One thing people don’t take enough advantage of is tools, especially free tools.  There’s not much reason, or justification, for building out your own tools, when there’s a free one that is a click away.  Below is a list of free tools, with some resources about using them.  Feel free to use and share this list – if I’m missing something good, let me know in the comments.

Storage Validation/Tools

• SQLIO
  • SQLIO Batch
  • SQLIO Disk Subsystem Benchmark Tool: Troubleshooting Hangs and Errors 
• SQLIOSim utility
  • SQLIOSIMParser
  • SQLIOSim Parser by Jens Suessmeyer & Yours Truly
  • Understanding SQLIOSIM Output
  • How It Works: SQLIOSim – Running Average, Target Duration, Discarded Buffers
  • SQLIOSim is “NOT” an I/O Performance Tuning Tool
• Iometer

Monitoring/Troubleshooting

Auditing and compliance

• Enterprise Policy Management Framework

• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Assessment Configuration Pack for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

Best Practices Analyzer

• SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer

• SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer

• SQL Server 2008 R2 Best Practices Analyzer

• SQL Server 2012 Best Practices Analyzer

   

SQL Server Load Testing Tools

• TPCCBench
• HammerDB
• DVD Store

Development

• SSMS Tool Pack