SQL Server Instance Checklist

Database Administration | June 28, 2010 | 4:34 pm

This is my third in a series of checklists that I am putting together for a new book designed for DBAs to help
audit their SQL Server instances. Previously I blogged about my SQL Server Hardware Checklist and my SQL
Server Operating System Checklist. The goal of this checklist is to help DBAs document how their SQL Server
instances are configured, which in turn may reveal some potential changes that could be made in order to
better optimize their performance and availability.
Below is my current version of the SQL Server Instance Checklist, which is in the form of a spreadsheet that
can be used to collect and store the information. As you review this checklist, you may notice that I have
excluded some instance-related information, such as that relating to databases, security, database
maintenance, SQL Server agent jobs, and high availability. Because each of these topics are large, I will devote
separate checklists for each of these topics. In essence, this checklist covers generic instance configuration
settings.

The Basics
Real or Virtual Machine:
Default or Named Instance:
Single or Multiple Instances:
Instance Name:
Port Number:
SQL Server Version:
SQL Server Edition:
32-Bit or 64-Bit:
Service Pack Level:
Version (Build) Number:
Server Language:
Server Collation:
Latest Updates Applied:
List Hotfixes Added:
License Type:
Is Properly Licensed?
Product Key:
Aliases
Server Aliases & Settings:
Network Protocols
Shared Memory:
Named Pipes:

TCP/IP:
VIA:
Protocol Encryption Enabled:
Clustering
Is This Instance Part of a Windows
Cluster:
Virtual Server Name:
Virtual Server IP Address:
Type of Workload
OLTP:
OLAP:
Combination:
File Locations
SQL Server Executables & Related
Files:
Location of System Databases:
Production MDF/NDF Files:
Production LDF Files:
Tempdb:
BAK/TRN Files:
Tempdb Configuration
Is Tempdb Pre-Sized to Optimal
Size:
Current Size of Tempdb:
Is Tempdb Located on Its Own
Array:
Is Tempdb Divided Into Multiple
Files:
If Multiple Files, How Many
Physical Files:
If Multiple Files, Does Each File
Have Identical Size:
Services Installed/Running On
This Instance

SQL Server Database Services

(MSSQLSERVER):
SQL Server Agent:
Integration Services:
Analysis Services:
Reporting Services:
Full-Text Search:
SQL Server Activity Directory
Helper:
SQL Server Browser:
SQL Server VSS Writer:
OS-Related Settings
Is Instant File Initialization On:
Is the "Lock Pages in Memory"
Setting On (64-bit only):
32-Bit Memory Configuration (If
32-Bit Memory)
How Much 32-Bit Memory is
Available to the Instance:
Does Boot.ini File Have the /3GB
Switch:
Does Boot.ini File Have the /PAE
Switch:
Is the "awe enabled" Server Setting
On:
The "max server memory" Server
Setting Is:
SP_Configure Settings

Minimum Value Maximum Value Default

access check cache bucket count (2)

0
(3)
access check cache quota (2) (3)
0
ad hoc distributed queries (1) (2) 0
affinity I/O mask (1) (2) (3)
-2147483648
affinity64 I/O mask (1) (2) (4)
-2147483648
affinity mask (1) (2) (3)
-2147483648
affinity64 mask (1) (2) (3) (4)
-2147483648

16384

2147483647
1
2147483647
2147483647
2147483647
2147483647

0
0
0
0
0
0

Current
Setting

Agent XPs (1) (2) (3)

0
allow updates (5)
0
awe enabled (1) (2) (3)
0
backup compression default (2) (3) 0
blocked process threshold (1) (2)
0
(3)
c2 audit mode (1) (2) (3)
0
clr enabled (1) (2) (3)
0
common criteria compliance
0
enabled (1) (2) (3)
cost threshold for parallelism (1)
0
(2) (3)
cross db ownership chaining (1) (2)
0
(3)
cursor threshold (1) (2) (3)
-1
Database Mail XPs (1) (2) (3)
0
default full-text language (1) (2) (3) 0
default language (1) (2) (3)
0
default trace enabled (1) (2) (3)
0
disallow results from triggers (1)
0
(2) (3)
EKM provider enabled (2) (3)
0
filestream_access_level (2) (3)
0
fill factor (1) (2) (3)
0
ft crawl bandwidth (max): (1) (2)
0
(3)
ft crawl bandwidth (min): (1) (2)
0
(3)
ft notify bandwidth (max): (1) (2)
0
(3)
ft notify bandwidth (min): (1) (2)
0
(3)
index create memory (1) (2) (3)
704
in-doubt xact resolution (1) (2) (3) 0
lightweight pooling (1) (2) (3)
0
locks: (1) (2) (3)
5000
max degree of parallelism (1) (2)
0
(3)
max full-text crawl range (1) (2) (3) 0
max server memory (1) (2) (3)
16

