Question

I have a query that is taking a lot longer then usual, and I cannot tell if it is stuck.

The query is something like this:

INSERT XXXXXX WITH (TABLOCK)
SELECT * FROM YYYYYY with (NOLOCK)
WHERE ZZZZZZZZ = 1

This will insert hundreds of millions of rows. I have an index on ZZZZZZZZ.

There are no blocking sessions. When I check sys.dm_exec_requests, it shows that the last wait type is PAGEIOLATCH_SH I’m not sure what this means, except that it has something to do with I/O.

sys.dm_exec_sessions shows the status is RUNNING, but sp_who2 shows it as SUSPENDED.

I tried to see if the table is growing, but when I call sp_spaceused XXXXXX, I keep getting the same values.

What else can I do?

UPDATE:

With the help of the answers below, I have found that there is an I/O issue, and that my query is resulting in an average of about 600 records being inserted per minute).

What is my next step?

What can I do before I start to assume that my disk is going bad?

Answer 1

If you try the following

select * from sys.dm_os_waiting_tasks

does the resource address it’s waiting on change at all?

select * 
into #t1
from sys.dm_os_wait_stats

waitfor delay '00:01'

select * 
into #t2
from sys.dm_os_wait_stats

SELECT #t2.wait_type, 
#t2.waiting_tasks_count - #t1.waiting_tasks_count as waiting_tasks_count, 
#t2.wait_time_ms- #t1.wait_time_ms as wait_time_ms, 
#t2.signal_wait_time_ms- #t1.signal_wait_time_ms as signal_wait_time_ms
FROM #t2  JOIN #t1 ON #t2.wait_type = #t1.wait_type
where #t2.wait_type not in ('CHECKPOINT_QUEUE','CHKPT','FT_IFTS_SCHEDULER_IDLE_WAIT',
'KSOURCE_WAKEUP',
'LAZYWRITER_SLEEP',
'LOGMGR_QUEUE',
'REQUEST_FOR_DEADLOCK_SEARCH',
'SQLTRACE_BUFFER_FLUSH' ,
'XE_DISPATCHER_WAIT',
'XE_TIMER_EVENT', 'WAITFOR')
order by wait_time_ms desc