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JosephPilov-MSFT edited this page Apr 25, 2026 · 23 revisions

Overview

This page describes the reports available in SQL Nexus. Reports are organized into categories in the left navigation pane. Reports are populated after importing data collected by SQL LogScout or PSSDIAG/DiagManager.

Performance Overview

Analysis Summary

Highlights common performance issues automatically detected from your collected data — including wait stats, missing indexes, non-Microsoft loaded modules, spinlock issues, and AG health. Start here for a quick overview of what SQL Nexus found.

Bottleneck Analysis

Identifies the dominant bottleneck (CPU, Memory, I/O, Waits) on your SQL Server during the collection period. Shows CPU usage over time broken down by SQL Server vs. non-SQL processes, and top wait categories.

  • Data sources: _TimeStamp_PerfStats.out, _HighCPU_perfstats.out, Perfmon .blg
  • Key tables: tbl_OS_WAIT_STATS, CounterData, CounterDetails

Query Analysis

ReadTrace Reports (Top Queries, Grouping, Statements, Lineage, Warnings)

A family of reports powered by RML Utilities/ReadTrace that analyze SQL trace (.trc) or XEL (.xel) data. Includes:

  • ReadTrace Main — top queries by duration, CPU, and reads
  • Top N Unique Batches / Statements — aggregate stats per normalized query
  • Batch / Statement Details — drill into individual executions of a query
  • Grouping — group queries by application, database, or login
  • Lineage — track a query's execution history over time
  • Interesting Events / Warnings — hash warnings, sort warnings, missing join predicates, exceptions

These reports require the ReadTrace importer to be enabled and RML Utilities to be installed. See RML Utility.

Top Query Plan Analysis

Analyzes query plans for the top CPU-consuming queries. Shows tables referenced by those plans — useful for prioritizing which tables need statistics updates.

Query Hash

Groups queries by query hash to identify similar query patterns consuming the most resources.

Query Store Reports

Shows top queries from Query Store data (tbl_query_store_*) if collected. Includes Query Store and Query Store Details drill-through reports, as well as TopN Resources by QDS.

Requires Query Store to be enabled on the monitored database and Query Store data to have been collected by SQL LogScout or PSSDIAG.

Wait Statistics & Blocking

Wait Details

Detailed breakdown of wait types over time from periodic DMV snapshots.

Other Waits

Focuses on non-ignorable waits outside the main Bottleneck Analysis categories.

Lock Summary

Shows the number of locks held or waited on, aggregated by resource type over time. High lock counts can indicate blocking risk and increased CPU consumption.

  • Data source: *_Perf_Stats_Startup.OUT
  • Key table: tbl_LockSummary

Blocking and Wait Statistics

Overview of blocking events and associated wait statistics captured during the collection period.

Blocking Chain Detail

Drill-through report showing the full blocking chain — which session is the head blocker and which sessions are being blocked.

Blocking Runtime Detail

Shows blocking events correlated with runtime timestamps for timeline analysis.

Memory

Memory Clerks

Distribution of SQL Server memory usage across memory clerks. Useful for diagnosing unexpected memory pressure from specific components (e.g. plan cache, buffer pool, CLR).

Memory Brokers

Shows SQL Server internal memory broker activity and how memory is being allocated across components.

Query Execution Memory

Shows query memory grant information — requested vs. granted vs. used memory. Useful for diagnosing memory grant waits (RESOURCE_SEMAPHORE).

Working Set Trim

Shows evidence of Windows trimming SQL Server's working set, which can cause sudden performance drops.

Performance Monitor (Perfmon)

A suite of reports driven by Perfmon (.blg) data:

Report What it shows
Perfmon All captured Perfmon counters
Perfmon CPU CPU-related counters (compilations, batch requests, etc.)
Perfmon I/O Disk I/O counters (avg disk sec/transfer, queue length)
Perfmon Memory Memory counters (page life expectancy, memory grants pending)
Perfmon Network Network throughput counters
PAL Performance Analysis of Logs — threshold-based analysis of Perfmon counters

Perfmon data is collected via SQL LogScout (GeneralPerf, DetailedPerf) or PSSDIAG. The data is imported via the Perfmon Importer.

Always On / High Availability

AlwaysOn AG Basics

Overview of Availability Group configuration — AG names, replicas, databases, and listener details.

AlwaysOn AG Details

Detailed replica state information including operational state, synchronization health, connection state, and last connect error details.

Server & Database Configuration

Server Configuration

Common server properties including:

  • General server information (tbl_ServerProperties, tbl_SYSINFO)
  • sp_configure settings
  • Trace flags
  • Startup parameters

Database Configuration

Database-level settings such as auto close, auto shrink, auto create/update stats, recovery model, and compatibility level. Highlights databases with potentially harmful settings in red.

  • Data source: *_MiscPssdiagInfo_Startup.OUT
  • Key tables: tbl_DatabaseFiles, tbl_SysDatabases

Missing Indexes

Shows missing index recommendations from sys.dm_db_missing_index_details snapshots, ordered by improvement measure.

Loaded Modules

Non-Microsoft modules loaded into SQL Server memory. Useful when diagnosing unexplained instability or performance issues caused by third-party drivers or antivirus software.

Filter Drivers / Running Device Drivers

Shows kernel-mode filter drivers and device drivers running on the system. Useful for identifying storage or antivirus filter drivers that may impact SQL Server I/O performance.

TempDB

TempDB Space Use

Shows TempDB space consumption over time, broken down by file and session. Useful for diagnosing TempDB exhaustion issues.

Spinlock

Spinlock statistics including delta spins and backoffs over time. Drill-through is available for individual spinlock analysis.

  • Key table: tbl_SPINLOCKSTATS

Errors and Warnings

Shows SQL Server error and warning events captured in trace/XEL data including exceptions, attention events, and other notable events from ReadTrace.tblInterestingEvents.

Reviewing Perfmon Data in Excel

As an alternative to the built-in Perfmon reports, you can export Perfmon data directly from the SQL Nexus database and visualize it in Excel.

Step 1 — Query min/max/avg values per counter:

    SELECT objectname, countername, instancename, MIN(countervalue) AS 'MIN', 
        MAX(countervalue) AS 'MAX', AVG(countervalue) AS 'AVG' FROM Counterdetails a
    INNER JOIN CounterData b ON a.counterid = b.counterid
    GROUP BY objectname, countername, instancename
    ORDER BY objectname, countername, instancename

Step 2 — Query full time-series data for graphing:

SELECT objectname, countername, instancename, CounterDateTime, CounterValue 
FROM CounterDetails a 
  INNER JOIN CounterData b ON a.counterid = b.counterid 
ORDER BY objectname, countername, instancename, a.counterid, recordindex

Save the results as a CSV file, then create a pivot table and chart in Excel to visualize trends and spot spikes.

Tip: If the query returns a very large dataset, add a CounterDateTime filter to scope it to a specific time window of interest.

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