Documentation/Info - Interval Processor CPU %

TimH

When looking at SQL Monitor for one of my database servers there is a section titled "SQL User Processes (Top 10 by CPU)".  Three is a column titled "Interval Processor CPU %".  All 10 of my records have 97%+.  Is there any documentation on this section or column?

THornerSE

Same sort of issue, and I cannot find any documentation on this section.  This section is always empty (no entries) for all my monitored servers, even if I change the time focus to several days.  

cfendrick

Under the Overviews tab and looking at the SQL USER PROCESSES I imagine you are looking for the definition of what is circled in Green, correct?  RedGate would have to let us know what it truly means, but I would imagine Interval Processor CPU % is some summarized data derived from the Zoom time range and shows Session connections/information that may or may not be useful for some.  So in the cases that it's blank I'm going to guess there is a high connection/disconnection (session) rate and in situations where there is large transactions or heavy operations happening under a single session with a low (session) rate you will see things start to show up.  However just because they are listed doesn't mean it's an issue.

But if there was a time slice where an issue was reported it might have or track large operations from a Host that might help you pinpoint something based on host name. 

In my environment(s) I rarely find myself ever looking at this.

THornerSE

I was looking for any data to be displayed, since from the description it seemed that the top 10 "heaviest" user processes would be displayed.  
I opened a support case a couple of weeks ago (after posting here), and the support folks said "After discussing this with the team it appears that in some cases with the way we collect data for the user processes in fact under-represents them and so they may not appear.  Correcting this would have a knock on effect to other parts of the application and the team are still deciding the best course of action to take here, but nothing is currently planned.  For now, any user processes should also appear in the top 10 processes (if they are in the top 10 based on what column is being used to sort the table- e.g. top 10 by CPU or logical reads) and so you should use that table in the meantime"
In other words, this feature is not really working correctly currently.

cfendrick

I would agree that this feature is not working in its current implementation.

philljones22

The "Interval Processor CPU %" column in SQL Monitor’s "SQL User Processes (Top 10 by CPU)" section represents the percentage of CPU usage attributed to each process during the interval monitored. Here's what it means and how to interpret it:

1. Meaning of the Metric:  

   This column shows the proportion of the total CPU capacity consumed by the specific SQL user process during the interval being analyzed. A value of 97%+ indicates that these processes are heavily utilizing the CPU, suggesting significant load or potentially inefficient queries.

2. Understanding the Interval:  

   The interval refers to the timeframe over which CPU usage is averaged or captured. Typically, this is a snapshot of activity during a configured period (e.g., 5 or 10 seconds). This metric helps identify which processes are consuming the most CPU resources in real time or over short durations.

3. Documentation:  

   While Redgate, the maker of SQL Monitor, provides documentation on its performance metrics, the specifics of "Interval Processor CPU %" are often contextually explained in performance tuning guides. Look for detailed Redgate SQL Monitor documentation or SQL Server diagnostic references on interpreting CPU usage.

4. Next Steps:  

   If all processes show 97%+ CPU usage, your server might be under heavy load. Investigate the queries causing the load:

   Check for inefficient queries using the execution plans.

   Identify long-running or CPU-intensive queries.

   Optimize indexes or resource allocation as necessary.

For more tailored details, consult the Redgate SQL Monitor documentation or explore the tool's support forums for specific examples. For more information visit: https://influlencergonewild.net/.