SQL Counter: Part 1 (Processor Time)
In the SQL Counters series I will talk about one counter eachtime. Like, learn a counter a day and keep all headaches away :) ... Counters are very helpful in finding the health of your server and give you great insight to where a potential problem is. Though not exhaustive, here is an initial list that you can learn about.
Process Object -> % Processor Time
The measurement is the amount of time that the server is executing a nonidle thread. This counter provides an indication of a possible bottleneck. A server will go to 100% CPU at times, but unless this is sustained for a period of time (for example, 5 minutes or so), it is usually nothing to worry about. However, over time, for example, a month, if the CPUs are averaging constantly more than 50%, it might be a good idea to start planning for an upgrade. If processors are averaging constantly greater than 70%, then it might be time to hurry that planning along.
Since this is the first post, get the list of my top 25 counters to monitor on my site here.