Explore The Best Sql Performance Monitoring Tools

SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools are an essential part of any IT infrastructure. They help ensure that SQL servers are running efficiently and effectively, and can identify performance issues before they become critical problems. These tools are particularly important for businesses, as they can help to avoid costly server outages and downtime, increasing productivity and saving money.

There are a variety of SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools available, both free and paid, which offer a range of features such as performance dashboards, intelligent alerting, and improvement suggestions. Some tools are designed for specific database management systems, while others can monitor multiple DBMSs simultaneously. Some popular tools include:

- Datadog SQL Server Monitoring

- SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer

- Site 24x7 All-in-One Monitoring

- ManageEngine Applications Manager

- Paessler SQL monitoring software PRTG

- Red-Gate SQL Monitor

Microsoft SQL Server: Snapshot statistics, Database Console Command statements, Database Engine Tuning Advisor, Database Experimentation Assistant, and more

Microsoft SQL Server offers a wide range of tools for monitoring and optimising performance. Here are some key features:

Snapshot Statistics

Built-in functions provide snapshot statistics about SQL Server activity since the server was started. These statistics are stored in predefined SQL Server counters. For example, @@CPU_BUSY records the amount of time the CPU has been executing SQL Server code, @@CONNECTIONS shows the number of SQL Server connections or attempted connections, and @@PACKET_ERRORS displays the number of network packet errors on SQL Server connections. System Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL) also offer snapshot information, such as sp_who, which reports on current SQL Server users and processes, and sp_lock, which provides details about locks.

Database Console Command (DBCC) Statements

DBCC statements enable users to check performance statistics and the logical and physical consistency of a database. These commands are a powerful tool for monitoring and troubleshooting SQL Server databases.

Database Engine Tuning Advisor (DTA)

The Database Engine Tuning Advisor is a performance optimisation tool. It allows users to analyse individual or batches of Transact-SQL statements and determine areas for improvement. The DTA makes recommendations on adding, removing, or modifying indexes, including clustered, non-clustered, and indexed views, as well as partitioning. It also identifies opportunities for adding statistics, such as multi-column statistics. Additionally, the DTA generates a T-SQL script to implement its suggestions.

Database Experimentation Assistant (DEA)

The Database Experimentation Assistant is an A/B testing solution for SQL Server upgrades. It assists in evaluating specific versions of SQL for a given workload. The DEA offers capabilities such as capture and replay of production database workloads, support for server-side traces and XEvents, and statistical analysis on traces. It also supports various operating systems, including Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.

Microsoft SQL Server's comprehensive set of tools empowers users to effectively monitor, tune, and optimise the performance of their databases. These features help ensure efficient and reliable operation, making it a powerful tool for managing data.

LogicMonitor's LM Envision: Observability across on-prem and multi-cloud environments

LogicMonitor's SaaS-based platform, LM Envision, is a powerful tool for businesses operating across on-prem and multi-cloud environments. It offers observability and provides operational visibility and predictability across technologies and applications.

LM Envision is a hybrid observability platform that empowers modern enterprises to adopt a cloud-ready operating model, meeting key business demands. It offers clarity across hybrid enterprise IT, bringing together diverse IT and development teams to solve complex problems. With LM Envision, IT teams can gain a "single source of truth", quickly identifying and resolving issues, leveraging AIOps to spot performance trends, and shifting their focus from operational tasks to innovation.

LM Envision excels in three key observability areas: integrations, monitoring, and remediation. With over 2,000 integrations, it covers a wide range of data sources, including cloud platforms and microservices within the IT stack. This ensures that no data is wasted, and blind spots are eliminated. Additionally, LM Envision provides infrastructure, database, and application performance monitoring (APM). APM allows ITOps to optimise customer experiences by identifying bottlenecks and fine-tuning performance. LM Envision also offers expanded coverage for cloud and container visibility for AWS, GCP, Azure, and Kubernetes environments.

One notable integration is with StackStorm, an open-sourced engine for if-this-then-that (IFTTT) operations. StackStorm adds remediation capabilities to LM Envision, enabling proactive IT operations and automated responses to LogicMonitor alerts. Another key integration is with TerraForm, which automates the provisioning of new infrastructure within the existing IT ecosystem, increasing speed and consistency.

LM Envision also incorporates AI operations (AIOps) for data forecasting, root cause analysis, and dynamic thresholds. This enables businesses to anticipate risks before they occur and make faster, more informed decisions. AIOps also helps uncover relationships between resources and find the root causes of issues using existing data.

