Process ID

SQL Server Process ID.

User

ID of the user who executed the command.

Database

Database currently being used by the process.

Status

Status of the process (for example, running, sleeping, runnable, and background).

Open Transactions

Number of open transactions for the process.

Command

Command currently being executed.

Application

Name of the application program being used by the process.

Wait Time

Current wait time in milliseconds. When the process is not waiting, the wait time is zero.

Wait Type

Indicates the name of the last or current wait type.

Resource

Textual representation of a lock resource.

CPU

Cumulative CPU time for the process. The entry is updated only for processes performed on behalf of Transact-SQL statements executed when SET STATISTICS TIME ON has been activated in the same session. The CPU column is updated when a query has been executed with SET STATISTICS TIME ON. When zero is returned, SET STATISTICS TIME is OFF.

Physical IO

Cumulative disk reads and writes for the process.

Memory Usage

Number of pages in the procedure cache that are currently allocated to this process. A negative number indicates that the process is freeing memory allocated by another process.

Login Time

Time at which a client process logged into the server. For system processes, the time at which SQL Server startup occurred is displayed.

Last Batch

Last time a client process executed a remote stored procedure call or an EXECUTE statement. For system processes, the displayed time is that at which SQL Server startup occurred.

Host

Name of the workstation.

Net Library

Column in which the client's network library is stored. Every client process comes in on a network connection. Network connections have a network library associated with them that allows them to make the connection. .

Net Address

Assigned unique identifier for the network interface card on each user's workstation. When the user logs in, this identifier is inserted in the Network Address column.

Blocked By

Process ID (SPID) of a blocking process.

Blocking

Indicates whether this process is blocking others. 1 = yes; 0 = no.

Execution Context

Execution context ID used to uniquely identify the subthreads operating on behalf of a single process.

The following icons and status values are possible:

Icon	Term	Definition
	running	The process is currently performing work.
	runnable	The process has a connection and has successfully run in the past. It currently has no work to perform.
	sleeping	The process has work to perform, but is waiting for something, such as a lock or user input.
	background	A background process that wakes up periodically to execute work.
	suspended	The process has work to perform but has been stopped. The status field does not contain the reason the process was suspended. The Wait Type field may contain information about why the process is suspended.
	other	Process is not in one of the other statuses.

Use Activity Monitor when troubleshooting database locking issues, and to terminate a deadlocked or otherwise unresponsive process.

To view the Activity Monitor the user needs VIEW SERVER STATE permission on a SQL Server 2005 server.

To view the Activity Monitor the user needs SELECT permission to the sysprocesses and syslocks tables in the master database on a SQL Server 2000 server. Permission to view these tables is granted by default to the PUBLIC database role.

Permission to KILL a process default to the members of the sysadmin and processadmin fixed database roles, and are not transferable.

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