VMware vCenter Server performance and database troubleshooting

The following links provide detailed steps for vCenter server performance troubleshooting:

• vCenter Server does not start.
• vCenter Server is slow to respond.
• vCenter Server fails after an indefinite amount of time.
• When connected to a Microsoft SQL database, the vCenter Server vpxd.log contains an entry similar to:
  
  ODBC error: (42000) - [Microsoft][SQL Native Client][SQL Server]Could not allocate space for object <object> in database '<database>' because the '<filegroup>' filegroup is full. Create disk space by deleting unneeded files, dropping objects in the filegroup, adding additional files to the filegroup, or setting autogrowth on for existing files in the filegroup." is returned when executing SQL statement "<sql statement>".
• When connected to an Oracle database, the vCenter Server vpxd.log contains an entry similar to:
  ODBC error: (HY000) - [Oracle][ODBC][Ora]ORA-01653: unable to extend table <table> by <size> in tablespace <tablespace> is returned when executing SQL statement <SQL Statement>.
• You see this error when attempting to connect to the SQL database server:
  ODBC error: (08S01) - [Microsoft][SQL Native Client]Named Pipes Provider: No process is on the other end of the pipe.
• The VirtualCenter Server service cannot authenticate with the database.
• You cannot connect to the database repository through SQL Server or Oracle.
• The vCenter Server database is corrupt.

Note: The vpxd.log files are located in %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs.
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003979#growth
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003979#slowdb

• High disk usage of the VMware vCenter Server database
• High disk usage of the VMware vCenter Server database transactional logs

Note: If you are using Microsoft SQL, there is a way to validate where space is being consumed within a Microsoft SQL database.
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1028356

For troubleshooting or maintenance purposes it may be necessary to defragment the indexes on your Microsoft SQL database server. This article provides the steps perform a defragmentation of the indexes to increase performance of the database.

Due to the database schema enhancements made in vSphere 5.1.x and later versions, defragmentation of the vCenter Server database is no longer required.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1003990

SQL Server Integrity Check tools CHECKDB

Checks the logical and physical integrity of all the objects in the specified database by performing the following operations:

• Runs DBCC CHECKALLOC on the database.
• Runs DBCC CHECKTABLE on every table and view in the database.
• Runs DBCC CHECKCATALOG on the database.
• Validates the contents of every indexed view in the database.
• Validates link-level consistency between table metadata and file system directories and files when storing varbinary(max) data in the file system using FILESTREAM.
• Validates the Service Broker data in the database.

Syntax

DBCC CHECKDB 
[
    [ ( database_name | database_id | 0
        [ , NOINDEX 
        | , { REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS | REPAIR_FAST | REPAIR_REBUILD } ]
    ) ]
    [ WITH 
        {
            [ ALL_ERRORMSGS ]
            [ , EXTENDED_LOGICAL_CHECKS ] 
            [ , NO_INFOMSGS ]
            [ , TABLOCK ]
            [ , ESTIMATEONLY ]
            [ , { PHYSICAL_ONLY | DATA_PURITY } ]
        }
    ]
]

Ref:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms176064.aspx

SQL Server Integrity Check – A Necessary Routine

http://www.pythian.com/blog/sql-server-integrity-check-a-necessary-routine/