Performance Analysis Baselining

Applies to: Azure SQL Database, Hyper-V, SQL Server, SSAS, VMware, and Windows targets.

Introduction

Baselines are created and managed from the History view of the Performance AnalysisDashboard. There are two distinct baseline types available. The first type of baseline is the predefined type. SQL Sentry includes several predefined baselines that are based on the historical metrics gathered in your monitored environment. The second type of baseline is the custom type. SQL Sentry also allows you to define your own custom baselines.

Once a baseline has been selected, it's overlaid on the various Performance AnalysisDashboard charts, giving you information that can help you to manage change in your monitored environment. Custom baselines can also be used in Advisory Conditions, allowing the comparison of baseline values to current metrics, as they are captured.

Note: At this time, you can't display a baseline created by one type of target overlaid on a different type of target. For example, creating a baseline against a SQL Server instance running on a Windows target can't be overlaid on an Azure SQL Database dashboard.

Predefined Baselines

Predefined baselines are available without any custom configuration. They can be accessed from the Baseline drop-down menu on the Dashboard while in History view.

The different predefined baselines are available based on the historical time range you are viewing on the Dashboard. For more information, see the following table:

Baseline	Time Range Availability	Range Option Availability (detail data)
Previous Period	This baseline is always available. Corresponds to the immediate preceding timeframe.	Yes
Previous Day	Zero <= 24 hrs	Yes
Previous Week	Zero <= 168 hrs	Yes
Previous Month	36 <= 720 hrs	No
Previous Quarter	480 <= 2160 hrs	No
Previous Year	960 <= 8760 hrs	No

Average and Range Modes

It's important to understand that predefined baselines are based on the historical data collected in your monitored environment. The granularity of the data-points that make up a baseline is entirely dependent on the time range you are viewing.

Average

By default, predefined baselines are shown with data-points that show the average value over that sample period.

Performance Analysis Dashboard Average Baseline

Range

When viewing certain predefined baselines, and within a time range that has a resolution of detail data, an additional option is available, allowing you to view that baseline with a range of values (reference the Range Option Availability column in the previous chart). This range includes both a minimum and maximum observed value during the respective sample period.

Performance Analysis Dashboard Range Baseline

Custom Baselines

Custom baselines can be created on demand using the Dashboard user interface while in History view. To create a custom baseline, left-click on any Dashboard chart and drag to highlight your desired timeframe.

Performance Analysis Dashboard Create Baseline context menu

Note: Create a custom baseline for a more specified time frame by adjusting the start and end time on the calendar toolbar to the time frame you'd like to baseline.

Select Create Baseline from the context menu to display the Create Baseline form.

Create Baseline form

Note: By default, a baseline is tied to the server and instance where it's created. Enable your Custom Baseline Globally by selecting the Global Baseline check-box.

Dashboard Create Baseline Global Baseline check-box

Create Baseline Form

The Create Baseline form contains information about all of the metrics captured as part of a custom baseline. For more information, see the following table:

Field	Description
Metric	The name of the metric captured in the baseline.
Default	Defines which metric in the chart is used when displaying the baseline. Note: This can be changed at any time.
Average	The value that's used for that metric in the baseline. This controls both the actual line displayed on the respective chart and the value used for comparison purposes inAdvisory Conditions. Average is calculated based on the observed values for the metric within the baseline's time range. Note: To define custom values to be used with the baseline, simply edit the pre-calculated average value.
Min	The minimum value captured during the baseline's time range.
Max	The maximum value captured during the baseline's time range.
Standard Deviation	The standard deviation for the values captured during the baseline's time range.

Note: You can change the Min, Max, Average, and Standard deviation values for any metric in the Create Baseline or Edit Baseline forms. Select the desired metric, change it to your desired value, and then select Ok to save your changes.

