Hardware

The 10 checks in the “Hardware” category of a SQL Server audit: what each one verifies, its severity and the versions covered.

Checks in this category
10
Weight in the score
informational (outside the score)
Breakdown by severity
2 high · 2 medium · 1 low · 5 info

Checks in this category

  • HW003

    Windows Power Plan

    High

    Power plan should be set to High Performance

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW008

    VM memory ballooning / host overcommit pressure

    High

    Pure T-SQL detection of host-driven memory pressure (ballooning/overcommit) on a VM: SQL working-set trimming (process_physical_memory_low), OS low-memory signal, memory manager forced to shrink (committed_target_kb < committed_kb), and target persistently suppressed below configured max server memory while the host has enough RAM.

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW009

    Antivirus (Microsoft Defender) exclusions for SQL Server files and processes

    Medium

    Checks that SQL data/log directories, backup directories and SQL processes are excluded from AV scanning. The T-SQL part enumerates the expected exclusion paths/processes (path parsing only, never message parsing); the authoritative verdict is produced by PowerShell via Get-MpPreference. Windows/Defender dependent => graceful skip on non-Windows, third-party AV, or insufficient rights.

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW010

    Windows pagefile / virtual memory configuration

    Medium

    Checks Windows pagefile presence and sizing. A partial verdict is possible in pure T-SQL (pagefile ≈ commit limit − physical RAM via sys.dm_os_sys_memory); the authoritative verdict (fixed initial=max size, off OS/data volumes, automatic-managed) uses WMI. A missing/tiny pagefile prevents complete crash dumps and destabilizes the host under memory pressure.

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW006

    NTFS allocation unit size

    Low

    Checks that the volumes hosting SQL Server files are formatted with 64 KB allocation units. SQL Server reads and writes in 64 KB extents; a 4 KB allocation unit splits each extent into sixteen filesystem operations.

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW001

    NUMA Configuration

    Info

    Verify if NUMA is correctly detected and used

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW002

    CPU Core Count

    Info

    Check number of physical vs logical cores

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW004

    Instant File Initialization

    Info

    IFI should be enabled for the SQL service account

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW005

    SQL Server Uptime

    Info

    Time since last restart — a very short uptime signals a recent crash, a very long one skews accumulated stats.

    Versions : 2012-2025

  • HW007

    Virtual machine / hypervisor detection

    Info

    Uses sys.dm_os_sys_info.virtual_machine_type_desc (a stable enumeration) to detect whether SQL Server runs on a VM and reports the visible hardware inventory. Context check that frames the ballooning and memory-sizing checks.

    Versions : 2012-2025

Other categories

All checks