SQLServerCentral.com Articles tagged Monitoring

The Ten Commandments of SQL Server Monitoring

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:00:00 UT

It is easy to get database monitoring wrong. There are several common-sense rules that can make all the difference between a monitoring system that works for you and helps to avoid database problems, and one that just creates a distraction. Adam Machanic spells out the rules, based on his considerable experience with database monitoring.

Job overran Custom Metric

Fri, 10 May 2013 06:00:00 UT

This SQL Monitor custom metric tells you if a specific SQL Server Agent job that runs at the same time every day has overrun. The metric is useful when a job can have negative effects on other processes if it overruns.

Stairway to Transaction Log Management in SQL Server, Level 9: Monitoring the Transaction Log

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:00:00 UT

Our major goal in terms of log maintenance for all databases under our care is to optimize for write performance, in order to support all activities that require SQL Server to write to the log, including data modifications, data loads, index rebuilds, and so on. However, it's also important to keep an eye on possible log fragmentation, which, as described previously, can affect the performance of processes that need to read the log, such as log backups and the crash recovery process.

Custom Metrics for Monitoring Database Mirroring

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:00:00 UT

SQL Monitor comes with plenty of metrics, but there are always going to be things that you want to measure that can't be done 'out of the box'. Taking database mirroring as an example, Grant shows that custom metrics can be used to monitor and alert whatever aspect of SQL Server or database that you need.

dbWarden - A Free SQL Server Monitoring Package

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 06:00:00 UT

dbWarden is a comprehensive monitoring and alerting solution for SQL Server 2005 or newer. It features an emailed Health Report and includes email and text notifications with customizable metrics for alerts such as Blocking, Long Running Queries and SQL Jobs, CPU %, Log file and TempDB growth.

Tracking Business Metrics

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:00:00 UT

There can be more to managing a SQL Server instance than just examining the performance metrics. There are times when understanding how your system is performing for the application is important.

New Custom Metric: Long Running Job

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:00:00 UT

SQL Monitor’s Job duration unusual alert is a powerful tool for keeping track of most jobs in your SQL Server environment. It works by comparing the running time of any job instance against the median for that job, and identifying when a variation in the job duration could hint at a performance problem. However, if your environment contains big jobs whose durations vary by several orders of magnitudes, it can be tricky to specify what kind of variation is expected and what would be unusual. For these cases, it is possible to go beyond the functionality of the built-in alert with a custom metric.

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Webinar: Forgotten Rings and Other Monitoring Stories

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:22:28 UT

In this session, Grant Fritchey, Microsoft MVP, drills down into a few of the more obscure monitoring metrics that can give you very precise information about exactly what's happening within your server. He'll also show you how you can use custom metrics to enable these metrics in Red Gate's SQL Monitor.

How to Monitor for High CPU utilization in SQL Server

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 06:00:00 UT

This is the method that Geoff Albin has used for years to monitor the CPU on his SQL Servers.

SQLServerCentral Webinar Series #21 - Forgotten Rings & Other Monitoring Stories

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 06:00:00 UT

Most common monitoring metrics are important and useful, especially over time, but they can fall short. How do you gather information to determine, for example, if you have buffer cache pressure? Register now for the free webinar. Wednesday, October 17 2012 4:00pm - 5:00pm BST

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SQL Monitor checks performance data every 15 seconds, so you can fix issues before your users even notice them. Start monitoring with a free trial.

CPU and Scheduler Performance Monitoring using SQL Server and Excel

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 06:00:00 UT

This article will demonstrate a method of creating an Excel-based CPU/scheduler performance dashboard for SQL Server 2005+.

