I need to see which indexes I should add to my database so I need to run SQL Server Profiler so I can use it as input for the Database Engine Tuning Advisor.
My question is, does the profiler affect the performance of the DB? Also, would running the profiler on another machine help alleviate the weight on the DB?
Do you recommend doing this on a production server or should I go another route?
Best Answer
To find "missing indexes" you can use dmvs instead: One Two Search
Profiler is useful but does impose some load. You just have to be careful to see up the trace correctly, and don't start one on a server that already has performance problems...
Be careful about what you profile too. I have seen some idiot dump text query plans from profiler on a running server which promptly died trying to write 100s of MBs of trace files every second.