I don't know, what about Performance Monitor and Profiler? They're free and actually do a pretty good job of monitoring the system. You can set up alerts within SQL Agent to respond to Perfmon counters as well as TSQL statements. You can set up Operators, Alerts, and completely get an automated monitoring system in place with the tools that Microsoft supplies. If you're working with 2008 you should also take a look at Policy Based Monitoring for the checks it provides. Also, with 2008 you can get the Data Collector working on gathering performance metrics for you. There all kinds of possibilities before you start looking at third party tools. That said, I like Confio's Ignite Free as well.
agreed - rolling your own makes you think about the thresholds you want implemented, how you judge a condition as normal or exceptional and understand what contributes to any given condition on your server. As a learning process its vital. +1 For out of the box - "is my server OK?" answers and for something that is simple to hand on to the next guy, or a subordinate, then some of these 3rd party apps are great. Simply tell someone to "look for the big red crosses and then get the fire extinguisher" is an instruction most IT people can understand.
Don't get me wrong, I'm using two different monitoring tools in my organization because, frankly, I'm a lazy SOB and it's a lot easier to put one of these tools to work. But, if you can't afford a tool, it just isn't that hard to roll your own. Plus, as you say, you get a more thorough understanding.
SQL Check from Idera its a free tool. then there is [IgniteFree][1] If you are on SQL Server 2008 try Performance Data Collector,Activity Monitor - for a quick look at the performance. Check out [SQL Server Monitoring Tool][2] for more, Then [here][3] [1]:
http://www.ignitefree.com/ [2]:
http://www.mssqltips.com/tip.asp?tip=981 [3]:
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/mladenp/archive/2007/11/20/Free-SQL-Server-tools-that-might-make-your-life-a.aspx
Try this one from Idera - [SQL check v2.6][1] [1]:
http://www.idera.com/Products/Free-Tools/SQL-check/
It partially depends on what you are trying to monitor, and it is not free, but I personally have been impressed by SQL Monitor https://www.red-gate.com/products/dba/sql-monitor/
the latest release is much better than it was in the past. Knowing Red Gate, I'll be the next one is even better.
Fully agreed, Grant. I think they are changing names for the next release though.
the next version of SQL Response is going to be released as SQL Monitor. grab a beta from here:
http://www.red-gate.com/products/sql_monitor_eap/index.htm. Its awesome, but then I'm very biased ;) Check out the 'Back in Time' mode and other analysis features...
Lepide has also a good solution for SQL Server Monitoring Lepide SQL Storage Manager Analyze growth rate of Databases, File groups, Files, and Tables to forecast their future size. Eliminate need of continuously tracking disk size and communicate well in advance future disk requirements. [
http://www.sqlservermonitoring.net/][1] [1]:
http://www.sqlservermonitoring.net/
You could have a look at a series of articles by [David Bird on SQLServerCentral][1], where he takes you through the steps of rolling your own SQL Server monitoring toolset using SSIS and SSRS. I've implemented this and expanded upon it several times, and it got me learning SSIS & SSRS... [1]:
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Authors/Articles/David_Bird/120509/
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