Details - Database

  • Published on Jan 14, 2026
  • 13 minute(s) read
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Database Dashboard - Details

The Database Dashboard - Details tab provides an in-depth view of a single SQL Server database, displaying detailed configuration information, space utilization, transaction patterns, query performance, and table-level statistics. Use this view when you need to investigate a specific database's setup, troubleshoot issues, analyze growth patterns, or review detailed specifications and resource consumption.

Understanding the Dashboard Data

This dashboard displays data across different timeframes:

  • Configuration information (such as database properties, features, and settings) reflects the most recent snapshot within your selected date range. WISdom collects configuration data daily, so you'll see the database's setup as of the last successful collection.
  • Space metrics reflect the database state at your selected date, allowing historical space analysis.
  • Growth charts display trends leading up to your selected date, providing historical context.
  • Performance metrics display recent query and transaction activity regardless of date picker selection.

The Details screen is organized into two main sections: Overview and Resource Statistics. Each section contains cards with metrics and detailed information for the selected database.

Selecting a Database

The Details tab requires you to select exactly one instance and one database before displaying data. You have several options for selection:

Using Filters:

  1. Click the Filters button to open the filter panel
  2. Navigate to the Instance filter section and select a single instance
  3. Navigate to the Database filter section and select a single database
  4. The Details tab will display data for your selected database

Using a View:
If you have a saved View that includes only one instance and one database, selecting that View will automatically display Details for that database. Views with multiple databases require you to narrow your selection to view Details.

From the Overview Tab:
Click any database name in the Overview tab's tables to add it as a filter, then navigate to that database's Details view. You may also need to select the specific instance if multiple instances have databases with the same name.

Filter Persistence:
Filters you apply persist as you navigate between the Overview and Details tabs, and other screens in WISdom. However, if multiple databases have been selected, you'll need to narrow your selection to a single instance and database when switching to Details. The filter will automatically prompt you to refine your selection if needed.

Breadcrumb Display:
Once you've selected an instance and database, the breadcrumb at the top of the Details tab displays your selection (e.g., "Instance: PCSQLGRM4TD1 > Database: AD_DW"). This helps you confirm which database you're viewing.

Date Selection

The Date Picker in the upper right corner allows you to select any date up to today. The date selection affects configuration and space metrics.

  • Configuration data will display based on the last collection date selected in the Date Picker
  • Space utilization metrics reflect the database state as of your selected date
  • Historical growth charts display trends leading up to your selected date
  • Query performance metrics display recent activity regardless of date picker selection

Overview Section

The Overview section provides detailed configuration, space utilization, transaction patterns, and growth trends for the selected database.

Database Properties

Displays key configuration properties and feature settings for the selected database.

Properties Displayed:

  • Compatibility Level - SQL Server compatibility level (e.g., "Microsoft SQL Server 2019")
  • Database Collation - Collation setting controlling sort order and character comparison (e.g., "SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS")
  • Read Committed Snapshot Isolation - Whether RCSI is enabled (Enabled/Disabled)
  • Log Shipping Enabled - Whether log shipping disaster recovery is configured (Enabled/Disabled)
  • Transparent Data Encryption - Whether TDE encryption at rest is enabled (Enabled/Disabled)
  • User Access State - Current access mode (e.g., "MULTI_USER")
  • Read Only - Whether the database is in read-only mode (Enabled/Disabled)
  • Database State - Current operational state (ONLINE, OFFLINE, etc.)
  • Availability Groups Enabled - Whether the database participates in an Availability Group (Enabled/Disabled)
  • Snapshot - Whether this is a database snapshot (Enabled/Disabled)
  • Standby Mode - Whether the database is in standby/read-only recovery mode (Enabled/Disabled)
  • Trustworthy - Whether the trustworthy property is enabled (Enabled/Disabled)

How to Use:

  • Review configuration settings to verify database is configured appropriately for its purpose
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

Understanding Key Properties:

Compatibility Level:
Determines which SQL Server features and query optimizer behaviors are available. Should typically match the SQL Server version unless there's a specific reason to maintain backward compatibility.

Read Committed Snapshot Isolation (RCSI):
When enabled, read operations use row versioning instead of locks, reducing blocking in OLTP environments. Increases tempdb usage but improves concurrency.

User Access State:

  • MULTI_USER - Normal state; all authorized users can access
  • SINGLE_USER - Only one connection allowed; typically for maintenance
  • RESTRICTED_USER - Only db_owner, dbcreator, or sysadmin members can access

Read Only:
When enabled, it prevents all modifications. Useful for reporting databases, snapshots, or archived data.

Trustworthy:
When enabled, it allows database code to access resources outside the database. It should typically be disabled for security unless specifically required.

Performance by Instance

Displays the resource consumption of this database within its host instance.

