Smarter Technology for Better Business

How to Build a Centralized Monitoring Solution:

Never Miss a Backup

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution Agenda

Introductions

Today’s GoalsThe Traditional MethodNew Centralized MethodThe Approach

Aspect Solution

Introductions and Qualifications:Presenting Today…

• Over 20 years of solid project leadership and technical experience in Data Management, Data Integration, Database Administration.

• Extensive expertise with logical and physical DBA activities with both SQL Server and Oracle.

• Currently providing remote database administration and monitoring services for multiple clients across industries.

John AbramsSenior DBA/Data

Architect

Mike McDonnellSenior DBA/Data

Architect

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Today’s GoalsOutline a Better Approach to Monitoring to

Ensure:

Databases Available

Backups Occurring as Scheduled

No Issues with Disk Space Usage/File Size

And… Achieve All This in the Most Efficient Way Possible

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Traditional Maintenance and Alerting Methods

Utilize Maintenance Plans

Utilize Third-Party Backup Agents

Utilize Custom Scripts with Alert Notifications

Or….no maintenance/monitoring at all

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Typical Alert Generating Activities:

Check Frequency

DB Integrity  Daily(At least weekly)

Reorganize Index Weekly (Daily if time)

Rebuild Index  Weekly(Daily if time)

Update Statistics  Weekly(Daily if time)

Execute Agent Job  Depends

Backup DB (Full)  Weekly

Backup DB (Diff)  Daily

Backup DB (Transaction)  Hourly

Maintenance Cleanup Daily

Clean Up History  Weekly

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Pitfalls with Traditional Methods:

Missed Backups:• Maintenance Plans are modified from All User to selected databases, potentially leaving new databases without backup.

No Notice of Failed Jobs:• SQL Agent does not restart, no jobs run-without your knowledge.

Missed Alerts:• Too many alerts: Multiple success/failure emails buried in inbox.

Undetected Unavailable Database Instance:• Monitoring not centralize; difficult to detect.

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Pitfalls:Missed Backups

Too Many AlertsNo Notice of Failed JobsUndetected offline DB

instances

Resolution:

Proactive Centralized Monitoring

…that pulls data out of the environment.

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

A Better Method:

What isCentralized

Monitoring

?

All Monitoring Components Run on a Centralized

Server:

Monitoring Jobs to collect and store critical info.

Connection information used to link to monitored servers.

Procedures to run jobs and generate notifications.

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

A Better Method:

Why Centralized

Monitoring is Better

Scalable and Less Labor Intensive: Single set of monitoring jobs, rather than deploying the same set of jobs across 100 servers.

Nothing Slips Through the Cracks: You do not miss when jobs do not run.

One Single Email: Email displays results across entire environment-rather than multiple emails lost in your inbox.

Historical Data Readily Available: Data can be used for trending and alerting.

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

A Better Method:

Why Centralized

Monitoring is Better

Proactive, Not Reactive: Trend and forecast collected data so you can predict issues before they occur.

Discover Opportunities for Consolidation: Easy to collect data that allows you to

Retire inactive databases Consolidate servers Reclaim disk space

Flexible Framework: The sky is the limit—you can easily expand & extend monitoring & trending.

Single Tier Approach

Components Running on One centralized DB Server:• Meta Data to hold info

about servers, connection strings, jobs to send alerts, results tables, etc.

• Linked servers to connect to all destination databases.

• Dynamic SQL Generating Procedure to run jobs, store results, and send alerts.

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Two Approaches: Single-Tier

Multi-Tier Approach

Adds App Server and Additional Components:• Same Data Model:

adds additional tables for scheduling jobs to run on instances.

• Utilizes Windows Service Agent to connect, execute SQL, and send alerts.

• Adds Front End to manage job maintenance, view alerts and reports.

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Two Approaches: Multi-Tier

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Key Tables Included in Data Model

Server Holds server configuration information.

