SQL Server, Databases Object

The SQLServer:Databases object in SQL Server provides counters to monitor bulk copy operations, backup and restore throughput, and transaction log activities. Monitor transactions and the transaction log to determine how much user activity is occurring in the database and how full the transaction log is becoming. The amount of user activity can determine the performance of the database and affect log size, locking, and replication. Monitoring low-level log activity to gauge user activity and resource usage can help you to identify performance bottlenecks.

Multiple instances of the Databases object, each representing a single database, can be monitored at the same time.

This table describes the SQL Server Databases counters.

SQL Server Databases counters Description

Active Transactions

Number of active transactions for the database.

Backup/Restore Throughput/sec

Read/write throughput for backup and restore operations of a database per second. For example, you can measure how the performance of the database backup operation changes when more backup devices are used in parallel or when faster devices are used. Throughput of a database backup or restore operation allows you to determine the progress and performance of your backup and restore operations.

Bulk Copy Rows/sec

Number of rows bulk copied per second.

Bulk Copy Throughput/sec

Amount of data bulk copied (in kilobytes) per second.

Data File(s) Size (KB)

Cumulative size (in kilobytes) of all the data files in the database including any automatic growth. Monitoring this counter is useful, for example, for determining the correct size of tempdb.

DBCC Logical Scan Bytes/sec

Number of logical read scan bytes per second for database command console (DBCC) statements.

Log Bytes Flushed/sec

Total number of log bytes flushed.

Log Cache Hit Ratio

Percentage of log cache reads satisfied from the log cache.

Log Cache Reads/sec

Reads performed per second through the log manager cache.

Log File(s) Size (KB)

Cumulative size (in kilobytes) of all the transaction log files in the database.

Log File(s) Used Size (KB)

The cumulative used size of all the log files in the database.

Log Flush Wait Time

Total wait time (in milliseconds) to flush the log.

Log Flush Waits/sec

Number of commits per second waiting for the log flush.

Log Flushes/sec

Number of log flushes per second.

Log Growths

Total number of times the transaction log for the database has been expanded.

Log Shrinks

Total number of times the transaction log for the database has been shrunk.

Log Truncations

Total number of times the transaction log for the database has been truncated.

Percent Log Used

Percentage of space in the log that is in use.

Repl. Pending Xacts

Number of transactions in the transaction log of the publication database marked for replication, but not yet delivered to the distribution database.

Repl. Trans. Rate

Number of transactions per second read out of the transaction log of the publication database and delivered to the distribution database.

Shrink Data Movement Bytes/sec

Amount of data being moved per second by autoshrink operations, or DBCC SHRINKDATABASE or DBCC SHRINKFILE statements.

Transactions/sec

Number of transactions started for the database per second.

See Also

Concepts

Transactions (Database Engine)

Other Resources

Understanding and Managing Transaction Logs
Monitoring Resource Usage (System Monitor)

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance