Extended Events (XEvents) - SQL Server

Extended Events (XEvents) is a feature in SQL Server that provides a lightweight and flexible event infrastructure for monitoring and troubleshooting SQL Server. Extended Events allows users to collect and analyze performance data, diagnose issues, and troubleshoot problems in a highly customizable and granular way.

Extended Events provides several benefits over traditional monitoring tools, including:

Low overhead: Extended Events has a low overhead on the SQL Server instance, which allows it to be used for continuous monitoring without negatively impacting performance.

Flexible: Extended Events allows users to define custom events and actions, which can be used to capture highly specific data related to SQL Server activity.

Scalable: Extended Events can be used to monitor multiple SQL Server instances and can be configured to collect data from specific events, processes, or users.

Extended Events can be used to monitor a wide range of SQL Server activity, including:

Queries: Extended Events can be used to capture data about the queries being executed on the SQL Server instance, including the query text, execution plan, and performance statistics.

Errors: Extended Events can be used to capture data about errors and warnings that occur on the SQL Server instance, including the error message, severity, and stack trace.

Locks and deadlocks: Extended Events can be used to capture data about locks and deadlocks that occur on the SQL Server instance, including the resource being locked and the transaction holding the lock.

Database activity: Extended Events can be used to capture data about database activity, including data changes, backups, and restores.

To use Extended Events in SQL Server, users can follow these steps:

Create an Extended Events session: An Extended Events session defines the events and actions to be captured. It can be created using T-SQL or the Extended Events GUI in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

Define the events and actions to be captured: Users can choose from a wide range of pre-defined events, or create custom events using T-SQL.

Start the Extended Events session: Once the session is defined, it can be started using T-SQL or the Extended Events GUI in SSMS.

Analyze the captured data: The captured data can be analyzed using T-SQL, the Extended Events GUI in SSMS, or third-party tools.

Extended Events is a powerful and flexible tool for monitoring and troubleshooting SQL Server. It allows users to capture highly specific data about SQL Server activity, which can be used to diagnose issues and troubleshoot problems.

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