How to monitor Windows Server and SQL Server for $0 using SQL Planner.

chandan kumar — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:11:37 +0000

As a DBA, I’ve always been frustrated by the "monitoring tax." You either pay thousands of dollars for enterprise tools, or you’re stuck with basic scripts that don't give you the full picture. I wanted a tool that combined deep SQL metrics (deadlocks, expensive queries, health checks) with Windows OS-level monitoring (CPU, IO, Memory, IIS, Services) under one roof.

What is SQL Planner?
I’ve spent the last 5+ years building SQL Planner to bridge this gap. It’s a lightweight tool designed to handle:

Performance Analytics: Real-time monitoring of blockers, long-running queries, and IO latency.
Database Automation: Handling SQL Monitoring, Auditing, backups, and automated index defragmentation.
Windows Monitoring: Monitoring IIS, Windows Services, and OS-level resources without a massive agent footprint.
Reporting: 100+ deep-dive reports for audit and health checks.

The Tech Stack
The tool is designed for Windows environments. I focused heavily on ensuring the monitoring overhead is negligible—collecting 100+ metrics shouldn't become the performance bottleneck it’s trying to solve.
Why Free?
I’m offering this for free to the community. I believe every developer and DBA should have access to professional-grade monitoring regardless of their company's budget.

I would love your feedback on:
Missing Metrics: What is the one SQL Server metric that always saves your life during a production outage?
UI/UX: Is the dashboard intuitive enough for a sysadmin who isn't a SQL expert?

Link: https://mssqlplanner.com

Forem: chandan kumar

How to monitor Windows Server and SQL Server for $0 using SQL Planner.