1
1
1
1

1
0
0
0

86400

1
1

0
0

32767

2147483647
1
2147483647
9999
1

-1
0
1033
0
1

1
2
100

0
0
0

32767

100

32767

32767

100

32767

2147483647
2
1
2147483647

0
0
0
0

64

256
2147483647

4
214748364

max text repl size (1) (2) (3)

0
max worker threads (1) (2) (3)
128
media retention (1) (2) (3)
0
min memory per query (1) (2) (3) 512
min server memory (1) (2) (3)
0
nested triggers (1) (2) (3)
0
network packet size (1) (2) (3)
512
Ole Automation Procedures (1) (2)
0
(3)
open objects (5)
0
optimize for ad hoc workloads (2)
0
(3)
PH_timeout (1) (2) (3)
1
precompute rank (1) (2) (3)
0
priority boost (1) (2) (3)
0
query governor cost limit (1) (2) (3) 0
query wait (1) (2) (3)
-1
recovery interval (1) (2) (3)
0
remote access (1) (2) (3)
0
remote admin connections (1) (2)
0
(3)
remote login timeout (1) (2) (3)
0
remote proc trans (1) (2) (3)
0
remote query timeout (1) (2) (3)
0
Replication XPs Option (1) (2) (3) 0
scan for startup procs (1) (2) (3)
0
server trigger recursion (1) (2) (3) 0
set working set size (5)
0
show advanced options (1) (2) (3) 0
SMO and DMO XPs (1) (2) (3)
0
SQL Mail XPs (1) (2) (3)
0
transform noise words (1) (2) (3) 0
two digit year cutoff (1) (2) (3)
1753
user connections: (1) (2) (3)
0
User Instance Timeout (6)
5
user instances enabled (6)
0
user options (1) (2) (3)
0

2147483647
32767
365
2147483647
2147483647
1
32767

7
65536
0
0
1024
0
1
4096

2147483647

3600
1
1
2147483647
2147483647
32767
1

60
0
0
0
-1
0
1

2147483647
1
2147483647
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
9999
32767
65535
1
32767

20
0
600
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
2049
0
60
0
0

Web Assistant Procedures (1)

xp_cmdshell (1) (2) (3)
Key for Above
(1) 2005
(2) 2008
(3) 2008 R2
(4) 64-bit only
(5) deprecated
(6) SQL Server 2008 Express only
Linked Servers
Is This Instance Linked to Other
Instances:
Described How Instances are
Linked:
Instance Endpoints
Database Mirroring:
Service Broker:
SOAP:
TSQL:
Replication
Is Replication Used:
Type of Replication Used:
Replication Role(s):
Names of Instances Involved in
Replication:
SQL Server 2008 Policy-Based
Management
Is Policy-Based Management Being
Used:
Is This Instance Used to Manage
Policies:
List All Instances Managed by This
Instance:
List Policies:

0
0

1
1

0
0

SQL Server 2008 Resource

Governor
Is the Resource Governor Being
Used:
List the Workload Groups:
List the Resource Pools & Their
Settings:
Has the Classification Function
Been Fully Tested:
Has the Resource Governor Been
Evaluated for Effectiveness:
SQL Server 2008 Data Collector
Is the Data Collector Used:
Does This Instance Have the
MDW:
Is the Instance With the MDW
Dedicated:
Location of the MDW:
List Instances Monitored by the
Data Collector:
Has the Data Collector Overhead
Been Reviewed:
Has the Data Collector Retention
Policy Been Reviewed:
SQL Server 2008 R2 Features
Used
PowerPivot:
Master Data Services:
Multi-Server Administration &
Data-Tier Application:
I would like your feedback on my SQL Server Instance Checklist. For example, I would like your input on:

What is missing from the list? Keep in mind that I will be creating additional lists to cover more specific topics,
and that I cant include every possible instance variation.

What on the list could be removed because it is not very important? Keep in mind that the list is designed to
be generic, so there will be items on the list that will not be applicable to all SQL Server environments.

Does my wording make sense, or should I change any of the wording so that it is more understandable or
more accurate?

Read more: http://www.bradmcgehee.com/2010/06/sql-server-instance-checklist/#ixzz1GEQdOkq7

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution