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Quest Spotlight On SQLServer - Anyone using it?

  • September 24, 2003 at 10:12 am

    #76058

    Is anyone here using Quest's Spotlight On SQLServer software? If you are, may I contact you for an honest opinion?

    Thanks!

    Thomas Rushton
    blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com

  • September 25, 2003 at 2:14 pm

    #475874

    I have been for the last month. Send me an email or post to this forum and I'll answer any questions as best as I can.

    Terry


    Terry

  • September 26, 2003 at 7:06 am

    #475980

    Terry,

    Thanks for the offer. I think if we keep the discussions here then others can join in / learn...

    So, my questions start off (in no particular order):

    • How are you using Spotlight? Are you using it just to monitor SQL Servers, or are you using any of the other components? or other applications from Quest (eg Foglight, BigBrother etc)
    • Have you had any problems getting it to do what you want it to do?
    • Is it reliable? Dependable? Lots of other things ending in "ibble"? (sorry)
    • Have you had to raise anything with their support people? If so, were they any good?
    • Is it worth the money? My boss is "cautious", for want of a better word...

    Thanks for your help. If you don't want to answer these questions in a public forum, then do email me!

    Thomas Rushton
    blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com

  • September 26, 2003 at 7:33 am

    #475993

    Currently, we're only using Spotlight (maybe Foglight one day but due to costs, we started low). We're using it to monitor our SQL server machines to trap any issues that may arise. Again, we've been using it around a month now and it does alert you to all kinds of problems (in our case, memory issues so far). It is all the "ibbles". What it isn't is a tool that can do things you cannot do in query analyzer or performance monitor or various other tools. What it is is a nice GUI that performs all the tasks for you and displays them graphically. It is an all-in-one tool that allows for quick monitoring of all your resources, raising alerts if you set them, showing potential bottlenecks, resource hogs, locks, pretty much everything. The one time I had to contact support, they were prompt and knowledgable. As for the money, I think it's worth it. When talking to their salespeople, the tool is not as good as their tool for Oracle but they stated it will mature and be as good. I didn't take it as sales talk because they have been around for a while and have final dived into the MS SQL pool so I believe the tool will only get better. So far, it's been a nice tool that allows me to quickly and visually see what's going on with my production server and react accordingly. Did you download the eval version? I think it's only good for two weeks or so but it's fully functional and worth the time to play around with. The only drawback to downloading is the inevitable sales call! Any additional questions, please post and I'll reply ATP.

    Terry


    Terry

  • November 28, 2005 at 8:34 am

    #606128

    Hi,

    I am also evaluating Spotlight for my development system.

    However, I don't have any guide on how to go about using it.

    Like after installing, I can see on the main screen of lock/blocking

    session and then zoom in to view it, but see those blocking/lock session

    for a while, then the data is gone. What is happening?

    Next, after I have those data, how do I use it to improve my DB ?

    Any articles or advise on the above 02 issues.

    Thank you.

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