Frequently Asked Questions
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General
How can Event Manager help me optimize SQL Server performance?
Server schedule issues are one of the biggest "hidden" contributors to
performance degradation and a lack of reliable notifications via the
native tools only compounds the issue. Event Manager provides all of the
tools a DBA needs to efficiently manage complex job schedules along with
Windows Task Scheduler tasks, Reporting Services reports and DTS
packages, in order to minimize schedule contention and other performance
problems caused by "unoptimized" schedules... and to reliably alert the
DBA when there are issues requiring attention. Event Manager is not
intended to replace all general performance monitoring tools and most
clients use Event Manager alongside those systems since they don't
provide the visual scheduling, schedule performance monitoring, and
notification features that we do. The productivity benefit is that the
busy DBA can reduce the time spent on mundane daily tasks and
concentrate on strategic management of their SQL Server environment.
How can scheduled events impact server or application performance?
Almost every event (SQL Agent job, DTS Package, Windows Task, etc.)
incurs some level of overhead in the areas of CPU utilization, memory
usage, disk I/O, network I/O, locking, blocking, connections, and many
others. How much and what mix is of course dependent on what the events
are doing. Problems often arise when events are scheduled to run at
inopportune times, or when more than one event is inadvertently
scheduled to run concurrently. Both of these scenarios can cause
contention for server resources and cause degraded performance on the
server.
What is a "schedule conflict"?
Event Manager considers a schedule conflict to be when more than one
event is scheduled to run concurrently. This can also be referred to as
a "runtime overlap" or "schedule collision" condition. Event Manager
automatically highlights existing conflicts in orange on the calendar,
and they can be easily resolved via drag-and-drop.
In addition to jobs, what other kind of events can Event Manager monitor?
Following is a list of event sources Event Manager currently monitors:
• SQL Server Agent Jobs
• SQL Server Maintenance Plans
• SQL Server Agent Alerts
• DTS Packages
• Reporting Services Reports
• SQL Server Agent Log
• Windows Tasks
• Legacy Maintenance Plans (SQL Server 2005 upgrades)
• Legacy DTS Packages (SQL Server 2005 upgrades)
How can Event Manager help prevent resource contention?
The tools a DBA has traditionally had at his or
her disposal for SQL Server schedule management have made it very
difficult or impossible to avoid scheduling issues that lead to resource
contention, and ultimately application performance issues. Event Manager
dramatically increases the ability for DBA's to:
• View the current state of schedule activity on any server
• Capture the full impact an event or combination of events are having on server and application performance
• Quickly assess contention levels across a "shared resource" such as file storage areas, tape libraries, etc.
• Easily make scheduling changes to minimize issues caused by resource contention.
How will Event Manager help my business save money?
Event Manager users measure real savings in several ways:
• DBA productivity is increased - via a much more efficient, user-friendly interface for dealing with schedule issues and information.
• Downtime is reduced - with more reliable and informative notifications, support personnel can respond more quickly and effectively to downtime situations.
• Database performance is increased - by ensuring schedules are leveled, contention issues are minimized, thus maximizing application performance
and available hardware resources.
If I already have a SQL Server monitoring tool, do I need Event Manager?
There are many good tools available for monitoring general SQL Server
health. Event Manager is not meant to replace all of those tools,
although it can certainly replace some of them, and can coexist
alongside others. Event Manager’s focus is on three primary areas:
• providing an intuitive visual interface for event scheduling and management
• performing detailed performance monitoring related specifically to jobs or tasks
• providing reliable, detailed notifications as well as a variety of other response conditions (Execute SQL, Execute Process, Kill Task, etc.) for various event types
Event Manager is the only tool of its kind, so if your needs are in
one of the above 3 areas, Event Manager will add significant benefits to
your operations over and above what you are currently receiving from
other tools.
How is Event Manager licensed?
In terms of our licensing model, it is pretty simple. We require a
license for every SQL Server instance and Windows Task Scheduler
instance that you plan to manage with Event Manager. We do not charge
per CPU as is a common practice, and we only require one license for an
instance running across multiple cluster nodes. Event Manager adds value
on a per instance basis, so we’ve designed our licensing model with this
in mind.
How much does Event Manager cost?
The standard license cost is $995 per server instance plus $199/year
for software maintenance and help desk support. If you use Windows Task
Scheduler in your environment, we license Windows Task Scheduler at $295
per instance plus $59/year maintenance. Go to
pricing for complete
details on Quick Start Packs and other purchasing information.
Can I purchase Event Manager online?
Yes. The 5 and 10 license Quick Start Packs are available for online
purchase simply by clicking the Online Store button at the top of any
Event Manager web site page.
How can Event Manager help me in relation to Sarbanes-Oxley compliance?
There are several things we do that can help an organization with SOX
compliance with regard to their SQL Server environment, including:
• The "Notes" feature allows team members to store and share
detailed resolution steps, escalation procedures, and other critical
information related to any object managed by Event Manager (Jobs,
Tasks, DTS packages, Maint Plans, etc.)
• Audit trails for various activities, including
adding/deleting/changing scheduled events.
• Consolidated, detailed logs for all Event Manager conditions and
actions (General, Failsafe, and Audit).
• Chaining feature enables defining and enforcing relationships
and workflow processes between jobs and tasks.
• Detailed reports of all Event Manager configuration settings.
Role-based security.
Does Event Manager support monitoring of clusters and how would I
monitor the clusters?
Event Manager fully supports clusters and only needs to know the
virtual name of the clustered SQL Server instance.
What kind of automation can I perform with Event Manager?
In addition to sending notifications for any condition, Event
Manager can also take actions such as executing another job,
executing a SQL statement, or executing a process on any server that
Event Manager is watching.
Also, Event Manager provides advanced chaining functionality that
allows you to create complex, multi-level chains of jobs and tasks
across your servers, as well as queuing features to prevent multiple
jobs from running concurrently.
Installation and Setup
How long does it take to install Event Manager?
In general Event Manager is extremely simple to install and configure.
This is so because Event Manager mirrors your existing Enterprise
Manager and/or Management Studio environment, and it does not use
agents. Small to medium sized installations (1-50 SQL Servers) can
typically be up and running in an hour or less, and even larger
enterprises with hundreds of SQL Servers can be up and running in a
matter of a few hours.
Does Event Manager require "agents" installed on every SQL Server?
No, Event Manager does not utilize agents. Instead it uses a lightweight
polling architecture which actually incurs less server and network
overhead than most agent-based systems…and without all of the
installation and ongoing management overhead of agents.
Is Event Manager dependent on SQL Mail or MAPI?
No, Event Manager utilizes a robust SMTP-based notification system which
can completely eliminate SQL Mail and MAPI from most environments.
Does Event Manager require it’s own server hardware?
Not usually. The Event Manager Server service can typically be installed
side-by-side on servers running other applications or monitoring
systems.
Do I have to recreate all of my servers and groups?
No, Event Manager mirrors your existing Enterprise
Manager and/or Management Studio environment, dramatically reducing
setup and configuration time.
Does Event Manager replace SQL Server Agent’s job scheduler?
Not currently. For the most part SQL
Agent’s scheduler itself does a fine job, and so we let it do what it
does best -- schedule jobs. Event Manager effectively acts as a wrapper
around SQL Agent, providing many new features and functions SQL Agent
doesn’t, including an intuitive visual calendar, comprehensive job
performance monitoring, and reliable, detailed notifications. We also
provide these same features for Windows Task Scheduler and SQL Server
Reporting Services, and will provide them for other schedulers in the
future.
Will I still need to use SQL Enterprise Manager for any job management functions?
No. The interface provided by Event Manager completely replaces and builds upon the job
management interface provided by Enterprise Manager.
Where is Event Manager installed?
The Event Manager Console, Server Service, and database can all be
installed on the same computer, or they can be distributed on separate
computers. In a typical installation, the Console will be installed on
your workstation computer(s), the database installed on a SQL Server
2000 or 2005 instance on your local area network, and the Server Service
installed on the same computer as the Event Manager database, or another
non-production server in the same LAN. The Consoles and Server Service
are each configured to point to the same Event Manager database during
setup.
Is Event Manager difficult to configure?
The Event Manager application is now easier than ever to configure with
the Quick Start Wizard, which runs the first time you open the Event
Manager Console. The wizard incorporates most of the steps documented in
the Quick Start Guide in a simple and easy to follow process.
Alerting
Can Event Manager handle all notifications and alerting for my SQL Servers?
Yes, Event Manager provides notifications for over 90 conditions. In fact there are 13
conditions for SQL Agent jobs alone! Also, if you are using xp sendmail
or xp send dbmail (SQL Server 2005) you can use our interface compatible
replacements, sp sentry mail or sp sentry dbmail.
Can Event Manager tell me when events are running long?
Yes. This is easily accomplished via enabling the Runtime Threshold Max
conditions for SQL Agent jobs, Windows tasks, Reporting Services
reports, or any other event types that have duration. Event Manager
continuously monitors running events and generates alerts based on
specific minimum or maximum runtime thresholds, either explicit or
percentage-based. With "global" runtime thresholds you can be alerted
whenever any event in your enterprise exceeds a runtime threshold. The
global settings can then be easily overridden at the server or event
object level. In addition to sending email or pager notifications, Event
Manager can also be set to automatically terminate a long-running event.
Monitoring
How does Event Manager monitor performance?
Event Manager monitors event runtime, job-related blocking, and any
Windows performance counters linked to a job, report, task, or custom
view (collection of events).
How does Event Manager "link" a Windows performance counter to an event object?
Event Manager allows you to associate, or "link", any Windows
performance counter with any job, report, or task. Once a performance
counter is linked to an event object, Event Manager starts and stops the
counter automatically according to the event object’s schedule using a
polling interval that you define, and provides powerful graphs which
clearly show how the event or combination of events are impacting the
performance measure.
