Standard monitoring metrics for SQL Server - ApsaraDB RDS

The Standard Monitoring page in the ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server console lets you track instance performance using two metric categories: Basic Metrics (infrastructure-level) and Database Metrics (SQL Server-level). The page integrates the Performance Trend feature and supports querying up to 30 days of historical data.

Available metrics

Category	Metrics
Basic metrics	CPU/Memory Usage, IOPS Utilization, IOPS, Instance Storage, Instance Disk Usage, Network Traffic, Throughput Utilization, Throughput
Database metrics	QPS, Connections, Transactions, SQLServer_BufferHit, Full Table Scan Rate, SQL Compilation Rate, Checkpoint Pages Written, Logons, Lock Timeouts, Deadlocks, Lock Wait Times, SQL Server AlwaysOn Replication Lag (Cluster Edition only), Page Life Expectancy

View standard monitoring

Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console. In the top navigation bar, select the region where your instance resides, then click the instance ID.
In the left navigation pane, click Monitoring and Alerts.
On the Standard Monitoring page, use the following controls:
- Query a time range — Select a time range to view the corresponding metrics. Historical data is available for the last 30 days.
- Enable real-time mode — Click before the time range box. The page auto-refreshes every 5 seconds so you can track live changes in database performance.
- Change data granularity — Set Data Granularity to view metric trends at 5 seconds, 30 seconds, or 1 minute intervals.
- View metric details — Click next to a metric name to see its sub-metrics and descriptions.
- Switch nodes (Cluster Edition only) — Select one or more nodes to compare metrics across different nodes.
If the page does not show Basic Metrics and Database Metrics, you may be on the old version of the page. Click Previous Version in the upper-right corner.

Metric descriptions

Basic metrics

Metric	Metric name	Unit	Description
CPU/Memory Usage	cpu_usage	%	CPU usage as a percentage of total operating system CPU.
mem_usage	%	Instance memory usage.
IOPS Utilization	iops_usage_no_burst	%	IOPS usage when I/O burst is disabled.
iops_usage_burst	%	Actual IOPS usage.
iops_usage_burst_ratio	%	Percentage of IOPS improvement after I/O burst is enabled.
IOPS	db_io_read	Count	Read I/O requests per second.
db_io	Count	Total I/O requests per second.
db_io_write	Count	Write I/O requests per second.
iops_of_ecs	Count	Upper IOPS limit on the computing side.
iops_of_disk	Count	Upper IOPS limit on the storage side.
iops_no_burst	Count	Upper IOPS limit when I/O burst is disabled.
iops_burst	Count	Upper IOPS limit.
Instance Storage	disk_mastersize	MB	Disk space used by the SQL Server system database master.
disk_modelsize	MB	Disk space used by the model database. The model database is the template for each new database.
disk_msdbsize	MB	Disk space used by the msdb database. The msdb database manages SQL Server Agent jobs and backup history.
disk_errorlog	MB	Disk space used by error log files. Clear error logs from the console or via API.
disk_xel	MB	Disk space used by Extended Event log files.
disk_trace	MB	Disk space used by SQL Server trace files, such as SQL Profiler trace files.
disk_dump	MB	Space used by dump files generated when the SQL Server kernel encounters an exception.
log_size	MB	Log space used.
ins_size	MB	Total space used by the instance.
tmp_size	MB	Temporary space used.
data_size	MB	Data space used.
other_size	MB	System space used.
Instance Disk Usage	disk_usage	%	Disk space usage.
Network Traffic	write_kb	KB	Average inbound traffic per second.
read_kb	KB	Average outbound traffic per second.
Throughput Utilization	mBps_usage_burst	%	Actual disk I/O throughput usage.
mBps_usage_no_burst	%	Disk I/O throughput usage when I/O burst is disabled.
mBps_burst_ratio	%	Percentage of disk I/O throughput improvement after I/O burst is enabled.
Throughput	mBps_total	MB/s	Total disk I/O throughput per second.
mBps_read	MB/s	Disk read throughput per second.
mBps_write	MB/s	Disk write throughput per second.
mBps_of_ecs	MB/s	Upper disk I/O throughput limit per second on the computing side.
mBps_of_disk	MB/s	Upper disk I/O throughput limit per second on the storage side.
mBps_no_burst	MB/s	Upper disk I/O throughput limit per second when I/O burst is disabled.
mBps_burst	MB/s	Upper disk I/O throughput limit per second.

Database metrics

Metric	Metric name	Unit	Applies to	Description
QPS	qps	Count	All editions	Average SQL statements executed per second.
Connections	connection_reset	Count	All editions	Logons initiated from the connection pool per second.
active_temp_tables	Count	All editions	Number of active temporary tables.
active_session	Count	All editions	Number of active threads.
active_cursors	Count	All editions	Number of active cursors.
sessions	Count	All editions	Total number of connections.
active_transactions	Count	All editions	Number of active transactions.
Transactions	transactions	Count	All editions	Average transactions per second.
write_transactions	Count	All editions	Average write transactions per second.
SQLServer_BufferHit	cache_hit_ratio	%	All editions	Cache hit ratio.
bufferpool_hit_ratio	%	All editions	Percentage of pages found in the buffer cache without reading from disk.
Full Table Scan Rate	fullscans	%	All editions	Average full table scans per second.
SQL Compilation Rate	autoparam_attempts_per_sec	Count	All editions	Auto-parameterization attempts per second.
forced_parameterizations_per_sec	Count	All editions	Successful forced parameterizations per second.
sql_compilations	Count	All editions	SQL compilations per second.
unsafe_autoparams_per_sec	Count	All editions	Unsafe auto-parameterization attempts per second.
failed_autoparams_per_sec	Count	All editions	Failed auto-parameterization attempts per second.
safe_autoparams_per_sec	Count	All editions	Safe auto-parameterization attempts per second.
resqlcompilations	Count	All editions	Statement recompilations per second.
Checkpoint Pages Written	lazy_writes	Count	All editions	Writes to disk per second.
checkpoint	Count	All editions	Pages written to disk by checkpoints per second.
Logons	logout	Count	All editions	Logouts per second.
logins	Count	All editions	Logons per second.
Lock Timeouts	locktimeout	Count	All editions	Lock requests that timed out per second, including NOWAIT lock requests.
Deadlocks	deadlock	Count	All editions	Deadlocks per second.
Lock Wait Times	average_latch_wait_time	ms	All editions	Average wait time for latch requests.
table_lock_escalations_per_sec	Count	All editions	Times per second that locks on a table were escalated to the TABLE or HoBT granularity.
average_lock_wait_time	ms	All editions	Average wait time for lock requests.
total_latch_wait_time_ms	ms	All editions	Total latch wait time in the last second.
lock_requests_per_sec	Count	All editions	New locks and lock conversions requested per second.
lockwaits	Count	All editions	Lock requests per second for which the caller waited.
latchwaits	Count	All editions	Latch requests not granted immediately per second.
lock_waits	Count	All editions	Statistics about processes waiting for a lock.
lock_wait_time_ms	ms	All editions	Average lock wait time.
SQL Server AlwaysOn Replication Lag	ag_sync_lag_secs	s	Cluster Edition only	SQL Server AlwaysOn replication lag between the primary and secondary replicas.
Page Life Expectancy	Page_life_expectancy	s	All editions	Average time a cached data page stays in memory.