Overview - Databases

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

The Database Dashboard - Overview tab provides a comprehensive, multi-database view of your SQL Server environment. This view aggregates metrics across your entire database landscape or filtered subset, helping you identify trends, compare configurations, understand space utilization patterns, and quickly spot issues that need attention.

The Overview screen is organized into three main sections: Overview, Properties, and Database Statistics. Each section contains multiple cards displaying metrics and insights about your selected databases.

Filtering and Navigation

Filter Controls

The Overview tab offers several ways to focus on specific databases:

  • Views - Select from pre-configured views to quickly filter databases based on common criteria. Views may be created and managed in most screens in WISdom.
  • Tag - Filter databases by tags such as Environment, application, or custom tags you've created. Tags may be managed in the Tags section.
  • Filters - Access the comprehensive filter panel for advanced filtering options. The Filters panel uses expandable sections to organize available filter criteria, making it easy to drill into specific attributes without cluttering the interface.
  • Reset - Clear all active filters to return to the unfiltered view

Filters you apply in the Overview tab will persist when you navigate to the Details tab, maintaining your context. However, the Details tab requires both an instance and a database to be selected - if you have multiple databases filtered in Overview, you'll need to narrow your selection to view Details.

Date Selection

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

  • Configuration data (database properties, features, settings) 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
  • Transaction and performance metrics display recent activity regardless of date picker selection

Understanding the Dashboard Data

This dashboard displays data across different timeframes:

  • Configuration information (such as database properties, features, and collation 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 (allocation, utilization, free space) reflect the state of databases at your selected date, helping you review historical space patterns or current status.
  • Growth trends in charts show historical patterns ending at your selected date, allowing you to analyze space consumption over time.

Overview Section

The Overview section provides high-level status, space utilization, and resource information about your database environment.

Database Status

Displays the count of databases by their current operational state.

Database States:

  • Online - Database is available and accessible for normal operations
  • Offline - Database is not available; may be intentionally taken offline or experiencing issues

How to Use:

  • Review the total count of databases in each state
  • Click any row to see a pop-up listing specific instances and databases in that state
  • Sort the pop-up by clicking column headers
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What It Tells You:
The Database Status card helps you quickly identify databases that may be unavailable or experiencing issues. All production databases should typically be in the Online state. Databases in an Offline state warrant investigation unless they're intentionally offline for maintenance or archival purposes.

Memory Data Cache Size

Displays memory allocation and usage across your filtered databases.

Understanding the Display:

  • The center gauge value shows total memory allocated across all filtered databases (in TB)
  • The gauge chart shows the distribution between the total memory available and the data cache currently in use

Metrics Shown:

  • Memory - Total memory allocated to SQL Server instances supporting these databases
  • Data Cache Used - Amount of buffer pool memory currently consumed by your filtered databases

How to Use:

  • Hover over the colored portions of the gauge to see specific memory values
  • Click "Memory" or "Data Cache Used" to see a pop-up showing memory usage by instance and database
  • Sort the pop-up by clicking column headers to identify databases consuming the most memory

What It Tells You:
Memory utilization patterns help you understand which databases are memory-intensive. High data cache usage relative to total memory may indicate:

  • Databases with large, frequently accessed tables
  • Databases that would benefit from memory optimization
  • Instances approaching memory capacity limits

Database Space Utilization

Shows how database storage is allocated and utilized across your filtered databases.