Metrics Shown:

  • Total GB - Total space consumed by this database (data + transaction logs)
  • IO Usage % - Percentage of the instance's I/O activity generated by this database
  • CPU Usage % - Percentage of the instance's CPU consumed by this database's workload

What It Tells You:
These metrics help you understand the database's resource footprint relative to other databases on the same instance:

  • High I/O % suggests the database generates significant disk activity; may benefit from I/O optimization
  • High CPU % indicates computationally intensive queries; may need query tuning or indexing
  • Small size with high resource usage suggests inefficient queries or missing indexes
  • Large size with low resource usage may indicate an underutilized or archival database

Use this information to:

  • Identify databases that dominate instance resources
  • Justify dedicated instances for resource-intensive databases
  • Find optimization opportunities to improve instance-level performance
  • Plan database consolidation or separation strategies

Database Space Utilization

Shows detailed space allocation and utilization for the selected database.

Understanding the Display:

  • The center gauge value shows total allocated space for this database (in GB)
  • The outer ring represents data file space allocation and usage
  • The inner ring represents transaction log file space allocation and usage
  • Percentages show how much of allocated space is actually consumed

Space Metrics:

  • Total Allocated Space - Total space allocated to the database (data + logs)
  • Data Space Reserved - Space allocated to data files
  • Free - Percentage of data space available for new data
  • Used - Percentage of data space containing data
  • TLOG Space Reserved - Space allocated to transaction log files
  • Free - Percentage of transaction log space available
  • Used - Percentage of transaction log space consumed

How to Use:

  • Hover over colored portions to view specific space percentages
  • Click "Data Space Reserved" or "TLOG Space Reserved" to see a pop-up with file-level details
  • Monitor free space percentages to plan capacity expansion

What It Tells You:

Data File Space:

  • Low free space (<10%) - Risk of auto-growth events; plan expansion
  • High free space (>50%) - May indicate over-provisioned initial size or deleted data; consider shrinking if appropriate

Transaction Log Space:

  • Low free space (<20%) - Risk of log full errors; increase backup frequency or log size
  • High free space (>70%) - May indicate infrequent log activity or oversized log; verify log backup schedule

Large gaps between allocated and used space represent optimization opportunities but should be addressed carefully - shrinking databases during production hours can cause performance issues.

Tables by Record Count

Displays the distribution of tables by the number of records they contain.

Record Count Ranges:

  • 1-1M - Small tables suitable for frequent full scans
  • 1M-500M - Medium tables requiring good indexing strategies
  • 500M-1B - Large tables needing careful index design and maintenance
  • 1B-10B - Very large tables requiring partitioning consideration
  • 10B+ - Extremely large tables demanding enterprise data management strategies

How to Use:

  • The color-coded donut chart shows the proportion of tables in each range
  • The center displays the total count of tables in the database
  • Hover over colored portions to see the count in each range
  • Click any row to see a pop-up with table names, sizes, and record counts
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What It Tells You:
Understanding table sizes helps you:

  • Prioritize indexing efforts - large tables benefit most from proper indexes
  • Plan archival strategies - identify tables growing to unmanageable sizes
  • Estimate maintenance windows - large tables take longer for index rebuilds and updates statistics
  • Consider partitioning - tables with billions of rows may benefit from partitioning
  • Optimize query patterns - very large tables require different query approaches than small tables

Tables with 1B+ records typically require:

  • Partitioning strategies for maintenance and query performance
  • Archival processes to manage historical data
  • Specialized indexing strategies
  • Careful query design to avoid full table scans

Database Space Utilization Over Time

Displays historical trends in space consumption for this database.

Understanding the Chart:

  • Line chart shows total allocated space over time
  • Data displays trends leading up to your selected date in the Date Picker
  • Allows historical analysis by selecting different dates
  • Growth percentage shows total change over the displayed period

How to Use:

  • Click View Data to open a detailed view with additional analysis options
  • Hover over the line to see specific space values at different points in time
  • Use the date picker to shift the analysis window to different time periods
  • Identify seasonal patterns, growth spikes, or unexpected changes

What It Tells You:
Historical space trends help you:

  • Forecast future storage requirements based on actual growth patterns
  • Identify unusual growth spikes that may indicate data issues
  • Validate growth expectations against actual consumption
  • Plan storage expansion timing and sizing
  • Understand seasonal or cyclical patterns in data growth

Growth Pattern Analysis:

  • Steady linear growth - Predictable capacity planning
  • Exponential growth - May need architectural review or archival
  • Sudden spikes - Investigate for data quality issues or application changes
  • Declining growth - Archival or cleanup processes working effectively

Annual Transactions/sec Growth

Displays transaction throughput patterns over time for this database.

Understanding the Chart:

  • Line chart shows average transactions per second over time
  • Measurements are taken at month-end intervals
  • Growth percentage shows overall transaction volume trend

Metrics Displayed:

  • 12 Month Growth % - Percentage change in transaction rate over the past year
  • Avg Growth % - Average month-to-month growth rate
  • Max Growth % - Largest growth between any two consecutive months

How to Use:

  • Hover over the line to see discrete transaction rate values by date
  • Identify trends, seasonal patterns, or sudden changes in transaction volume
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What It Tells You:
Transaction volume trends help you:

  • Understand workload growth patterns
  • Plan capacity for transaction log sizing and backup frequency
  • Identify seasonal business patterns (e.g., end-of-month processing spikes)
  • Validate application changes that may affect transaction rates
  • Forecast future transaction log backup requirements

Interpreting Growth Patterns:

  • Increasing transaction rate - Database workload growing; may need optimization
  • Decreasing transaction rate - Workload reduction or optimization effectiveness
  • Seasonal spikes - Plan capacity for peak periods
  • Sudden changes - Investigate application changes or business events

High transaction rates require:

  • More frequent transaction log backups
  • Larger transaction log files
  • Consideration of high availability solutions
  • Careful maintenance window planning

Resource Statistics Section

The Resource Statistics section provides detailed query performance, file-level information, and table-level metrics for the selected database.

