Get-DbaTopResourceUsage

Chrissy LeMaire (@cl), netnerds.net

Windows, Linux, macOS

Synopsis

Identifies the most resource-intensive cached queries from sys.dm_exec_query_stats for performance troubleshooting

Analyzes cached query performance by examining sys.dm_exec_query_stats to find your worst-performing queries across four key metrics: total duration, execution frequency, IO operations, and CPU time. Each metric returns the top consumers (default 20) grouped by query hash, so you can quickly spot patterns in problematic queries that are dragging down server performance.

When your SQL Server is running slowly, this command helps you skip the guesswork and zero in on the specific queries consuming the most resources. Instead of manually writing complex DMV queries, you get formatted results showing query text, execution plans, database context, and performance metrics in one output.

You can focus on specific databases, exclude system objects like replication procedures, or analyze just one metric type (like Duration) when investigating particular performance issues. The results include actual query text and execution plans, so you can immediately start optimizing the problematic SQL.

This command is based off of queries provided by Michael J. Swart at http://michaeljswart.com/go/Top20

Per Michael: “I’ve posted queries like this before, and others have written many other versions of this query. All these queries are based on sys.dm_exec_query_stats.”

Syntax

Get-DbaTopResourceUsage
    [-SqlInstance] <DbaInstanceParameter[]>
    [[-SqlCredential] <PSCredential>]
    [[-Database] <Object[]>]
    [[-ExcludeDatabase] <Object[]>]
    [[-Type] <String[]>]
    [[-Limit] <Int32>]
    [-EnableException]
    [-ExcludeSystem]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Examples

Example: 1

PS C:\> Get-DbaTopResourceUsage -SqlInstance sql2008, sql2012

Return the 80 (20 x 4 types) top usage results by duration, frequency, IO, and CPU servers for servers sql2008 and sql2012

Example: 2

PS C:\> Get-DbaTopResourceUsage -SqlInstance sql2008 -Type Duration, Frequency -Database TestDB

Return the highest usage by duration (top 20) and frequency (top 20) for the TestDB on sql2008

Example: 3

PS C:\> Get-DbaTopResourceUsage -SqlInstance sql2016 -Limit 30

Return the highest usage by duration (top 30) and frequency (top 30) for the TestDB on sql2016

Example: 4

PS C:\> Get-DbaTopResourceUsage -SqlInstance sql2008, sql2012 -ExcludeSystem

Return the 80 (20 x 4 types) top usage results by duration, frequency, IO, and CPU servers for servers sql2008 and sql2012 without any System Objects

Example: 5

PS C:\> Get-DbaTopResourceUsage -SqlInstance sql2016| Select-Object *

Return all the columns plus the QueryPlan column

Required Parameters

-SqlInstance

The target SQL Server instance or instances.

Property	Value
Alias
Required	True
Pipeline	true (ByValue)
Default Value

Optional Parameters

-SqlCredential

Login to the target instance using alternative credentials. Accepts PowerShell credentials (Get-Credential).
Windows Authentication, SQL Server Authentication, Active Directory - Password, and Active Directory - Integrated are all supported.
For MFA support, please use Connect-DbaInstance.

Property	Value
Alias
Required	False
Pipeline	false
Default Value

-Database

Specifies which databases to analyze for resource-intensive queries. Accepts multiple database names.
Use this when troubleshooting performance issues in specific databases rather than analyzing server-wide query performance.

Property	Value
Alias
Required	False
Pipeline	false
Default Value

-ExcludeDatabase

Specifies databases to skip when analyzing query performance across the SQL Server instance.
Use this to exclude test databases, archived databases, or other databases that aren’t relevant to your performance investigation.

Property	Value
Alias
Required	False
Pipeline	false
Default Value

-Type

Specifies which resource usage metrics to analyze: Duration, Frequency, IO, CPU, or All (default).
Use specific types when investigating particular performance symptoms - Duration for slow queries, Frequency for high-activity queries, IO for disk bottlenecks, or CPU for processor-intensive
operations.

