Its been a couple of months since I have released an updated version of my SQL Server 2008 Diagnostic Information Queries, so I thought it was about time for a new version.

The first half of this set of queries is focused on the hardware and SQL Server Instance, so it does not matter which database you are connected to when you run them. The second half of the set is database specific, so you want to be connected to the database you are interested in, rather than the Master database. Many of these queries are DMV queries, which require VIEW SERVER STATE permission.

I recommend that you run each query individually, after reading the instructions and interpretation comments for that query. Personally, I like to paste the results for each query into a separate tab in a spreadsheet so I can keep them for baseline purposes.

I also strongly recommend that you look at all of the results, and consider everything you see before you make any rash decisions. For example if you see indexes show up in the “missing indexes” query, don’t go wild and add every index that shows up. A big part of being a wise DBA is to look at the entire picture, and use your judgment, experience and common sense as you interpret the results of these queries, and decide what (if anything) to do about them.