Create Baseline changing a metric

Using Custom Baselines in Advisory Conditions

The values defined for metrics that make up a custom baseline can be used in Advisory Conditions. To access a baseline in an Advisory Condition, define the Advisory Condition at that same instance level for which the baseline is defined. For example, if you create a baseline on the server named LONDON.UK.COM, to access the baseline in an Advisory Condition, create the Advisory Condition from the context of the LONDON.UK.COM server in the Navigator pane. For more information about Advisory Conditions, see the Advisory Conditions topic.

Editing Baselines

Edit baselines in the Edit Baseline form. Open the Edit Baseline form by right clicking the graph next to the baseline,

Performance Analysis Dashboard Edit Baseline context menu option

or by selecting...by the Baseline drop-down menu.

Deleting Baselines

Delete a baseline by selecting Delete Baseline from the Edit Baseline form, and then selecting OK from the Delete Baseline window.

Delete Baseline

Baselines and Performance Counter Mapping

When using baselines in Advisory Conditions, reference the following tables that include mapping between the metrics captured in baselines and their associated friendly performance counter names.

SQL Server Baseline Mapping

Chart	Metric	Associated Exposed Performance Counter (Advisory Condition format)
Backup/Restore
	Backup MB/sec	SQL Server Database Engine: SQL Server: Databases: Backup/Restore MB/sec
Cache Hit Ratios
	Page Life Expectancy (sec)	SQL Server Database Engine- Buffer Node - PLE : Equals : "Node Name"
	SQL Plans	SQL Server Database Engine Plan Cache Hit Ratio: Equals: SQL Plans
	Object Plans	SQL Server Database Engine Plan Cache Hit Ratio: Equals: Object Plans
Checkpoint pgs \| Lazy writes
	Checkpoint pages/sec	SQL Server Database Engine SQL Server Buffer Manager: Checkpoint pgs
	Lazy writes/sec	SQL Server Database Engine SQL Server Buffer Manager: Lazy writes/sec
CPU Usage
	Total CPU Usage Percent	Windows: Processor Information: Percentage Processor Time: Total
Database Latency
	Total ms/Read	SQL Server Database Engine: SQL Server Virtual File Statistics: ms/Read
	Total ms/Write	SQL Server Database Engine: SQL Server Virtual File Statistics: ms/Write
Disk IO
	Total ms/Read	Windows: PhysicalDisk: ms/Read
	Total ms/Write	Windows: PhysicalDisk: ms/Write
Faults (Read \| Write)
	Faults: Read	Windows: Memory: Faults: Read
	Write Faults: Write	Windows: Memory: Faults: Write
Key lookups \| Forwarded recs
	Key lookups/sec	SQL Server Database Engine: SQL Server:Access Methods: Key lookups/sec
	Forwarded records/sec	SQL Server Database Engine: SQL Server:Access Methods: Forwarded Records/sec
Log Flushes
	Log Flushes/sec	SQL Server Database Engine: SQLServer:Databases: Log flushes/sec: Total
Network In
	In Percent	Windows: Network Interface: Received percentage: Total
Network out
	Out Percent	Windows: Network Interface: Sent percentage: Total
Pages
	Page reads/sec	SQL Server Database Engine: SQLServer:Buffer Manager: Page reads/sec
	Page writes/sec	SQL Server Database Engine: SQLServer:Buffer Manager: Page writes/sec
SQL Activity
	Batches/sec	SQL Server Database Engine:SqlServer: SQL Statistics: Batches/sec
	Transactions/sec	SQL Server Database Engine:Databases: Transactions/sec: Total
	Compiles/sec	SQL Server Database Engine: SQLServer:Statistics: Compiles/sec
	Recompiles/sec	SQL Server Database Engine: SQLServer:Statistics: Recompiles/sec
SQL Server Memory
	Total SQL Memory Usage (MB)	SQL Server Database Engine:SQLServer: Buffer Node: Database pages: Total
SQL Server Waits
	Total Wait Time (ms)	SQL Server Wait Statistics: Waits by Category: Total
System Memory
	Total Memory Usage (MB)	Windows: Memory: Total used Memory (MB)