Property	Value
Alias
Required	False
Pipeline	false
Default Value	All
Accepted Values	All,Duration,Frequency,IO,CPU

-Limit

Controls how many top resource-consuming query hashes to return for each metric type (default is 20).
Increase this value when you need to analyze more queries, or decrease it to focus on only the most problematic queries during initial performance triage.

Property	Value
Alias
Required	False
Pipeline	false
Default Value	20

-EnableException

By default, when something goes wrong we try to catch it, interpret it and give you a friendly warning message.
This avoids overwhelming you with “sea of red” exceptions, but is inconvenient because it basically disables advanced scripting.
Using this switch turns this “nice by default” feature off and enables you to catch exceptions with your own try/catch.

Property	Value
Alias
Required	False
Pipeline	false
Default Value	False

-ExcludeSystem

Excludes system objects like replication procedures (sp_MS% objects) from the query analysis results.
Use this when you want to focus on application queries rather than system maintenance operations that may consume resources.

Property	Value
Alias
Required	False
Pipeline	false
Default Value	False

Outputs

PSCustomObject

Returns one result set per cached query grouped by query hash matching the specified resource metric criteria. When -Type All (default) is specified, up to 80 result objects are returned (20 per metric type × 4 metric types).

Duration metric results (when -Type includes “Duration”):

ComputerName: The computer name of the SQL Server instance
InstanceName: The SQL Server instance name
SqlInstance: The full SQL Server instance name
Database: The database context where the query executed
ObjectName: The stored procedure or object name containing the query (or ‘’ for ad-hoc queries)
QueryHash: The binary hash identifier for the query
TotalElapsedTimeMs: Total elapsed time in milliseconds for this cached query execution plan
ExecutionCount: Total number of times this query execution plan was executed
AverageDurationMs: Average elapsed time per execution in milliseconds
QueryTotalElapsedTimeMs: Total elapsed time for all occurrences of this query hash
QueryText: The actual SQL statement text being executed

Frequency metric results (when -Type includes “Frequency”):

ComputerName: The computer name of the SQL Server instance
InstanceName: The SQL Server instance name
SqlInstance: The full SQL Server instance name
Database: The database context where the query executed
ObjectName: The stored procedure or object name containing the query (or ‘’ for ad-hoc queries)
QueryHash: The binary hash identifier for the query
ExecutionCount: Number of times this query execution plan was executed
QueryTotalExecutions: Total execution count for all occurrences of this query hash
QueryText: The actual SQL statement text being executed

IO metric results (when -Type includes “IO”):

ComputerName: The computer name of the SQL Server instance
InstanceName: The SQL Server instance name
SqlInstance: The full SQL Server instance name
Database: The database context where the query executed
ObjectName: The stored procedure or object name containing the query (or ‘’ for ad-hoc queries)
QueryHash: The binary hash identifier for the query
TotalIO: Total logical reads and writes (sum of logical read and write operations)
ExecutionCount: Number of times this query execution plan was executed
AverageIO: Average IO operations per execution
QueryTotalIO: Total IO operations for all occurrences of this query hash
QueryText: The actual SQL statement text being executed

CPU metric results (when -Type includes “CPU”):

ComputerName: The computer name of the SQL Server instance
InstanceName: The SQL Server instance name
SqlInstance: The full SQL Server instance name
Database: The database context where the query executed
ObjectName: The stored procedure or object name containing the query (or ‘’ for ad-hoc queries)
QueryHash: The binary hash identifier for the query
CpuTime: Total worker time in microseconds (CPU time consumed)
ExecutionCount: Number of times this query execution plan was executed
AverageCpuMs: Average CPU time per execution in milliseconds
QueryTotalCpu: Total CPU time for all occurrences of this query hash
QueryText: The actual SQL statement text being executed

*Additional property available with Select-Object :

QueryPlan: The actual execution plan XML (excluded from default display via Select-DefaultView) The -ExcludeSystem parameter filters out system replication procedures (sp_MS%) from all result sets. The -Database and -ExcludeDatabase parameters filter results to specific databases before aggregation.