Tables Overview
Tables – Overview
Section titled “Tables – Overview”
The Tables Overview screen displays aggregate storage metrics, access tier breakdowns, and growth projections across all SQL Server tables in scope, based on the filters applied. The bottom section lists every table in a sortable grid with cost, usage, and growth data. Start here to find the tables that cost the most, have gone cold, or are growing fastest.
Go to Infrastructure › Tables to open the Overview.
Filter controls
Section titled “Filter controls”Use the toolbar at the top of the page to refine what is displayed:
- Views: Apply a saved view configuration
- Tag: Filter by tags assigned to instances and/or databases. Tags are user-defined groupings commonly used to identify business units, applications, environments, or dashboards. Filtering by tag targets all assets that share that tag. Tags are created and managed in the Tags section. The system-generated tags are [Environment], Auto-Discovered Resource, Availability Group, Collection Status, Is System Database, Listener Name, and Top 10% Instances.
- Filters: Filter by Instance, Database, Last Access tier (Active, Aging, Stale, Cold, or Frozen), Table Size, and Table Row Count. Select Apply to apply your selections or Cancel to discard them.
- Reset: Clear all active filters and return to the default view
Filters applied on the Overview persist when navigating to the Details screen, but the Details screen requires the selection of a table on the Overview page.
Summary cards
Section titled “Summary cards”Five cards at the top of the page display aggregate metrics for all tables currently in scope.
| Card | Description |
|---|---|
| Annual Spend | Estimated annual storage cost across all tables in scope |
| Savings Opportunity | Potential storage savings from compressing indexes |
| Cold Data Size | Total size of data in the Cold tier (last accessed over 180 up to 365 days ago) |
| Cold Data Copies | Number of individual table copies in the Cold tier |
| Annual Growth % | Average annual growth rate across all tables in scope |
Spend depends on host information. WISdom applies cost to a resource using the host it runs on, so a cost can only be calculated when host information has been collected. Without host information, or without cloud cost information where it applies, spend may not display. You may see $0 amounts or charts with no data. See Cost Management for how costs are defined.
What It Tells You:
Savings Opportunity shows the storage you could save by compressing indexes. To see the compression recommendation for an individual index, go to Index Analysis in the Performance module and select the index. Cold Data Size shows how much of your storage footprint is in the Cold tier, last accessed over 180 up to 365 days ago. Frozen data, not accessed in over a year, is counted separately in the Last Accessed card. Together with Annual Spend, these cards show where archival, compression, and cleanup will have the most effect.
Last accessed
Section titled “Last accessed”The Last Accessed card breaks down tables by how recently their data was accessed. Use the toggle buttons at the top right of the card to switch between Size, Count, and Spend views.
Tables are classified into five access tiers:
| Tier | Last Accessed |
|---|---|
| Active | 0 to 30 days |
| Aging | Over 30 up to 90 days |
| Stale | Over 90 up to 180 days |
| Cold | Over 180 up to 365 days |
| Frozen | Over 365 days |
Each range includes its upper value and excludes its lower value, so a table last accessed exactly 30 days ago is Active, and one accessed 30.001 days ago is Aging. Only tiers that contain tables are shown.
Each tier that contains tables shows a progress bar sized proportionally to the selected metric, along with the absolute value.
How to Use:
Switch to the Spend view to understand the cost of data in each tier; this is often more actionable than size alone. Toggle to Count to see how many individual tables fall into each tier, which can help prioritize bulk archival efforts.
What It Tells You:
A large proportion of data in the Cold and Frozen tiers indicates significant dormant storage that may be a candidate for archival, compression, or removal. Aging and Stale tiers are worth monitoring. Data that is no longer accessed frequently but has not yet crossed into Cold may be approaching a natural archival threshold.
5-Year growth projections
Section titled “5-Year growth projections”The 5-Year Growth Projections chart forecasts storage size and spend over five years, based on the annual growth rate across all tables in scope. Use the toggle buttons at the top right of the card to switch between Size and Spend projections.
The chart displays:
- Current Growth: the annual size growth rate across all tables in scope, shown as a percentage change from last year
- Projection: the estimated size or spend at the 5-year mark, calculated from the annual growth rate
Hover over the chart to see projected values at specific points in time.
What It Tells You:
The projection assumes growth continues at the current rate. Use the Spend projection to build infrastructure and storage budget forecasts. A steep growth curve warrants earlier capacity planning; a flat or declining curve may indicate that archival or cleanup processes are keeping pace with new data.
Tables grid
Section titled “Tables grid”The tables grid lists every table in scope. Columns are sortable by selecting the column header. Use the column selector to show or hide columns. To export the grid, use Export from the action icon (three vertical dots) in the table’s header row. Export creates an Excel file with all available columns, regardless of which columns are displayed. It does not ignore filters: only the data that matches the filters currently applied is exported.
Columns
Section titled “Columns”| Column | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Table | Yes | Table name. |
| Platforms | Yes | Platform badge(s) indicating which monitored platform(s) the table exists on. |
| Count | Yes | Number of copies of this table across all monitored instances. |
| Index Count | Yes | Number of indexes on the table. |
| Row Count | Yes | Total row count across all copies. |
| Size | Yes | Total storage size across all copies. |
| Read % | Yes | Percentage of I/O operations that are reads. |
| Write % | Yes | Percentage of I/O operations that are writes. |
| Annual Size Growth | Yes | Annual growth in size, as a percentage of the size one year ago. |
| Annual Spend | Yes | Estimated annual storage cost across all copies. |
| First Seen | Yes | The date WISdom first observed the table. |
| Last Read | Yes | The date the table was last read. |
| Last Write | Yes | The date the table was last written to. |
| Last Accessed | Yes | How recently data in the table was last accessed. |
| Last Access Category | Yes | The access tier of the table: Active, Aging, Stale, Cold, or Frozen. |
| Projected Size 5Y | Yes | The projected size of the table in five years, based on its annual growth rate. |
Viewing table Details
Section titled “Viewing table Details”To open the Details screen for a specific table, do one of the following:
- Select anywhere on the table’s row
- Select the action icon (3 vertical dots at the right end of the row) and select View Details
Both actions go to the Details screen scoped to the selected table.
What It Tells You:
Sort by Annual Spend to find the highest-cost tables and cross-reference with Last Accessed to determine whether the spend is justified by active use. Sort by Annual Size Growth to identify tables expanding rapidly that may require capacity planning attention. The Count column surfaces tables with many copies across instances. A high copy count combined with cold Last Accessed data is a strong signal for archival review.