SSAS Baseline Mapping

Chart	Metric	Associated Exposed Performance Counter (Advisory Condition format)
CPU Usage
	Total CPU Usage Percent	Windows: Processor Information: Percentage Processor Time: Total
Disk IO
	Total ms/Read	Windows: PhysicalDisk: ms/Read
	Total ms/Write	Windows: PhysicalDisk: ms/Write
Faults (Read \| Write)
	Faults: Read	Windows: Memory: Faults: Read
	Faults: Write	Windows: Memory: Faults: Write
Network In
	In Percent	Windows: Network Interface: Received Percentage: Total
Network out
	Out Percent	Windows: Network Interface: Sent Percentage: Total
SSAS Activity: Rows Transferred
	Query rows sent/sec	SSAS: Storage Engine Query rows sent/sec
	Processing rows read/sec	SSAS: Processing: Processing rows read/sec
SSAS Activity: Threads Formula Engine
	Query pool busy threads	SSAS: Threads: Query pool busy threads
	Query pool job rate	SSAS: Threads: Query pool job rate
	Query pool job queue length	SSAS: Threads: Query pool job queue length
SSAS Activity: Threads Storage Engine
	Busy	SSAS: Threads: Processing pool busy I/O job threads
	Processing pool job rate	SSAS: Threads: Processing pool I/O job completion rate
	Queued	SSAS: Threads: Processing pool I/O job queue length
SSAS General : Avg Time
	Total Wait Time (ms)	SSAS Trace Waits: Total Wait Time (ms)
SSAS General: MDX
	Cells calculated/sec	SSAS: MDX : Cells calculated/sec
	Calculation covers/sec	SSAS: MDX : Calculation covers/sec
	Sonar subcubes/sec	SSAS: MDX : Sonar subcubes/sec
	Recomputes/sec	SSAS: MDX : Recomputes/sec
	NON EMPTY unoptimized/sec	SSAS: MDX : NON EMPTY unoptimized/sec
	NON EMPTY for calculated members/sec	SSAS: MDX : NON EMPTY for calculated members/sec
SSAS General: Processing
	Processing rows written/sec	SSAS: Processing: Processing rows written/sec
	Index rows created/sec	SSAS: Proc Indexes: Index rows created/sec
	Aggregation rows created/sec	SSAS: Proc Aggregations: Aggregation rows created/sec
SSAS Mem Usage (MB)
	Total Cleaner Memory (MB)	SSAS: Memory: Total Cleaner Memory (MB)
	Total Category Memory (MB)	SSAS: Memory: usage by Category: Total memory Usage (MB)
SSAS Memory: Cache Activity
	Cache inserts/sec	SSAS: Cache: Cache inserts/sec
	Cache evictions/sec	SSAS: Cache: Cache evictions/sec
	Flat cache inserts/sec	SSAS: MDX: Flat cache inserts/sec
	KB added/sec	SSAS: Cache: KB added/sec
	KB shrunk/sec	SSAS: Memory: KB shrunk/sec
SSAS Memory: Cache Lookups
	Dimension cache hits/sec	SSAS: Cache: Lookups/sec
	Measure group cache lookups/sec	SSAS: Storage Engine Query: Measure group cache lookups/sec
	Calculations cache lookups/sec	SSAS: Storage Engine Query: Calculations cache lookups/sec
	Flat cache lookups/sec	SSAS: Storage Engine Query: Flat lookups/sec
SSAS Storage: Current Partitions
	Indexes	SSAS: Proc Indexes: Current partitions (indexes)
	Aggregations	SSAS: Proc Aggregations: Current partitions (aggregations)
SSAS Storage: File Queries
	Total queries from file/sec	SSAS: Storage Engine Query: Total queries from file/sec
	Aggregation hits/sec	SSAS: SSAS Trace: Aggregation hits/sec: Total
SSAS Storage: File Read KB
	Total System File Read KB	Windows:System:Total System read KB/Sec
SSAS Storage: File Write KB
	Total System File Write KB	Windows:System:Total System write KB/Sec
System Memory
	Total Memory Usage (MB)	Windows: Memory: Total used Memory (MB)

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