Performance
How scalable is Event Manager?
Event Manager was built to handle the largest SQL Server environments.
Utilizing multiple Event Manager Server services provides virtually
linear scalability and extreme fault tolerance. See the 200-server
Architecture Diagram for more information.
What performance impact will Event Manager have on my network and servers?
The last thing you want is for a monitoring system to cause more
performance problems than it solves, and we understand that. The
light-weight polling architecture utilized by Event Manager incurs the
minimum possible overhead on your network and servers. Event Manager
retrieves only the data it needs, and only as often as it needs it, no
more. As a result the server and network overhead is significantly lower
than other popular monitoring tools for SQL Server, and is typically at
or less than the overhead incurred by SQL Server Agent itself. You can
also easily adjust all polling frequencies to suit your particular
needs.
How reliable are the notifications generated by Event Manager?
Even a single Event Manager Server service can provide a higher level of
reliability for notifications than SQL Mail, and this is due in no small
part to the fact that Event Manager doesn't depend on MAPI and is not
distributed across all servers. You can easily cluster multiple Event
Manager Servers, and if any fail the others will automatically pick up
the load, ensuring notifications are always sent.
Reporting
What types of reporting does Event Manager provide?
Event runtime graphs (aggregate and historical), performance graphs,
event history, conflict reports, and many more.
Will Event Manager let me see Maintenance Plan history logs?
Absolutely. Maintenance plan log information is correlated with the
associated jobs, and this information is included in all calendar popups,
the event history log, and in notifications.
Security
What security does Event Manager use?
The Event Manager Console uses the authentication method and credentials
defined for each registered server, so it is effectively the same
security that Enterprise Manager or Management Studio uses.
The Event Manager Server service runs in the context of a domain
account which must have SysAdmin privileges on each "watched" SQL
Server. If watching Windows Task Scheduler or using performance
monitoring features, the account must also be Domain Administrator or
local Administrator on each monitored Windows computer.
Event Manager also provides Role based security on it's own
repository to secure different functionality for different users.
Miscellaneous
Does Event Manager support SQL Server’s multi-server job administration features?
Yes, it does. Event Manager interfaces seamlessly with Master (MSX) and
Target (TSX) servers, and provides a powerful multi-server calendar and
job history viewer which consolidates job history data from all target
servers into a single view.
Does Event Manager work with SQL Server 2005 formerly known as Yukon?
Yes, it does. Event Manager provides our complete Visual Schedule
Management and Notification features for SQL Server 2005. Additionally,
we currently support SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services, as well as
"legacy" SQL Server 2000 DTS Packages and Maintenances Plans on SQL
Server 2005.
Does SQL Server 2005 eliminate the need for Event Manager?
No. As a matter fact SQL Server 2005 creates an even greater need for
Event Manager in many cases, since it offers even more powerful and
flexible features related to job scheduling, including the ability to
create reusable schedules. Also, SQL Server 2005's interface for job and
schedule management is very similar to that found in previous versions
of Enterprise Manager.
What is chaining and queuing?
The primary difference between chaining and queuing is that each event
that is represented as a node in the chain is not scheduled but started
if the conditions specified are met. The only objects that might be
scheduled are the ones that start the chain. Also, chaining may involve
windows tasks as well as jobs and can contain links across watched
servers. You would commonly want to use a chain when you have several
events that must occur in the right order based on certain conditions.
Queuing pertains only to SQL Agent jobs on the same SQL Server instance.
Also, all jobs must be scheduled in order to be queued. The primary
reason for queuing is not to start other jobs, as in chaining, but to
delay the start of other jobs so that the queuing job does not conflict
with any other jobs that may contend for the same resources while it is
running.
Event Chains support Task Scheduler Tasks as well as SQL Server Jobs, and Oracle database jobs.
Event Chains also support multiple conditions and branches to the same
chain. For example, two jobs must succeed before the next job is
started. Finally, Event Chains allow the same job to be involved in
multiple links in the chain without creating a circular reference
through the concept of nodes. More explanation and examples of those
types of chains are shown in the User’s Guide. Click here for more info.
Why should I consider Event Manager before I install SQL Server 2005?
Event Manager will save you considerable time if you install it
before you install SQL Server 2005. The new notification system in SQL
Server 2005, Database Mail, requires roughly the same level of
configuration as MAPI & SQL Mail did, even more in some cases. To
configure Database Mail you will still need to touch every SQL Server,
and every job and alert on every server. With Event Manager you can
quickly configure notifications across all SQL Servers at once, whether
you have 2 or 200 servers. So installing Event Manager today will save
you the considerable time and effort of configuring, activating, and
testing Database Mail on each and every SQL Server 2005 instance. In
addition, you will end up with a more comprehensive, flexible, and
robust notification system. See our Feature Matrix for more info.
What technologies does Event Manager use?
Event Manager is developed entirely with .NET 2.0 using C#.
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