Thanks for sharing the `sys.
dm_exec_requests` output — this is a **very useful
diagnostic view** when troubleshooting SQL Server slowness.
Let’s break down the **most important columns** to focus on when diagnosing
**performance or slowness issues**, based on your
---
### ✅ **Key Columns to Check for Slowness Issues**
| Column | Why It Matters | Your Value / Observation |
|-------|----------------|--------------------------|
| **`status`** | Shows current state of request. `running`, `suspended`,
`background`, etc. | `running` → normal, but if stuck for long, could be CPU-bound.
|
| **`command`** | What type of command is running. Helps identify workload type. |
`SELECT` → Could be a heavy query. |
| **`wait_type`** | **CRITICAL** – Tells you *why* the query is waiting. |
`MEMORY_ALLOCATION_EXT` → **This is the red flag.** |
| **`last_wait_type`** | Previous wait type (if not currently waiting). | Same →
consistent memory pressure. |
| **`wait_resource`** | Details about the resource being waited on. | Empty → not
helpful here. |
| **`cpu_time`** | CPU time used (in ms). High = CPU-intensive. | `2` ms → very low
→ not CPU-bound. |
| **`total_elapsed_time`** | Total time since query started (ms). | `2` ms → very
short → this query just started. |
| **`logical_reads`** | Number of data pages read from memory. High = heavy I/O. |
`0` → nothing read yet. |
| **`reads`** | Physical reads from disk. High = disk I/O bottleneck. | `0` → no
disk reads yet. |
| **`writes`** | Writes to disk. | `0` → no writes. |
| **`open_transaction_count`** | Open transactions can block others. | `0` → good.
|
| **`blocking_session_id`** | If >0, this session is blocked by another. | `0` →
not blocked. |
| **`percent_complete`** | For long ops (e.g., backup, index rebuild). | `0` → not
applicable. |
| **`estimated_completion_time`** | When will long op finish? | `0` → not
applicable. |
| **`scheduler_id`** | Which CPU scheduler is used. | Normal. |
| **`database_id`** | Which DB is involved. | `172` → check which DB this is:
`SELECT name FROM sys.databases WHERE database_id = 172` |
---
### 🔥 **Critical Finding: `wait_type = MEMORY_ALLOCATION_EXT`**
This is the **most important clue**.
#### What does `MEMORY_ALLOCATION_EXT` mean?
- The query is **waiting to allocate memory** before it can start executing.
- This happens when:
- SQL Server doesn't have enough **memory grants** available.
- There’s **memory pressure** (RAM exhausted).
- Too many large queries running at once.
- **max server memory** is set too low or too high (starving OS or other
processes).
> ⚠️ This explains **slowness**: even if the query is simple, it can't start
because it’s waiting for memory.
---
### 🧩 Root Cause Summary
Based on your
- The query **hasn't really started yet** (0 reads, 0 CPU, 2ms elapsed).
- It’s **queued waiting for memory** (`MEMORY_ALLOCATION_EXT`).
- This suggests **system-wide memory pressure**, not a slow individual query.
This aligns with your earlier Task Manager screenshot showing **~27.5 GB RAM
usage** by `sqlservr.exe`.
---
### ✅ Recommended Actions
#### 1. **Check Available System Memory**
- Is your machine running out of RAM?
- Is the OS or other apps being starved?
#### 2. **Limit SQL Server Max Memory**
By default, SQL Server can use **all available RAM**. You should cap it.
```sql
-- Check current max memory
SELECT name, value_in_use
FROM sys.configurations
WHERE name = 'max server memory (MB)';
-- Example: Set to 24 GB on a 32 GB machine
EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1;
RECONFIGURE;
EXEC sp_configure 'max server memory (MB)', 24576;
RECONFIGURE;
```
> Leave 4–8 GB for OS and other apps.
#### 3. **Find Memory-Heavy Queries**
Run this to see what’s consuming memory:
```sql
SELECT TOP 10
text = SUBSTRING(text, statement_start_offset/2,
(CASE WHEN statement_end_offset = -1 THEN LEN(CONVERT(nvarchar(max),text))
* 2
ELSE statement_end_offset END - statement_start_offset)/2),
cpu_time,
total_elapsed_time,
logical_reads,
session_id,
memory_usage * 8 / 1024.0 AS memory_used_mb
FROM sys.dm_exec_requests
CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_sql_text(sql_handle)
ORDER BY memory_usage DESC;
```
#### 4. **Check for Memory Grants**
See pending memory grants:
```sql
SELECT
session_id,
request_id,
start_time,
status,
command,
wait_type,
wait_time,
total_elapsed_time,
query_cost,
requested_memory_kb,
granted_memory_kb,
used_memory_kb
FROM sys.dm_exec_query_memory_grants
ORDER BY requested_memory_kb DESC;
```
> If `granted_memory_kb` is `0`, it’s waiting — confirms `MEMORY_ALLOCATION_EXT`.
#### 5. **Restart SQL Server (if safe)**
If you can restart:
- Frees all memory.
- Resets memory pressure.
- Good for temporary relief.
---
### 📌 TL;DR – What You Need to Do Now
1. **Limit SQL Server max memory** → Prevents system-wide lag.
2. **Check if other queries are waiting on memory** → Use
`dm_exec_query_memory_grants`.
3. **Avoid running too many heavy queries at once** → Throttle reporting jobs.
4. **Upgrade RAM if this is normal workload** → 32GB+ if running large DBs.
---
Let me know:
- Total RAM on the server
- Purpose of SQL Server (dev, prod, reporting?)
- Whether this happens during specific times (e.g., nightly jobs)
I’ll help you tune memory settings accordingly.
