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Can we use sp_whoisactive stored proc for Prod monitoring

  • March 11, 2019 at 12:51 am

    #374490

    Hi All,

    I see sp_whoisactive stored procedure extremely useful for sql server Live troubleshooting.
    My question, how can we convince customer/client to deploy this particular stored procedure on their production environments? What points I can put across to the client so that he gets convinced and sp doesn't do any harm or modifies anything? It has options to log output to a table and it will be useful for post Morten analysis. Its the same with Ola Hallengrens maintenance scripts.

    Thanks,

    Sam

  • March 11, 2019 at 7:54 am

    #2024094

    Well, any monitoring tool (and you should look at Redgate SQL Monitor, my employer) is about three different things. First, and I think biggest, it's about time. You're taking someone else's work and knowledge (free in the case of sp_whoisactive, paid for others) and using that to save time. Could you build your own monitoring solution? Assuming a level of knowledge, yes. However, that takes time. So, the biggest issue that using a third party monitoring solution is about the time saved.

    Second, it is about knowledge. Both the knowledge of the data you collect for proactive and responsive actions, but also the knowledge that you might not have about what is important to monitor on the server. Something like sp_whoisactive (which is not a complete monitoring solution, but a nice snapshot of some behaviors) gives you both pieces of knowledge.

    Third, it's about guidance. You've spotted something slow or there was a problem or... whatever. Now what? You need to have that next step ready and a good monitoring tool will help you with it.

    So, in terms of convincing them, it's largely a question of time & knowledge. Do they have both to build their own solution? If not, they should look to something that will do what they need. I hope that's at all helpful.

    "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

  • March 11, 2019 at 1:09 pm

    #2024130

    Thanks for the detailed explanation Sir. Thanks a ton.

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