Automated application profiling approach   The automated approach involves using the Application Profiling Wizard in Sybase Central to create and analyze a tracing session to look for common performance problems, and provide specific recommendations on how to improve database performance. The wizard offers you some control over the types of activities it profiles, and recommendations are automatically provided at the end of the tracing session. The Index Consultant has also been integrated into the Application Profiling Wizard and uses the data to recommend indexes, if necessary.

The automated approach is ideal for environments where there are few connections to the database being profiled, or where sophisticated profiling is not required.

Advanced application profiling approach using diagnostic tracing   The advanced approach involves reviewing the data generated during a tracing session that you create either manually from the command line, or using the Database Tracing Wizard in the Sybase Central Design mode. You can configure where the tracing data is stored. You also have full control over the activities profiled, allowing you to target specific problems. For example, you can target specific statements executed by the database server, query plans used, deadlocks, connections that block each other, performance statistics, and so on.

The advanced approach is recommended for environments where the database being profiled has a high workload, or where sophisticated profiling is required to diagnose a problem. By customizing the tracing session, you can reduce the tracing scope to specific activities, and you can direct tracing data to a remotely located database. Both of these actions reduce the workload on the database being profiled.

See Advanced application profiling using diagnostic tracing.