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Third party tools for Monitoring SQL Server

  • December 29, 2005 at 10:56 am

    #113056

    We are looking into the possibility of getting a SQL Server monitoring tool.  I am curious if anyone is using a third party tool to monitor SQL Server and if so which one and what there experience is, would you choose it again, were there ones you evaluated and didn't choose? Why?

    I have done some looking into Idera's Diagnostic Manager, Quest Spotlight, and one or two others.

    We are looking at being able to diagnose CPU spikes, block transaction alerts, number of times query runs and length of queries for optimization, identifying bottlenecks, etc.

    Thanks in advance

    Brian

  • January 2, 2006 at 8:00 am

    This was removed by the editor as SPAM

  • January 2, 2006 at 8:52 am

    #612299

    Used to run BMC's Patrol. Worked ok, very expensive, not sure I liked it.

    When I managed DB2 guys, they swore by Spotlight and used it all the time.

  • January 3, 2006 at 6:50 am

    #612378

    For a basic overview of how the system is running and at the right price ( Free  ), try

    http://www.idera.com/Products/SQLcheck/Default.aspx

    I've also used Spotlight on SQL Server and its a great product. The one flaw is that you have to look at the screen to see when there is a problem. Not that looking is a real problem for this king of eye candy application. The good thing is that the eye candy is actually useful

    http://www.quest.com/spotlight_on_sql_server/index.asp

     

    --------------------
    Colt 45 - the original point and click interface

  • January 3, 2006 at 8:50 am

    #612416

    Thanks, Steve and Phill.

    My concern with Quest on SpotLight is that they are more of a Oracle and others shop first and only recently SQL Server, but I guess I will evaluate them.  I did have a trial installed but didn't realy evaluated them before, so I will again.

    I did try the SQLCheck by Idera and it required connecting via windows and special permissions that didn't work in our environment.  I took a short look at it and did get some useful information.

    I was just hoping that other people had used some of these tools and would have an opinion.  I guess most people are either not concerned about performance or have set up their own tools.

    Thanks again.

  • January 3, 2006 at 12:42 pm

    #612470

    Are you looking for proactive monitoring to notify you of a failure or are you looking for tools to help you diagnose and resolve problems after you know that they are occuring.  These are two very different forms of monitoring and different tools will allow you to accomplish them differently.

     

  • January 3, 2006 at 1:22 pm

    #612476

    Ultimately both, but for the immediate term it would be the proactive monitoring to detect issues.

    I will take any thoughts you have on either.

    Thanks in advance.

    Brian

  • January 3, 2006 at 1:31 pm

    #612478

    Spotlight does do alerting but the best tool that Quest offers for monitoring and alerting is foglight.  If you purchase foglight it comes with spotlight included.  Foglight is a very robust tool for detecting and alerting on specific issues whereas spotlight is a component that pinpoints and helps you quickly diagnose and fix issues. 

    For more information feel free to e-mail me direct at jason.hall@quest.com.  I'm a technical consultant for Quest focusing on SQL Server tools and technology.

  • January 4, 2006 at 5:14 am

    #612561

    Thank you Jason, I just might do that.

  • January 4, 2006 at 3:39 pm

    #612737

    We're happy with Idera's Diagnostic Manager. I have a few quibbles, but I probably would with others too.  You can get free demos from all of them, so it's probably best to try them all and see which best fits your $$ and your needs.

  • January 5, 2006 at 1:08 am

    #612791

    Idera's SQLdm is one of the best - I've known it since it was SQL Probe (and a lot cheaper!! ). It has tonnes of info, keeps it for 30 days and has a web interface available as well. The only down side is finding your way thru the maze of screens, but they've now got a drop-down to assist and it doesn't take long to get used to where everything is.

    One of the things I REALLY like about SQLdm is that fact that it's just about the only monitoring tool that doesn't install anything on your SQL servers!!

    Cheers


    The Aethyr Dragon

    Cape Town
    RSA

  • January 5, 2006 at 5:19 am

    #612842

    Thank you homebrew01 and Mr. Dragon.

    Does anyone else have experience?

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