Monitoring SQL Server databases is one of the most crucial jobs a DBA performs — it can be time-consuming and tedious. While Microsoft provides several good native tools to help you monitor how SQL Server is behaving, using these tools requires a lot of manual work. Wouldn’t it be great if you could automate many of the routine monitoring tasks? With SQL diagnostic manager, a valuable tool from Idera, you can!
Version and Configuration
I reviewed this product using the following software and hardware configuration:
- Operating System: Windows 2000 Advance Server Service Pack 4.
- SQL Server: Version 2000 Service Pack 4.
- SQL diagnostic manager 3.5.450.
- Processor: Intel Pentium CPU 2.80 GHz.
- Memory: 512 MB.
System Requirements
- Intel Pentium 900 MHz processor or equivalent.
- 256 MB RAM.
- SQL Server 7.0 or SQL Server 2000, including 64-bit SQL Server on the operating systems they support.
- 36 MB drive space plus 34 MB for each monitored server.
- Internet Explorer 5.5 or later.
- Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.
- Monitor capable of displaying 16-bit color or greater and a resolution of 800 x 600.
Installation
Installing SQL diagnostic manager was easy and took only two minutes to complete. During the process of installation, you need to input the DomainUserName and Password. This account must be a local administrator.
General Database Information
The main window (below) displays general information about the registered servers. On the left-hand side, it displays all the registered servers in a familiar tree structure. The tree has a branch for each registered server and another branch that consolidates data from <All Servers> for easy usability.
At the bottom of this window, a To Do List displays errors considered most detrimental to the performance of managed servers. This easy-to-use list can be edited, viewed by other users, and used to keep DBAs informed about fixes so they can prioritize updates. Above the list, real-time graphs show the current status of each registered SQL Server.