Overall, LogicMonitor's LM Envision is a comprehensive observability platform that empowers enterprises with hybrid and multi-cloud environments to optimise their IT operations, improve efficiency, and drive innovation.

SolarWinds SQL Sentry: Optimise SQL Server performance

SolarWinds SQL Sentry is a powerful tool for optimising SQL Server performance in physical, virtual, and cloud environments. It offers a range of features that enable data professionals to monitor, diagnose, and optimise their SQL databases.

One of the key advantages of SQL Sentry is its ability to provide a comprehensive overview of database performance through a single dashboard. This dashboard displays important performance metrics, allowing users to quickly identify any issues and drill down for root cause analysis. The dashboard also supports customisation, with intelligent alerting that can warn users about specific performance problems.

SQL Sentry's Query and Index Analysis feature helps optimise and tune SQL query performance, while its Storage Forecasting, powered by predictive analytics, can prevent business interruptions. Additionally, SQL Sentry offers SQL Server Deadlock Monitoring, enabling users to quickly diagnose and resolve SQL Server deadlocks.

The tool also provides visibility across Microsoft database environments, including SQL Server Analysis Services, SQL Server on Amazon RDS and EC2, and Azure SQL databases. With SQL Sentry, users can monitor SQL Server instances across multiple domains, centralising their SQL server monitoring.

SQL Sentry has been praised by users for its ability to identify performance bottlenecks, such as slow-running queries, and its alerting capabilities, which can be integrated with other platforms like SCOM via SNMP. The tool's graphical representation of performance data and customisable alerts make it a valuable resource for experienced DBAs.

Overall, SolarWinds SQL Sentry is a robust and feature-rich solution for optimising SQL Server performance, offering scalability, comprehensive monitoring, and proactive troubleshooting capabilities.

Redgate's SQL Monitor: Monitor custom environments to recognise issues before they impact users

Redgate's SQL Monitor is a powerful tool for monitoring SQL server performance. It offers a comprehensive solution for database monitoring, helping teams manage their entire SQL server estate efficiently. With Redgate's SQL Monitor, users can monitor custom environments tailored to their SQL servers, enabling them to identify issues before they affect users.

One of its key advantages is the ability to monitor on-premises and cloud-based servers from a single interface, providing instant problem diagnosis and customizable alerting. This means no more unexpected downtime, customer complaints, or interruptions. With Redgate's SQL Monitor, users can stay ahead of potential problems and ensure optimal performance for their SQL servers.

The tool provides valuable insights and in-depth analysis, such as understanding the health and performance of databases by assessing PostgreSQL's Cache Hit Ratio. It also offers recommendations to improve query performance and avoid bottlenecks.

Redgate's SQL Monitor is scalable and adaptable, growing with the ever-increasing server estate size and the complexity of data hosting. It integrates well with deployment tools like Redgate Flyway, aiding collaboration between developers and DBAs.

The pricing for Redgate's SQL Monitor is $1,098 per server per year, making it a comprehensive and reliable choice for businesses seeking a powerful database monitoring solution.

IDERA SQL Diagnostic Manager: Find and fix performance problems in physical, virtual, and cloud environments

IDERA's SQL Diagnostic Manager is a powerful tool for monitoring, alerting, diagnostics, and reporting for Microsoft SQL Server. It helps database administrators find and fix performance issues in physical, virtual, and cloud environments, including managed cloud databases.

The tool provides proactive notifications to administrators about health, performance, and availability problems. It enables even those with limited experience to rapidly identify and resolve underlying issues, cutting down troubleshooting time from days or weeks to seconds. With its comprehensive diagnostics and analytics, SQL Diagnostic Manager allows users to quickly identify the root causes of performance problems and address them before they escalate.

SQL Diagnostic Manager also offers performance management features, such as identifying patterns and anomalies in database performance and analyzing historical trends to forecast future growth. It provides a clear and concise way to communicate database performance to stakeholders and track the impact of performance optimization initiatives.

Additionally, the tool has add-ons like SQL Workload Analysis and SQL Query Tuner, which enhance its capabilities. SQL Workload Analysis enables real-time analysis with continuous SQL sampling intervals, allowing users to instantly see where databases are spending time and isolate slow SQL statements. SQL Query Tuner is designed to optimize SQL queries by discovering, diagnosing, and improving poor-performing queries, resulting in faster and more efficient query performance.

With its advanced features, IDERA's SQL Diagnostic Manager is an essential tool for database administrators, helping them manage and optimize the performance of their SQL Server instances effectively.

Frequently asked questions