SQLServerCentral Webinar Series #21 - Forgotten Rings & Other Monitoring Stories

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 06:00:00 UT

SQLServerCentral Webinar Series #21 - Forgotten Rings & Other Monitoring Stories

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 06:00:00 UT

SQLServerCentral Webinar Series #21 - Forgotten Rings & Other Monitoring Stories

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 06:00:00 UT

Working with SQL Agent Durations

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 06:00:00 UT

SQL Agent stores duration in HHMMSS format - not always useful. Discover how to use Powershell, some basic math, and T-SQL to tame these unruly values.

The Strategic Value of Monitoring SQL Servers

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 06:00:00 UT

Why would you ever need to automatically monitor the SQL Servers in your care? What is the business value of doing so? What are the important features that a DBA should look for in a performance-monitoring tool? Rodney Landrum gives answers based on long experience.

How to receive alerts when you centralize your SQL Server Event Logs.

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:00:00 UT

Learn how you can get alerts when you centralize the Event log. This is part 2 of the previous article "How to centralize your SQL Server Event Logs."

Perform Routine Server Checks Using PowerShell

Mon, 21 May 2012 06:00:00 UT

Database administrators tend to perform a lot of routine checks, referred to as sanity checks, on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Rob Gravelle shows you how to write some PowerShell scripts to automate a couple of fairly common sanity checks.

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Automating Daily Checks with Powershell

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:00:00 UT

Using Powershell to create color coded backup reports for all servers in your environment.

Create a Monitoring Server for SQL Server with PowerShell

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:00:00 UT

At some point you are going to need a notification system for a range of events that occur in your servers. Laerte Junior shows how you can even set up temporary or permanent alerts for any WMI events to give you a system that fits your server environment perfectly.

An Easy Way to Monitor SQL Server Replication

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:00:00 UT

In SQL Server, replication is a widely adopted technology for the purpose of real-time data replication between SQL servers. It serves the purpose of keeping data consistent between multiple end points. So the last thing we want to hear from clients is that data is no longer in synch, and as DBA, we don't want to be the last person to realize replication is out of order or broken. Here are some steps you can take to monitor SQL Server replication.

Disk Space Monitoring and Early Warning with PowerShell

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 06:00:00 UT

Sean Duffy recently had an unwelcome encounter with Exchange Server Back Pressure, which cut off his message flow due to a lack of space on the server. To make sure it didn’t happen again, he found a way to automatically monitor all his servers from afar, with a little PowerShell magic.

Preventing Problems in SQL Server

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:00:00 UT

It is never a good idea to let your users be the ones to tell you of database server outages. It is far better to be able to spot potential problems by being alerted for the most relevant conditions on your servers at the best threshold. This will take time and patience, but the reward will be an alerting system which allows you to deal more effectively with issues before they involve system down-time.

SQL Overview V - Monitoring Long Running Jobs

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:00:00 UT

Continuing with his series on monitoring your SQL Servers, David Bird now looks a a way to fin those long running, active jobs.

SQL Overview VI - Monitoring Process Locks

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:00:00 UT

In the sixth part of his series on monitoring your SQL Server, David Bird looks at process locks.

SQL Overview SSIS Package III - Full Package

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:00:00 UT

Continuing on with his series on reporting for your SQL Server, David Bird brings together the series with the full package used for building the report.s

Monitor SQL Server Replication Jobs

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:00:00 UT

The Replication infrastructure in SQL Server is implemented using SQL Server Agent to execute the various components involved in the form of a job (e.g. LogReader agent job, Distribution agent job, Merge agent job) SQL Server jobs execute a binary executable file which is basically C++ code.

SQL Overview SSIS Package II - Retrieving SQL Error Log

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 06:00:00 UT

In Part II of his series on monitoring SQL Servers, David Bird takes a look at importing data from your error logs.

SQL Overview Part 1

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:00:00 UT

Monitoring your SQL Server instances and figuring out what's going on is important to keep an eye on your environment. David Bird brings us a new series that looks at how you might start setting this up with Integration Services.

Using SQL Server to collect information from your Oracle server

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 06:00:00 UT

Using linked connections you can collect system information on your Oracle server from SQL server.