DB InstanceStores database connection string information for each

instance.Jobs

Stores job description and SQL.

Job ScheduleStores scheduling information.

Results TablesMultiple tables store results gathered from each job.

Create Multiple

Data Gather Jobs

Sends Single

Alert Email

Generates• Trends• Forecasts• Consolidation

Opportunities

Stored Procedur

esAnalyze

Data

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Centralized Monitoring Components:

Data Stored

in Results Tables

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Implement Key Queries to Detect:

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

SQL Query: Gather Database Backup Info

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

SQL Query: Gather Database Failed Jobs

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

SQL Query: Gather Database File Size

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

SQL Procedure: Gather Disk Free Space

Utilize SQL Hidden Procedure:

EXEC master..xp_fixeddrives

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

SQL Procedure: Gather Access Information

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Detect and Alert SP: Failed Backups/Jobs

SELECT Last Set of Records from Data Results Table.

Use MAX(LASTMOD) value to select records.

IF detects SOME records (i.e., where backup date is older than 24 hours OR where job status indicates failure)

THEN Generate alert email. Write records to an Alert table.

AlertingStored

Procedure

Detects failures, sends alert, and

stores alert history

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Detect and Alert SP: Disk Space/File Size

SELECT Current Set of Records from Data Results Table AND Set of Records inserted X hours (e.g. 24 hours) ago.

Use MAX(LASTMOD) value to select both sets of records.

COMPARE file size/disk space against rolling average (specified time period, yesterday, per month)

IF detects SOME records where size increased by X%...

THEN Generate alert email. Write records to alert table.

AlertingStored

Procedure

Detects out of range conditions, sends alert, and

stores alert history

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Detect and Report Inactivity

SELECT Current Set of Records from Data Results Table.

COMPARE today’s date with last access date from current record.

IF date is more than X days ago...

THEN Add to report. Write records to history table.

Reporting Stored

Procedure

Detects inactivity, sends report, and

stores history

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Trending and Forecasting

ForecastingStored

Procedure

Collects trending data, analyze over time, and forecasts to prevent issues from occurring

SELECT Data Set (Time Period-Value) for

analysis. Metric:

Free Disk Space Data File Size Record Counts Table Size

ANALYZE: Determine: # of Periods to Analyze Determine: # of Periods to Forecast

CALCULATE & FORECAST: Calculate & apply historical slope to

create forecast.

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

Add Jobs to Assist with TuningFor Example:

Monitor Index Usage

Monitor Memory UtilizationMonitor Distribution of Data within

TablesMonitor Fact Table Record Count Growth

Utilize PowerShell to collect Server Metrics

Flexible Framework Lets You Easily Extend Monitoring

Building a Centralized Monitoring Solution

The Aspect Solution: Prodative® WatchDog EMS

WatchDog EMS

Centralizes the Right Info & Alerts Across Platforms

Capture Key Data for Trending & Forecasting

Easy to Configure and Use

Displays info and alerts (e.g. availability, backup, and file size)via a web portal; no need to go to the server for info.

Solution is simple to configure and use for immediate impact; no need for full-time staff for support.

Enables you to analyze, predict, prepare, and address issues before users are impacted.

Monitor Critical Information and Alerts:

Database Availability Missed Backups Critical Disk Space & File System

Usage (at both the device and subdirectory level)

Problematic Indexing and Queries

Monitor Info & Alerts

Introducing Prodative® WatchDog EMSFeatures

View Trending Data, Analyze and Generate Reports

Track Server and Job Statistics

Track Disk Space and Database Growth Over Time

Analyze & Report

Introducing Prodative® WatchDog EMSFeatures

Maintain and Extend Monitoring using Flexible Controls:

Extend and Add Monitoring Jobs

Set Alerting Parameters Add Reports Maintain Users

Maintain & Extend

Introducing Prodative® WatchDog EMSFeatures

Building a Centralized Monitoring SolutionQuestions…