Top Statements

Displays the most resource-intensive SQL statements executed against this database.

Columns:

  • IO - Percentage of I/O (read/write) requests consumed by this query pattern
  • CPU - CPU time consumed by this query pattern (percentage)
  • Duration - Average execution duration (percentage)
  • Executions - Number of times this query pattern has executed (percentage)
  • Database - Database name (will be the selected database)
  • Object - Database object involved (table, stored procedure)
  • SQL Statement - Partial text of the SQL statement

How to Use:

  • Sort by IO, CPU, Duration, or Executions to identify different optimization targets
  • Click any SQL Statement to view the full query text in a flyout panel
  • Use the clipboard icon in the flyout to copy the complete statement for analysis
  • Use "Rows per page" to adjust how many statements are displayed
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What to Look For:

  • High IO queries - Queries performing excessive reads/writes; primary candidates for index tuning to reduce data access overhead
  • High CPU queries - Candidates for query optimization, index tuning, or rewriting
  • Long duration queries - May need performance tuning or indicate blocking issues
  • High execution count - Frequently run queries where small improvements yield significant gains
  • Full table scans - Statements performing table scans on large tables need indexes

Optimization Strategies:

  • Add missing indexes to reduce I/O and improve query performance
  • Rewrite queries to eliminate inefficient patterns (e.g., implicit conversions, functions on columns)
  • Update statistics to improve execution plan quality
  • Create covering indexes to avoid key lookups
  • Consider query hints for problematic query plans as a last resort

Use this data to prioritize optimization efforts - focus on queries with both high resource consumption and high execution frequency.

Database Files

Displays detailed information about all files (data and transaction log) for this database.

Columns:

  • File Name - Logical name of the database file
  • File Type - Either ROWS (data file) or LOG (transaction log file)
  • Path - Physical file path on the host server
  • Max Size - Maximum size allowed for the file (MB)
  • Growth Rate - Growth percentage over the measurement period
  • File Size - Current file size (MB)
  • Used - Percentage of file space containing data

How to Use:

  • Sort by any column to analyze files by size, growth, or utilization
  • Identify files approaching their max size limits
  • Review growth rates to forecast future space requirements
  • Verify files are on appropriate storage tiers
  • Use "Rows per page" to adjust the number of displayed files
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What It Tells You:

File Size and Growth:

  • Rapid growth may indicate business expansion or missing archival processes
  • Files approaching max size will fail auto-growth attempts; increase max size if appropriate
  • Multiple data files suggest filegroup design or performance tuning strategies

File Placement:

  • Log files on same disk as data files can create I/O contention; should typically be separated
  • Multiple data files should ideally be on separate physical disks for OLTP workloads
  • TempDB files should be on the fastest storage available

Growth Settings:

  • Percentage growth for large files causes increasingly large growth events; fixed size growth is preferred
  • Growth by 1MB increments on large databases causes excessive fragmentation; increase increment size

Top Tables

Displays the largest and most active tables in the database.

Columns:

  • Table - Table name
  • Size - Current table size including data and indexes (MB or GB)
  • Rows - Number of records in the table
  • Total Index Usage - Index usage statistics indicating how frequently indexes are accessed
  • Monthly Growth - Percentage growth over the past month

How to Use:

  • Sort by Size to identify the largest tables for maintenance planning
  • Sort by Rows to find tables with the highest record counts
  • Sort by Monthly Growth to identify rapidly expanding tables
  • Review Total Index Usage to assess index effectiveness
  • Use "Rows per page" to adjust the number of displayed tables
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What It Tells You:

Size and Growth:

  • Large tables with high growth require proactive capacity planning
  • Tables growing faster than expected may indicate data quality issues
  • Very large tables may benefit from partitioning or archival

Index Usage:

  • Low index usage on large tables suggests missing or ineffective indexes
  • High index usage indicates critical indexes that must be maintained
  • Unused indexes (found via detailed index analysis) waste space and slow writes

Optimization Opportunities:

  • Large tables with many rows - Consider partitioning for maintenance efficiency
  • High growth tables - Implement archival or data retention policies
  • Tables with low index usage - Review query patterns to add appropriate indexes
  • Wide tables - Consider vertical partitioning or column store indexes for large scans

Use this data to prioritize:

  • Index maintenance efforts on large, frequently accessed tables
  • Archival strategies for rapidly growing historical data
  • Capacity planning for tables approaching size limits
  • Performance optimization for tables involved in slow queries

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