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Power Tools: SQL Server 2012 Extended Events

  • Article

In this series I will examine an important tool in the DBA's toolbox - Extended Events

While Extended Events were present in SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2, they were not widely adopted as a DBA tool.

This was partially due to the fact that prior to SQL Server 2012, there was no UI provided in Management Studio to help ease the learning curve. (Note: for earlier versions there is a SSMS Addin on CodePlex which provides a UI).

However with SQL Server 2012 we now have a Session Wizard.

Please note: In a future version of SQL Server, SQL Profiler / SQL Trace will be removed and you will need to use Extended Events for your troubleshooting / performance tuning!

Extended Events Topic Breakdown

  • Extended Event Architecture
  • How to use Packages, Targets and Actions
  • Creating Extended Evetnt Sessions by using Transact-SQL
  • Creating Extended Event Sessions by using the New Session Wizard
  • Converting your SQL Trace to Extended Events
  • Common troubleshooting scenarios where Extended Events will make you a 'Rock Star'

I plan to release one topic per week (some topics such as architecture will require multiple weeks to cover) 

If you have specific troubleshooting scenarios that you would like to see addressed, please leave a comment and I will try to include them.

All Transact-SQL scripts will be available for download at the end of the series.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    December 02, 2011
    I wrote the SSMS Addin that you referenced above, and I have a great starter series to point people from last year under the XEvent a Day Series category on my blog:sqlkpi.com/.../XEvent-a-Day-Series.aspx