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Tune performance with the Query Store

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Applies to: SQL Server 2016 (13.x) and later Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics

The SQL Server Query Store feature provides you with power to discover and tune queries in your workload through the SQL Server Management Studio visual interface and through T-SQL queries. This article details how you can take actionable information to improve query performance in your database, including how to identify queries based on their usage statistics and forcing plans. You can also use the Query Store hints feature to identify queries and shape their query plans without changing application code.

Performance tuning sample queries

Query Store keeps a history of compilation and runtime metrics throughout query executions, allowing you to ask questions about your workload.

The following sample queries may be helpful in your performance baseline and query performance investigation:

Last queries executed on the database

The last n queries executed on the database:

SELECT TOP 10 qt.query_sql_text, q.query_id,
    qt.query_text_id, p.plan_id, rs.last_execution_time
FROM sys.query_store_query_text AS qt
JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q
    ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id
JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p
    ON q.query_id = p.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs
    ON p.plan_id = rs.plan_id
ORDER BY rs.last_execution_time DESC;

Execution counts

Number of executions for each query:

SELECT q.query_id, qt.query_text_id, qt.query_sql_text,
    SUM(rs.count_executions) AS total_execution_count
FROM sys.query_store_query_text AS qt
JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q
    ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id
JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p
    ON q.query_id = p.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs
    ON p.plan_id = rs.plan_id
GROUP BY q.query_id, qt.query_text_id, qt.query_sql_text
ORDER BY total_execution_count DESC;

Longest average execution time

The number of queries with the longest average execution time within last hour:

SELECT TOP 10 rs.avg_duration, qt.query_sql_text, q.query_id,
    qt.query_text_id, p.plan_id, GETUTCDATE() AS CurrentUTCTime,
    rs.last_execution_time
FROM sys.query_store_query_text AS qt
JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q
    ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id
JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p
    ON q.query_id = p.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs
    ON p.plan_id = rs.plan_id
WHERE rs.last_execution_time > DATEADD(hour, -1, GETUTCDATE())
ORDER BY rs.avg_duration DESC;

Biggest average physical I/O reads

The number of queries that had the biggest average physical I/O reads in last 24 hours, with corresponding average row count and execution count:

SELECT TOP 10 rs.avg_physical_io_reads, qt.query_sql_text,
    q.query_id, qt.query_text_id, p.plan_id, rs.runtime_stats_id,
    rsi.start_time, rsi.end_time, rs.avg_rowcount, rs.count_executions
FROM sys.query_store_query_text AS qt
JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q
    ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id
JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p
    ON q.query_id = p.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs
    ON p.plan_id = rs.plan_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats_interval AS rsi
    ON rsi.runtime_stats_interval_id = rs.runtime_stats_interval_id
WHERE rsi.start_time >= DATEADD(hour, -24, GETUTCDATE())
ORDER BY rs.avg_physical_io_reads DESC;

Queries with multiple plans

These queries are especially interesting because they're candidates for regressions due to plan choice change. The following query identifies these queries along with all plans:

WITH Query_MultPlans
AS
(
SELECT COUNT(*) AS cnt, q.query_id
FROM sys.query_store_query_text AS qt
JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q
    ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id
JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p
    ON p.query_id = q.query_id
GROUP BY q.query_id
HAVING COUNT(distinct plan_id) > 1
)

SELECT q.query_id, object_name(object_id) AS ContainingObject,
    query_sql_text, plan_id, p.query_plan AS plan_xml,
    p.last_compile_start_time, p.last_execution_time
FROM Query_MultPlans AS qm
JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q
    ON qm.query_id = q.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p
    ON q.query_id = p.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_query_text qt
    ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id
ORDER BY query_id, plan_id;

Highest wait durations

This query will return top 10 queries with the highest wait durations:

SELECT TOP 10
    qt.query_text_id,
    q.query_id,
    p.plan_id,
    sum(total_query_wait_time_ms) AS sum_total_wait_ms
FROM sys.query_store_wait_stats ws
JOIN sys.query_store_plan p ON ws.plan_id = p.plan_id
JOIN sys.query_store_query q ON p.query_id = q.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_query_text qt ON q.query_text_id = qt.query_text_id
GROUP BY qt.query_text_id, q.query_id, p.plan_id
ORDER BY sum_total_wait_ms DESC;

Note

In Azure Synapse Analytics, the Query Store sample queries in this section are supported with the exception of wait stats, which are not available in the Azure Synapse Analytics Query Store DMVs.

Queries that recently regressed in performance

The following query example returns all queries for which execution time doubled in last 48 hours due to a plan choice change. This query compares all runtime stat intervals side by side:

SELECT
    qt.query_sql_text,
    q.query_id,
    qt.query_text_id,
    rs1.runtime_stats_id AS runtime_stats_id_1,
    rsi1.start_time AS interval_1,
    p1.plan_id AS plan_1,
    rs1.avg_duration AS avg_duration_1,
    rs2.avg_duration AS avg_duration_2,
    p2.plan_id AS plan_2,
    rsi2.start_time AS interval_2,
    rs2.runtime_stats_id AS runtime_stats_id_2
FROM sys.query_store_query_text AS qt
JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q
    ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id
JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p1
    ON q.query_id = p1.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs1
    ON p1.plan_id = rs1.plan_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats_interval AS rsi1
    ON rsi1.runtime_stats_interval_id = rs1.runtime_stats_interval_id
JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p2
    ON q.query_id = p2.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs2
    ON p2.plan_id = rs2.plan_id
JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats_interval AS rsi2
    ON rsi2.runtime_stats_interval_id = rs2.runtime_stats_interval_id
WHERE rsi1.start_time > DATEADD(hour, -48, GETUTCDATE())
    AND rsi2.start_time > rsi1.start_time
    AND p1.plan_id <> p2.plan_id
    AND rs2.avg_duration > 2*rs1.avg_duration
ORDER BY q.query_id, rsi1.start_time, rsi2.start_time;

If you want to see performance all regressions (not only those related to plan choice change), remove condition AND p1.plan_id <> p2.plan_id from the previous query.

