SQL Server: PLE > 300 is nonsense

I’ve been hearing throughout my entire DBA career that 300 seconds is a good counter for PLE (Page Life Expectancy) to be above.

Paul Randal calls this “utter nonsense“.  If anyone would have the right to say that, its Paul.

There was a time when this MIGHT have been a useful number…but the hardware has changed so much its no longer so.  I “heard” that Paul actually made up that number just for documentation purposes…but that may just be a fun story.   Ask Paul sometime.

Go here to find a good number: Page Life Expectancy isn’t what you think

While you are there, check out all of the posts that start with “SQL Server DBA Myth a Day” and see how many you thought were gospel truth 🙂

Thanks for reading,

Kevin3NF