerequisites: Create a Monitoring Performance Insights Infrastructure in the Monitoring Performance Insights Infrastructure application under the DB Services app family. After the infrastructure is deployed, enable Performance Insights per service either at provisioning time or from the Settings tab.
Key concepts:
Database Load / DBLoad
The key metric — collected every second and expressed as AAS
Active session
A connection that has submitted work and is either running on CPU or waiting for a resource (e.g., waiting for a page to be read into memory, then consuming CPU to read it)
AAS
Total sessions sampled divided by number of samples in the time period
For each active session, Performance Insights collects: session state (Wait — running on CPU or waiting), the SQL statement, the host, the user running the SQL, and the database the SQL is running on.
Top Dimensions — dimensions of database load within a timeframe:
Top Waits
Wait events contributing most to DB load
Top SQLs
Top SQL queries by DB load (masked and grouped by type)
Top Hosts
Client hosts contributing most to DB load
Top Users
Database users contributing most to DB load
Top Databases
Databases contributing most to DB load (multi-database services)
Steps to view Performance Insights
Click View Detailed Insights on the Monitoring tab (graph shown at a 5-minute interval).
Select a time interval: 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, or 24h (default: 1h).
For a custom range, select Custom, choose a date and time, and click Apply.
Last updated
Was this helpful?