Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

Defining Server-Side Traces

Much of the SQL Server Profiler functionality can also be initiated through a set of system stored procedures. Through these procedures, you can define a server-side trace that can be run automatically or on a scheduled basis, such as via a scheduled job, instead of through the Profiler GUI. Server-side traces are also useful if you are tracing information over an extended period of time or are planning on capturing a large amount of trace information. The overhead of running a server-side trace is less than that of running a client-side trace with Profiler.

To start a server-side trace, you need to define the trace by using the trace-related system procedures. These procedures can be called from within a SQL Server ...