Last updated: 2026-03-15

Performance Dashboard

Monitor database performance in real time across SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL. View instance health, memory usage, top queries, wait statistics, and error logs from a single dashboard — no external monitoring tools required.

Getting Started

The Performance Dashboard gives you an at-a-glance view of how your database engine is performing. It pulls live metrics directly from the server so you can spot bottlenecks, runaway queries, and errors without switching tools.

How to Open the Performance Dashboard

1. Open Jam SQL Studio and connect to a database
2. Click Tools > Performance Dashboard from the main menu
3. Select the connection you want to monitor from the dropdown
4. The dashboard begins collecting and displaying metrics immediately

Instance Information

The top section of the dashboard displays essential details about the connected server instance:

• Server version - Engine name and full version string
• Uptime - How long the instance has been running since the last restart
• Memory - Total and currently used memory allocated to the engine
• Current connections - Number of active sessions connected to the server

Memory Statistics

Memory metrics help you understand whether the database has enough RAM to serve queries efficiently without excessive disk reads.

• Buffer pool size - Amount of memory used to cache data pages
• Shared pool / plan cache - Memory allocated for execution plans and metadata
• Cache hit ratio - Percentage of page reads satisfied from memory rather than disk. A ratio below 95% on OLTP workloads typically indicates memory pressure.

Key Performance Counters

Performance counters are the vital signs of your database. The dashboard surfaces the most important ones across all supported engines:

• Batch requests/sec - Throughput of SQL statements being processed
• Page life expectancy - How long a data page stays in the buffer pool before being evicted (SQL Server)
• Lock waits - Number and duration of lock-related waits indicating contention
• I/O statistics - Read and write throughput, latency per file or tablespace

Top SQL

The Top SQL section ranks the most resource-intensive queries currently running or recently executed. You can sort by CPU time, logical reads, or execution count to find the queries that would benefit most from tuning.

Note: PostgreSQL requires the pg_stat_statements extension. MySQL requires performance_schema to be enabled. If these are unavailable, the dashboard displays setup instructions.

Wait Statistics

Wait statistics reveal what the database engine spends time waiting on. The dashboard displays the top wait types sorted by cumulative wait duration, with a description of each wait type to help you understand the cause.

• Wait type - The internal name of the wait (e.g., PAGEIOLATCH_SH, LCK_M_X)
• Wait duration - Total time spent waiting on this type
• Wait count - Number of times this wait occurred
• Description - A plain-language explanation of what causes this wait and how to address it

Error & Alert Log

View recent database errors and alerts without connecting to the server's file system. Available for SQL Server (xp_readerrorlog) and Oracle (V$DIAG_ALERT_EXT). PostgreSQL and MySQL use file-based error logs that are not accessible via SQL. Each entry includes:

• Severity - The severity level of the error
• Timestamp - When the error occurred
• Message - The full error message text

AWR Reports (Oracle)

When connected to an Oracle database, the Performance Dashboard includes an additional section for generating Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) reports. AWR captures periodic snapshots of database statistics, allowing you to analyze performance trends over time.

Note: This section is Oracle-specific and does not appear when connected to SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or MySQL.

Multi-Engine Support

The Performance Dashboard works across all four supported database engines. The underlying data sources differ by engine, but the dashboard presents a consistent interface.