Understanding the Display:

  • The center gauge value shows total data space reserved across all filtered databases (in MB, GB, TB, or PB)
  • The outer ring represents total allocated data space, with coloring showing the percentage of used space
  • The inner ring represents transaction log space allocation and usage
  • Percentages indicate how much of the reserved space is actually consumed

Space Metrics:

  • Total Data Space Reserved - Total space allocated to data files
  • Free - Percentage of data space that is unallocated
  • Used - Percentage of data space containing data
  • TLOG Space Reserved - Total space allocated to transaction log files
  • Free - Percentage of transaction log space available
  • Used - Percentage of transaction log space consumed

How to Use:

  • Monitor the used percentages to identify over-provisioned or under-provisioned databases
  • Click "Data Space Reserved" or "TLOG Space Reserved" to see a pop-up with space allocation by database
  • Hover over colored portions of the gauge to view specific percentages

What It Tells You:
This visualization helps you understand storage efficiency across your database environment. Large gaps between reserved and used space may indicate:

  • Over-provisioned database auto-growth settings
  • Deleted data that hasn't been reclaimed
  • Opportunities to shrink databases or adjust growth increments
  • Transaction logs that need log backups or truncation

Data Files by Free Space

Displays the distribution of data files across free space percentage ranges.

Free Space Ranges:

  • 0-5% - Critical; immediate attention required to avoid out-of-space conditions
  • 5-10% - Warning; plan capacity expansion soon
  • 10-20% - Caution; monitor closely
  • 20+% - Healthy free space levels

Understanding the Display:

  • The center gauge value shows the total count of data files across filtered databases
  • The colored rings represent the number of files in each percentage range
  • Colors visually distinguish files by their free space health

How to Use:

  • Hover over colored portions to see the exact count of files in each range
  • Click any row to see a pop-up listing specific files with their free space details
  • Sort the pop-up by clicking column headers
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What It Tells You:
Monitoring data file free space helps you proactively address storage capacity issues before they impact operations. Files with less than 10% free space should be prioritized for expansion to avoid:

  • Auto-growth events during peak operations
  • Failed transactions due to insufficient space
  • Performance degradation from excessive growth operations

Transaction Logs by Free Space

Displays the distribution of transaction log files across free space percentage ranges.

Free Space Ranges:

  • 0-5% - Critical; log may fill and block all write operations
  • 5-10% - Warning; plan log backups or expansion
  • 10-20% - Caution; monitor backup frequency
  • 20+% - Healthy free space levels

Understanding the Display:

  • The center gauge value shows the total count of transaction log files
  • The colored rings represent the number of files in each percentage range
  • Colors visually distinguish files by their free space health

How to Use:

  • Hover over colored portions to see the exact count of files in each range
  • Click any row to see a pop-up listing specific files with their free space details
  • Sort the pop-up by clicking column headers
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What It Tells You:
Transaction log space monitoring is critical because a full transaction log blocks all database write operations. Low free space in transaction logs typically indicates:

  • Insufficient transaction log backup frequency
  • Long-running transactions preventing log truncation
  • Log growth settings that don't match workload patterns
  • Need to increase log file size or adjust backup schedules

Immediate Actions for Critical Transaction Logs:

  • Verify transaction log backups are running successfully
  • Check for long-running open transactions
  • Temporarily switch to Simple recovery model if log backups aren't feasible (only for non-production)
  • Increase transaction log file size if recurring issues occur

Database Space Utilization Over Time

Displays historical trends in database storage consumption across your filtered databases.

Understanding the Chart:

  • Line chart shows database space allocation and usage over time
  • Data displays trends leading up to your selected date in the Date Picker
  • You can analyze historical space patterns by selecting different dates

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:

  • Plan capacity expansions before running out of storage
  • Identify unusual growth patterns that may indicate data quality issues
  • Understand normal growth rates for budgeting and planning
  • Validate the effectiveness of archival and cleanup processes
  • Set realistic expectations for future space requirements

Properties Section

The Properties section summarizes database configuration characteristics across your monitored environment.

Database Properties

Displays the count of databases with specific features enabled.

Features Tracked:

  • Availability Groups Enabled - Databases participating in Always On Availability Groups for high availability and disaster recovery
  • Change Data Capture - Databases using CDC to track data changes for ETL or auditing purposes
  • Log Shipping Enabled - Databases configured for log shipping disaster recovery
  • Read Committed Snapshot Isolation - Databases using RCSI to reduce blocking by implementing row versioning
  • Replication Enabled - Databases configured for SQL Server replication (transactional, merge, or snapshot)
  • Transparent Data Encryption - Databases with TDE enabled for encryption at rest

How to Use:

  • Review the count of databases using each feature
  • Click any row to see a pop-up listing specific databases with that feature enabled
  • Sort the pop-up by clicking column headers

Understanding Each Feature:

Availability Groups:
Provides high availability and disaster recovery by maintaining synchronized copies of databases on secondary replicas. Critical for meeting aggressive RTO/RPO requirements.

Change Data Capture (CDC):
Tracks insert, update, and delete activity on tables, enabling efficient data warehouse ETL and audit trail requirements. Adds overhead to transaction processing.

Log Shipping:
Automatically backs up, copies, and restores transaction logs to secondary servers for disaster recovery. More manual than Availability Groups, but simpler to configure.

Read Committed Snapshot Isolation (RCSI):
Reduces blocking by using row versioning instead of locks for read operations. Improves concurrency for OLTP workloads but increases tempdb usage.

Replication:
Distributes data across multiple servers for availability, scale-out reads, or data distribution to remote sites.

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE):
Encrypts database files at rest to meet compliance requirements. Adds CPU overhead for encryption/decryption operations.

Compatibility Mode

Displays the distribution of databases by SQL Server compatibility level. Compatibility level determines which SQL Server language features are available.

Common Compatibility Levels:

  • SQL Server 2022 (160)
  • SQL Server 2019 (150)
  • SQL Server 2017 (140)
  • SQL Server 2016 (130)
  • SQL Server 2014 (120)
  • SQL Server 2012 (110)

How to Use:

  • The color-coded donut chart shows the proportion of databases at each compatibility level
  • The center displays the total count of databases
  • Hover over colored portions to see the count for each compatibility level
  • Click any row to see a pop-up listing specific instances and databases at that level
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

Why Compatibility Level Matters:
Compatibility level controls query optimizer behavior and available T-SQL features. Even when SQL Server is upgraded to a newer version, databases retain their previous compatibility level until explicitly changed. This allows:

  • Testing new optimizer behaviors before committing
  • Gradual migration of applications
  • Maintaining consistent query performance during upgrades

However, older compatibility levels prevent access to newer performance improvements and features. Consider upgrading compatibility levels after testing to benefit from query optimizer improvements.

Database Collation

Displays the distribution of databases by collation setting. Collation determines sort order, case sensitivity, and accent sensitivity for character data.

How to Use:

  • The color-coded donut chart shows the proportion of databases using each collation
  • The center displays the total count of databases
  • Hover over colored portions to see the count for each collation
  • Click any row to see a pop-up listing specific instances and databases with that collation
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

Common Collations:

  • SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS - Case-insensitive, accent-sensitive (most common default)
  • Latin1_General_CI_AS - Case-insensitive, accent-sensitive
  • Latin1_General_CS_AS - Case-sensitive, accent-sensitive
  • SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CS_AS - Case-sensitive, accent-sensitive

Why Collation Matters:
Collation affects:

  • How text is sorted and compared
  • Whether queries distinguish between 'A' and 'a' (case sensitivity)
  • Whether queries distinguish between 'a' and 'á' (accent sensitivity)
  • Compatibility when joining data between databases

Inconsistent collations across databases can cause:

  • Join failures requiring explicit COLLATE clauses
  • Unexpected sort order results
  • Performance issues due to collation conversions

Standardizing collations simplifies application development and avoids these pitfalls.

Database Statistics Section

The Database Statistics section provides detailed metrics about database sizes, growth, costs, and operational characteristics.

Databases by Size

Displays the distribution of databases across predefined size ranges.

Size Ranges:

  • 0-10GB - Small databases suitable for basic workloads
  • 10GB-100GB - Medium databases requiring regular maintenance planning
  • 100GB-500GB - Large databases needing careful capacity planning
  • 500GB-1TB - Very large databases requiring enterprise storage solutions
  • 1TB+ - Enterprise-scale databases demanding advanced management

How to Use:

  • The color-coded donut chart shows the proportion of databases in each size range
  • The center displays the total count of databases
  • Hover over colored portions to see the count for each range
  • Click any row to see a pop-up listing specific instances, databases, and their sizes
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

What It Tells You:
Understanding your database size distribution helps with:

  • Backup and recovery planning - larger databases need different strategies
  • Storage tiering - placing large databases on appropriate storage tiers
  • Maintenance windows - large databases require longer maintenance times
  • Cost allocation - understanding where the storage budget is consumed
  • Consolidation planning - identifying candidates for archival or compression

Database Volume Metrics

Displays detailed metrics for each database, including size, annual growth, annualized cost, and average transaction activity for the past year.

Columns:

  • Instance - Instance name where the database resides
  • Database - Database name
  • Cost of Data - Annual cost for this database based on storage consumption and resource usage
  • Database Size - Current total allocated space (data files + transaction log files)
  • Growth % - Annual percentage growth over the measurement period
  • Growth Size - Absolute annual storage growth amount
  • Transactions/sec - Average transaction throughput during the past year for the database

How to Use:

  • Sort by any column to identify databases by cost, size, growth rate, or activity level
  • Click instance or database names to adjust filters
  • Use "Rows per page" to adjust the number of displayed databases
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

Understanding Cost of Data:
The Cost of Data metric represents the annualized cost attributed to each database based on:

  • Storage consumption (data files and transaction logs)
  • Resource utilization (memory, CPU, I/O)
  • Transaction volume and workload intensity

For organizations using chargeback or showback models, this helps:

  • Allocate infrastructure costs to business units or applications
  • Justify infrastructure spending with business value metrics
  • Identify high-cost databases that may benefit from optimization
  • Plan budgets based on database-level cost patterns

Interpreting Growth Metrics:
High growth rates may indicate:

  • Normal business expansion requiring capacity planning
  • Data quality issues are causing unnecessary storage consumption
  • Missing archival processes for historical data
  • Inefficient indexing strategies creating redundant data
  • Application bugs or data retention issues

Combine growth rate with absolute growth size to prioritize attention - a small database growing rapidly may become a problem soon, while a large database with slow growth may be stable.

Databases

Provides a comprehensive table view of all databases with configuration, backup status, and feature details.

Columns:

  • Instance - Instance name where the database resides
  • Database - Database name
  • RCSI Enabled - Whether Read Committed Snapshot Isolation is enabled
  • CDC Enabled - Whether Change Data Capture is enabled
  • TDE Enabled - Whether Transparent Data Encryption is enabled
  • Database Size - Current total allocated space
  • Last Integrity Check - Date and time of the most recent DBCC CHECKDB or equivalent integrity check
  • Last Full Backup - Date and time of the most recent full database backup
  • Last Transaction Backup - Date and time of the most recent transaction log backup

How to Use:

  • Sort by any column to organize databases by size, backup age, or feature configuration
  • Review the Last Full Backup and Last Transaction Backup columns to identify backup compliance issues
  • Check the Last Integrity Check to ensure databases undergo regular corruption detection
  • Use "Rows per page" to adjust the number of displayed databases
  • Click the three-dot icon to export data to Excel or view in a separate window

Backup Compliance Monitoring:
Use this table to identify databases at risk:

  • No recent full backup - Database cannot be restored if a disaster occurs
  • No recent transaction log backup (for databases in Full recovery model) - Risk of data loss exceeds RPO
  • No recent integrity check - Potential corruption may go undetected

Best Practices:

  • Production databases should have full backups at least daily, transaction log backups every 15-30 minutes
  • Non-production databases backup frequency depends on data volatility and acceptable data loss
  • Integrity checks should run weekly for critical databases, monthly for less critical databases

Databases showing red flags in backup columns require immediate attention to meet recovery objectives.

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