SQL Server Performance Monitoring Tools

By: Jeremy Kadlec | Read Comments (1) | Print Jeremy is the CTO @ Edgewood Solutions, co-founder of MSSQLTips.com and SQL Server MVP since 2009. Related Tips: More

Problem

Being able to identify SQL Server performance issues at the drop of a hat is easier said than done.  Without a means to collect and analyze the performance data it is difficult at best to understand and correct the items in a timely manner. SQL Server ships with a handful of tools to include Profiler, Sysmon\Perfmon and the Database Engine Tuning Advisor\Index Tuning Wizard.  Much of the time these tools meet the needs for manual collection and analysis, but what if you need to go beyond the tools that are available and to resolve a performance issue quickly?

Solution

A handful of vendors have built SQL Server performance products that can be quickly deployed to collect performance metrics to focus resources on the most resource intensive portions of SQL Server.  These products include:

ID	Product	Monitoring	Tuning	SQL Server	Windows	Network	Reporting	Alerting	Advice
1	Ashgrove Software DBPerform	*	*	*
2	Embarcadero Performance Center	*		*			*		*
3	Heroix Longitude	*		*	*	*	*	*
4	Idera's SQL DM	*	*	*	*		*	*	*
5	Microsoft's Performance Monitor	*		*	*	*		*
6	Microsoft's SQL Server Profiler	*		*
7	Microsoft's SQL Server 2005 Database Engine Tuning Advisor		*	*			*		*
8	Microsoft's SQL Server 2000 Index Tuning Wizard		*	*			*		*
9	Pearl Knowledge Solution's SQL Centric	*		*	*	*	*	*
10	Quest Products for SQL Server	*	*	*			*	*	*
11	Symantec's i3 for SQL Server	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
12	SQL Power Tools	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
13	SQL Sentry	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
14	TNT Software's ELM Performance Manager	*		*	*		*
15	TeraTrax Performance Monitor	*	*	*	*		*	*	*

 

Next Steps

• If you do not have performance problems you are in the minority.  When they occur from adding more users or applications to your SQL Server, turn to these products as a means to improve the overall ROI on your platform.
• Most of these products have a trial version for 15 to 30 days.  Check out the trial versions to see if they will meet your needs so you can focus on building and supporting your business applications.
• These products are built by organization's who solely focus on performance issues.  As such, these products can save you a great deal of time as opposed to building an internal solution and not being confident of the results.
• If you use another tool or work for a company that builds a performance monitoring or tuning tool for SQL Server please send an email to tips@mssqltips.com so we can add it to the list.

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Last Update: 9/22/2006

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Comments and Feedback:

Friday, July 24, 2009 - 5:16:03 AM - Dr DBA

Read The Tip

Nice list of vendors. SQL server monitoring tools have come a long way over the years and I believe every shop should have some. I would like to point out the there is an error on your matrix. The Quest SQL server (Spotlight is it's name) does monitor/alert/advice on  Windows OS and networking. I have been using this product for 10 years now and have also evaluated most of the other products. It seems that time and time again it works the best and no I do not work and/or get kick backs from Quest. Every DBA / Developer I have shown this product to purchase it. It just works that well.  There is a enterprise version that will colllect information/stats from all your SQL servers (including Windows and network stats) and stores them into a centralized database. From that you can use and/or create customized reports it get everything you ever wanted to know. We have used this product to help determine which SQL servers would best operate in a consolidated server, meaning a server with several instances of SQL server installed.  To all the readers, take my advice and get some tools. It really make life a lot easier.  Thanks, DR DBA

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