Queries with historical regression in performance

Comparing recent execution to historical execution, the next query compares query execution based on period of execution. In this particular example, the query compares execution in recent period (1 hour) vs. history period (last day) and identifies those that introduced additional_duration_workload. This metric is calculated as a difference between recent average execution and history average execution multiplied by the number of recent executions. It actually represents how much of additional duration recent executions introduced compared to history:

--- "Recent" workload - last 1 hour
DECLARE @recent_start_time datetimeoffset;
DECLARE @recent_end_time datetimeoffset;
SET @recent_start_time = DATEADD(hour, -1, SYSUTCDATETIME());
SET @recent_end_time = SYSUTCDATETIME();

--- "History" workload
DECLARE @history_start_time datetimeoffset;
DECLARE @history_end_time datetimeoffset;
SET @history_start_time = DATEADD(hour, -24, SYSUTCDATETIME());
SET @history_end_time = SYSUTCDATETIME();

WITH
hist AS
(
    SELECT
        p.query_id query_id,
        ROUND(ROUND(CONVERT(FLOAT, SUM(rs.avg_duration * rs.count_executions)) * 0.001, 2), 2) AS total_duration,
        SUM(rs.count_executions) AS count_executions,
        COUNT(distinct p.plan_id) AS num_plans
     FROM sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs
        JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p ON p.plan_id = rs.plan_id
    WHERE (rs.first_execution_time >= @history_start_time
               AND rs.last_execution_time < @history_end_time)
        OR (rs.first_execution_time <= @history_start_time
               AND rs.last_execution_time > @history_start_time)
        OR (rs.first_execution_time <= @history_end_time
               AND rs.last_execution_time > @history_end_time)
    GROUP BY p.query_id
),
recent AS
(
    SELECT
        p.query_id query_id,
        ROUND(ROUND(CONVERT(FLOAT, SUM(rs.avg_duration * rs.count_executions)) * 0.001, 2), 2) AS total_duration,
        SUM(rs.count_executions) AS count_executions,
        COUNT(distinct p.plan_id) AS num_plans
    FROM sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs
        JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p ON p.plan_id = rs.plan_id
    WHERE  (rs.first_execution_time >= @recent_start_time
               AND rs.last_execution_time < @recent_end_time)
        OR (rs.first_execution_time <= @recent_start_time
               AND rs.last_execution_time > @recent_start_time)
        OR (rs.first_execution_time <= @recent_end_time
               AND rs.last_execution_time > @recent_end_time)
    GROUP BY p.query_id
)
SELECT
    results.query_id AS query_id,
    results.query_text AS query_text,
    results.additional_duration_workload AS additional_duration_workload,
    results.total_duration_recent AS total_duration_recent,
    results.total_duration_hist AS total_duration_hist,
    ISNULL(results.count_executions_recent, 0) AS count_executions_recent,
    ISNULL(results.count_executions_hist, 0) AS count_executions_hist
FROM
(
    SELECT
        hist.query_id AS query_id,
        qt.query_sql_text AS query_text,
        ROUND(CONVERT(float, recent.total_duration/
                   recent.count_executions-hist.total_duration/hist.count_executions)
               *(recent.count_executions), 2) AS additional_duration_workload,
        ROUND(recent.total_duration, 2) AS total_duration_recent,
        ROUND(hist.total_duration, 2) AS total_duration_hist,
        recent.count_executions AS count_executions_recent,
        hist.count_executions AS count_executions_hist
    FROM hist
        JOIN recent
            ON hist.query_id = recent.query_id
        JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q
            ON q.query_id = hist.query_id
        JOIN sys.query_store_query_text AS qt
            ON q.query_text_id = qt.query_text_id
) AS results
WHERE additional_duration_workload > 0
ORDER BY additional_duration_workload DESC
OPTION (MERGE JOIN);

Maintaining query performance stability

For queries executed multiple times you may notice that SQL Server uses different plans, resulting in different resource utilization and duration. With Query Store, you can detect when query performance regressed and determine the optimal plan within a period of interest. You can then force that optimal plan for future query execution.

You can also identify inconsistent query performance for a query with parameters (either auto-parameterized or manually parameterized). Among different plans, you can identify the plan that is fast and optimal enough for all or most of the parameter values and force that plan, keeping predictable performance for the wider set of user scenarios.

Force a plan for a query (apply forcing policy)

When a plan is forced for a certain query, SQL Server tries to force the plan in the optimizer. If plan forcing fails, an XEvent is fired and the optimizer is instructed to optimize in the normal way.

EXEC sp_query_store_force_plan @query_id = 48, @plan_id = 49;

When using sp_query_store_force_plan you can only force plans that were recorded by Query Store as a plan for that query. In other words, the only plans available for a query are those that were already used to execute that query while Query Store was active.

Note

Forcing plans in Query Store is not supported in Azure Synapse Analytics.

Plan forcing support for fast forward and static cursors

Starting with SQL Server 2019 (15.x) and Azure SQL Database (all deployment models), Query Store supports the ability to force query execution plans for fast forward and static Transact-SQL and API cursors. Forcing is supported via sp_query_store_force_plan or through SQL Server Management Studio Query Store reports.

Remove plan forcing for a query

To rely again on the SQL Server query optimizer to calculate the optimal query plan, use sp_query_store_unforce_plan to unforce the plan that was selected for the query.

EXEC sp_query_store_unforce_plan @query_id = 48, @plan_id = 49;

See also

Next steps