Best SQL Server and T-SQL monitoring and development tools

  • Hello, I am looking to buy a good set of SQL Server monitoring and development tools. Does anyone have a good recommendations as to what tools to purchase. I have seen SQL diagnostic manager by Idera, but I don't know anything about it. Please advise. Thank you.

    David

  • Monitoring and development are two, very different things.

    I work for a company, Red Gate Software, that makes tools for database development, like SQL Prompt, SQL Compare & SQL Source Control for editing TSQL, moving objects between databases, and putting your database structures into source control from Management Studio, respectively. Plus a bunch of other tools. All very good, award winning, and, frankly, pretty damned popular. Check 'em out here[/url]. You download most of them and try them out for free.

    We also make a monitoring tool, SQL Monitor, that captures performance metrics, again, quite popular.

    However, I have to suggest, you really need to specify what you're looking for because these tools, from any of the vendors, do all sorts of different things in different ways, and my suggesting that my tools are the best, might not be completely true for your needs.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • Thank you for the reply. I have taken over a 1+ TB database and am looking for tools that can monitor, alert and hopefully make performance improvement suggestions. I am also looking for a tool that will monitor SQL and make performance improvement suggestions for that as well. I would like to download and try out the Red Hat products. Exactly which one will accomplish what I need? Is there someone I can contact there as well as a sales rep? Thank you!

    David

  • No, you don't have to talk to a sales rep. Just follow the link and download the software. You'll have to leave your name & email address. It's that easy.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • oradbguru (10/8/2011)


    Thank you for the reply. I have taken over a 1+ TB database and am looking for tools that can monitor, alert and hopefully make performance improvement suggestions. I am also looking for a tool that will monitor SQL and make performance improvement suggestions for that as well. I would like to download and try out the [font="Arial Black"]Red Hat [/font]products. Exactly which one will accomplish what I need? Is there someone I can contact there as well as a sales rep? Thank you!

    David

    "Red Gate". 😉

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • Should we (suppose to) endorse any product here?

    I will investigate on ‘red gate’ myself but can anyone just list out what are the features it provides that we can’t achieve with SQL Server’s own tools?

  • I liked Idera Diagnostic Manager as a general enterprise monitoring tool. Its performance footprint was configurable to a point.

    You need to bear in mind ALL monitoring will have some impact on the production system. Some tools have more impact than others, some will require a client to be installed on the SQL server and each one will collect information in its own way. If you systems are already stressed you may need to be very selective on what you monitor.

  • Dev @ +91 973 913 6683 (10/10/2011)


    Should we (suppose to) endorse any product here?

    You're not supposed to endorse anything you don't find worth the money.

    If you think that a commercial product is the answer to some specific problems, I don't see a reason to withhold your opinion.

    -- Gianluca Sartori

  • This system is somewhat stressed already so with that said, are there any recommendations as to which tools would have the least impact?

  • I see some ethical issues here.

    There are many guys who blindly follow the recommendations given by experts (like you). They are generally accidental DBAs & Jr. DBAs who get this major responsibility. They can’t evaluate advice and they rely on you guys.

    Just a thought… Who would be ethically responsible for their ‘bad buys’? (No offence please, I don’t have any doubt on experts capabilities here)

  • Dev @ +91 973 913 6683 (10/10/2011)


    I see some ethical issues here.

    There are many guys who blindly follow the recommendations given by experts (like you). They are generally accidental DBAs & Jr. DBAs who get this major responsibility. They can’t evaluate advice and they rely on you guys.

    Just a thought… Who would be ethically responsible for their ‘bad buys’? (No offence please, I don’t have any doubt on experts capabilities here)

    No one is really pushing any product in particular they are just pointing people to a location where they can find more out about a product. Everyone has said that you need to evaluate your selection according to your needs.

  • I product tested many pieces of software and went for Idera because it was the closest fit to what I wanted for my team. It wasnt perfect but I was able to adjust business practices with minimal effort

    oradbguru (10/10/2011)


    This system is somewhat stressed already so with that said, are there any recommendations as to which tools would have the least impact?

    It's almost trial and error. Assess what you want to monitor and take into account your budget. Most tools on the market are adjustable to their footprint to some degree.

    I currently use a number of standard windows and sql tools. A combination of perfmon counters, sql profiler and server side traces. This works quite well and the footprint has been tweaked so that it is acceptable.

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