How To Write a SQL Server Performance Review

Sometimes I think the difference between consultants and employees boils down to one thing: documentation.

Us DBAs know exactly what we think is wrong with an application, and we’ll tell anybody who’ll listen, but what does management do?  They hire some expensive consultants to come in, ask a lot of questions, and tell us what we already knew.

The solution is to write a SQL Server performance review just as if we were consultants.  The goal is to deliver a solid document that explains:

• The Effects – A list of objective, solid measurements of system performance
• The Causes – An analysis of what is causing those metrics to be worse than we want
• The Mitigations – Steps to take in order to reduce or work around the problems

Here’s two short videos explaining how to do it:

And part 2:

At TulsaTechFest 2008 this week, I’m giving a session on what goes into each section, how to word it, and how to look fantastic to your management in the process.  The cost of admission is just two cans of food or $2 – can’t beat that!

And here’s the sample report I discuss in the presentation:

Download the Sample SQL Server Performance Review

Brent Ozar

Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.

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