Reinforcing APM with Database Performance Monitoring

If you already have an application performance monitoring tool like Dynatrace or New Relic, chances are you have some form of database monitoring. However, most of these tools lack the visibility and functionality you need to truly understand what might be going on under the hood of your database.

Our team of database experts have compiled this guide to help you determine whether a database performance monitoring tool might reinforce your approach to gaining visibility into your data estate.

 

Compare Built-in Capabilities of Application Performance Monitoring (APM) vs. Database Performance Monitoring Tools (Like SQL Sentry®)

 

Capabilities Database Performance Monitoring (DPM) APM
Monitoring Detailed database monitoring for comprehensive root cause analysis. Broad but high-level monitoring across your entire network.
Metrics Detailed metrics about advanced SQL Server features. Generalized database metrics typically intended to serve across multiple vendor platforms.
Visibility Integrated visibility to correlate activity (hypervisor, OS, database management system) across the technology stack. Separate modules typically required to add visibility into various technology stack components, requiring manual effort to correlate and cross-reference.
Alerting Built-in alerts for conditions specific to SQL Server and the Microsoft Data Platform. Few out-of-the-box alerts, requiring tedious configuration to get more than up/down or response time alerting.
Metrics collection Comprehensive collection from performance counters, system views, error logs, system traces, and more. High-level metric collection to point you in the right direction, but requiring additional information gathering outside the tool.

 

5 Signs You Need A Database Performance Monitoring Tool

 

  • You need detailed information about SQL Server and Azure SQL, so you can quickly discover the root cause of performance problems in the database (where most application problems originate).

  • You need performance-tuning information for advanced SQL Server features like Always On Availability Groups and TempDB, as well as query execution plan tuning, event management, SQL Server Job and Windows Task scheduling, high-impact query analysis, deadlock/blocking troubleshooting, and disk storage capacity planning.

  • You need single-pane-of-glass visibility to correlate activity from the hypervisor (Windows or VMware) to the OS to the database system for efficient performance troubleshooting across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

  • You don't have time to waste configuring dozens of alerts for your SQL Server and Microsoft environments.

  • You need efficient metrics collection that doesn't add to the performance overhead of your environment yet delivers the optimal granularity of metrics to help find the root cause of performance problems.

 

Interested in learning more? 

Check out this free on-demand webinar from SolarWinds Director of Solutions Engineering Steve Wright. 

Proactively Manage SQL Server Performance with SQL Sentry

 

SolarWinds® SQL Sentry, our top-rated database performance monitoring solution for SQL Server and Azure SQL, helps you solve database performance problems—and prevent future challenges—that could delay data delivery or even bring business data systems to a halt.  

With comprehensive support for SQL Server running in physical, virtual, and cloud environments, SQL Sentry offers many unique features—such as Advisory Conditions, Storage Forecasting, Event Chains, Event Calendar, and built-in query tuning and analysis—that empower you to efficiently monitor, diagnose, and optimize your database environment and accelerate the delivery of critical business data.. 

Optimal database performance is within reach. SQL Sentry delivers not only powerful database performance management capabilities in an intuitive dashboard but also extreme scalability, unrivaled customer support, and low overhead.

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