Redgate Software, a Microsoft SQL Server tools vendor, is updating its SQL Monitor solution, adding capabilities that allow it to integrate with the deployment tools in Redgate’s portfolio.
The new deployment capability is important because the increased frequency of releases that DevOps enables means companies and organizations are shifting from big deployments to smaller ones.
This in turn makes monitoring those deployments essential because if a breaking change hits production, the cause has to be pinpointed quickly and precisely.
By highlighting which tool was used for a specific deployment, when it occurred and to which database, SQL Monitor lets users instantly drill down to the context and details they need to resolve any problems that do occur.
While the deployment integration is a leading feature of SQL Monitor v8, the new performance diagnostics and the ability to proactively manage large environments will also appeal to every user.
An entire estate of isolated networks and different data centre locations can now be monitored from a single web interface without compromising bandwidth or security, for example, and a new inbox which groups common alerts makes them easier to understand. A file growth alert and visualization feature also allows users to plan ahead and, when new servers are required, they can be imported in bulk.
In terms of performance, the deadlock capability of SQL Monitor has been extended with graphs that show when deadlocks occur and includes historical data so that users can interpret what happened instantly. Similarly, blocking processes are now visualized on the overview page and the full details and knock-on effects can be accessed instantly. A new Query History Graph also shows how queries have performed over time and displays patterns so that trends can be identified.
The development team behind SQL Monitor are now looking into improvements to configuring and filtering alerts, so that over time users can train SQL Monitor about which things are and aren’t important to them.
For more information about this news, visit www.red-gate.com.