SQL Stripes for SQL Server

Finally, for e-mail alerts, the configuration is as follows:

The default configuration is to send an email alert via SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) that is included with the OS. The format of the alert can be plain text, which is the default, or HTML-based with a color-coded feature. A DBA can configure the program to use a default SQLMail mail server profile name and any operators that have been set on the SQL Server with a custom message body.

This e-mail configuration can be set for a single server, or set for a group of defined SQL Servers. To configure the alert text, refer to the screen shot below:

You can set the interval value to run the monitor every minute. Notifications configuration inflate the alert depending upon selected options such as Ping fails, SQL Server services are down or low disk space alert. If you want to set the disk space configuration then refer to the SQL Stripes configuration screen shot.

SQL Stripes is equipped with the normal help about the features, version history and general setup which is similar to the SQL Server books' online help.

Conclusion

SQL Stripes is a useful tool for a DBA who wants a product that will integrate with SQL Query Analyzer and SQL Profiler and add value to their current monitoring setup. The built-in object viewer feature helps you to view the database objects without the help of Enterprise Manager, which reduces the round trips to a server. A DBA can also export the display data to an Excel spreadsheet, or to XML for their reporting ease.

SQL Stripes has two licensing methods. One is a Standard License that allows the user to monitor a single SQL database. The other is an Enterprise License, which allows the user to monitor an unlimited number of databases. The vendor provides additional maintenance options that the user can purchase, which is valid for one year and provides all the upgrades and bug fixes to the core product, in addition to e-mail support.

If you are an experienced DBA, you won't have any problems learning and configuring SQL Stripes. A newbie DBA can learn from the help contents, once the product is downloaded, by using default F1 key. Overall, SQL Stripes is an ideal tool that uses very limited resources on a workstation to monitor an unlimited number of databases in a SQL Server farm.

For more information on the product and to download evaluation software visit http://www.sqlstripes.com. You can also e-mail support@sqlstripes.com for inform