Free SQL Server Health Check
A couple of hours, one instance, and a straight answer on what's slowing you down and what it's worth fixing.
What Is It?
A focused look at a single SQL Server instance. Not an exhaustive audit, a targeted health check that shows you where the real problems are.
We spend a couple of hours with one of your instances, using the same diagnostic approach we would bring to a paying engagement. Then we tell you, plainly, what we found: what's healthy, what's quietly costing you, and what it would take to put right.
Most companies have never had an independent expert look properly. In our experience there is almost always something worth knowing about, and knowing is the point.
What We Look At
In a couple of hours we can't examine everything, but we can find the things that most often matter.
Indexing
Missing indexes the optimiser is crying out for, and unused ones silently slowing every write.
Expensive Queries
The queries quietly consuming far more CPU and I/O than anyone realises, run after run.
Configuration
Instance settings, memory, parallelism, TempDB. The fundamentals that are so often quietly wrong.
Backup & Recovery
Whether your backups are actually there, and whether you could really recover from them if you had to.
Maintenance
Index and statistics maintenance, integrity checks. Is the routine housekeeping actually running?
Red Flags
The obvious security and stability risks that really shouldn't be left waiting.
What You Get
A short, prioritised report. No jargon, no padding. For each thing we find: what it is, how much it's hurting you, and what fixing it is worth.
Priority-Ranked Findings
Critical, important, and advisory, so you know exactly what to tackle first.
Plain-English Recommendations
Not just "this is a problem", but what it's costing you and what to do about it.
A Conversation, Not a Sales Pitch
We talk you through what we found and answer your questions. Where it goes next is up to you.
What We Need From You
Less than you'd think. In most cases we don't need any direct access to your systems at all.
The diagnostic script we use is published on this site. It's read-only, it collects configuration and performance metadata only, and you can read every line before it goes anywhere near an instance. Someone on your team runs it and sends us the single results file it produces, once you're happy with what's in it. We do the analysis from there.
If you'd rather we work hands-on, or you'd prefer a screen-share while the script runs, that's fine too. It's your call, not a requirement.
Why Free?
Two reasons. First, we have never run a health check and found nothing worth discussing, so we are confident it will be worth your time. Second, it is the easiest way for you to see how we work.
Some people take what they have learned and fix it themselves. Some ask us to help. Either is genuinely fine.
If you do want the findings put right, that usually becomes performance tuning or ongoing support work, scoped to exactly what the report found.
A Health Check Makes Sense If...
Want the Full Picture? The SQL Server Audit
The health check looks at one instance for a couple of hours. Our SQL Server Audit goes through your estate end to end.
Configuration, performance, indexing, security posture, backup and DR readiness: everything, across every instance in scope. You get a written, prioritised remediation plan, and we present the findings to your technical or leadership team and answer their questions.
Audits start from £1,500, fixed and agreed up front. The exact fee depends on what your estate involves: three self-contained databases is a very different audit from six hundred databases across clustered instances with replication and DR to assess. We'll tell you which you are before you spend anything.
The easiest way to get your exact number is to run the health check first. We'll quote your audit from what it shows: a fixed figure, in writing, before any call if you prefer. Most audits start life as a health check.
Want to Know Where You Stand?
Tell us a little about your environment and we'll arrange your health check. We run a limited number each month, so there may be a short wait for a slot.
Book Your Health Check