ASP.NET: How to test for server memory usage?

Question

Is it possible to test for server memory usage on local machine? If so, what is the simplest way?

My scenario: I am using a gridview with default paging which is supposed to be memory intensive because each paging request retrieves the whole database table. Now I am trying to implement custom paging that retrieves only the few records from the database that are needed to display on one page of the gridview.

Obviously, I want to test and find out if my implementation works. If there are other better/more reliable ways to test, please let me know. Thanks.

Answer 1

It sounds like you need a profiling tool. Personally, I would suggest taking a look at ANTS Memory Profiler and ANTS Performance Profiler from Red Gate:

ANTS Memory Profiler:
http://www.red-gate.com/products/dotnet-development/ants-memory-profiler/

ANTS Performance Profiler:
http://www.red-gate.com/products/dotnet-development/ants-performance-profiler/

The ANTS profilers do a fantastic job of identifying bottlenecks and memory leaks. They're not free, but they're very affordable and offer fully functional trials so you can evaluate the products.

Answer 2

My favorite is dotTrace tool from JetBrains company:

http://www.jetbrains.com/profiler/features/index.html

Good memory profiling results grouping/sorting:

Also you can use basic CLR profiler, and here is how.

Answer 3

If you're concerned about SQL database query performance in an ASP.NET application then it's worth looking at the (free!) MVC Mini-Profiler:

http://code.google.com/p/mvc-mini-profiler/

Although it doesn't show memory consumption, it does show query execution time, and in particular highlights repeated queries that may be optimised.

We've used this on our product and it's been a real timesaver.