Can you use ANTS Performance Profiler to profile an application hitting SQL Server Express editions?

Question

I want to know if it's possible to profile my web application when it's hitting a database on a SQL Server Express server with ANTS profiler.

Out of the box, I'm not able to. It's complaining about:

No event provider could be located for the SQL server instance 'SQLEXPRESS'

Has anyone been able to get around this, or do I have to upgrade my sql server?

Answer 1

Red Gate have just open an Early Access Program (EAP) for ANTS Performance Profiler. One of the new features is the ability to profile any SQL or Oracle server type, including SQL Server Express.

The EAP page is here: http://help.red-gate.com/help/ANTSPerformanceProfiler/download_eap.html

The SQL/Oracle servers can also be remote - previously the database server had to be on the same machine as the application that was being profiled.

Answer 2

From @Remus Rusanu ANTS uses ETW for monitoring your application SQL calls. ETW events are not available in SQL Server Express Edition.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlqueryprocessing/archive/2006/11/12/using-etw-for-sql-server-2005.aspx

Answer 3

Where should I starts?... Lets just stick with the basics: ANTS is a manager profiles. SQL Server is a native application. So besides the other minor hurdles like lack of symbols, imposibility to instrument the binaries and not least breaking your EULA terms, the simple fact that you're trying to use managed code profiler on a native binary should be enough to convince you of the error of your ways.

Perhaps you are looking for the SQL Profiler application?