SQL Server Performance Monitoring and Tuning: SQL Sentry Performance Advisor

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Performance Advisor for SQL Server

SQL Sentry Performance Advisor® is a revolutionary new performance monitoring and tuning tool for Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008. The software provides unparalleled insight, awareness and control over the true source of SQL Server performance issues.

Performance Advisor is packed with ground-breaking new features that aren’t found in any other performance monitoring or performance tuning software, all designed with the singular goal of simplifying the process of optimizing your SQL Server performance. SQL Sentry Performance Advisor represents over two years of research and development by the same team that brought you the innovative, award-winning SQL Sentry Event Manager.

SQL Sentry Performance Advisor utilizes the same management console and collection service as SQL Sentry Event Manager to provide integrated SQL Server performance monitoring, scheduling, and tuning. This provides a variety of benefits including a single unified installation package and setup process, streamlined configuration, and integrated features such as the ability to view performance events like blocking and deadlocks on the SQL Sentry calendar. Review the features below to find why SQL Sentry Performance Advisor is the ultimate SQL Server performance monitoring and tuning software for Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008.

SQL Sentry Performance Advisor Features

SQL Server Performance Dashboard

Monitors and displays the most important Microsoft Windows and SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008 performance metrics side-by-side in a single view, so you have the full picture at a glance.
Easily switch between real-time and historical modes to view performance metrics for any point in time. Go back days or even months to see exactly how your SQL Server performance has changed over time.
SQL Server resource utilization is integrated into the Microsoft Windows network, CPU and memory charts, so you can monitor exactly how much of your server resources are being consumed by each Microsoft SQL Server instance.
Wait Type analysis shows both high-level and detailed resource utilization, giving you an instant profile for the SQL Server so you can monitor exactly which resources or subsystems may be causing slowdowns. Wait types are grouped together into friendly categories, and meaningless wait types are eliminated.
SQL Sentry’s Quick Trace® provides an instant picture of exactly which processes and applications are consuming the most MS SQL Server resources, without having to open Profiler or Activity Monitor and manually correlate the results.
The Windows Process Activity viewer shows CPU, paging, and other I/O metrics on a server with a single-click, showing you exactly which Windows processes are consuming the most resources, without having to fire up PerfMon or remote into a machine simply to open Task Manager.
Network utilization is displayed by SQL Server instance and by network adapter.
Disk latency charts show you exactly how long reads and writes are taking for each disk and each database file, quickly highlighting disk bottlenecks.

SQL Server Disk Activity

Software provides a revolutionary, patent-pending graphical view of your server’s disk topology and activity.
Shows you exactly how data is moving through your disk system, highlighting bottlenecks at the database file, physical disk, or controller level.
View disk bottlenecks in real-time mode, or historical mode for any date range.
Improve performance by easily identifying common configuration problems such as mixing busy data and transaction log files on the same physical drive.

Top SQL Analysis

Software captures all high impact stored procedures, batches and statements.
Low-overhead tracing system can safely be run 24/7 without impacting MS SQL Server performance.
Multiple executions of the same SQL are automatically normalized and aggregated, so you can easily determine which SQL is having the greatest overall impact on MS SQL Server performance.
Drill into individual query executions to quickly isolate problems with particular parameter values.
Runtime graphs show how a particular query has been trending over time.
Improve tuning capabilities by viewing Top SQL on the SQL Sentry calendar, alongside jobs and other events. For the first time you can visualize complex scenarios involving resource contention between queries that simply can’t be ascertained with other software tools using only grid views.
Generate email or pager alerts whenever a query exceeds a specific duration, or contains specific text.

SQL Server Blocking

Hierarchical display of all blocking chains provides the most complete picture of blocks available for Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005, and 2008.
Wait Resources are automatically resolved for you, so for the first time you can instantly see which tables or indexes are being contended for without any manual effort!
Software displays blocks on the SQL Sentry calendar alongside other events.
Generate email and pager alerts with full block chain details whenever a block occurs, when a block exceeds a specific duration, or when a blocking query contain specific text.

SQL Server Deadlocks

Software provides a graphical display of all deadlock types, synchronized with an innovative grid-based display to provide the most complete picture of SQL Server deadlocks available.
Grid display lists all nodes organized by resource, owners and waiters, and includes the full SQL for all nodes!
Unlike other deadlock graphing tools, deadlock nodes contain the concise information you need to quickly visualize the deadlock and determine the root cause.
Deadlocks are displayed on the SQL Sentry calendar alongside other events.
Generate email and pager alerts including the deadlock victim SQL whenever a deadlock occurs, or when the victim query contains specific text.

Quick Trace®

Tool provides a complete picture of exactly which processes are doing work on the server by automatically correlating trace and process activity data together for the first time.
Totals are provided for CPU, I/O, network, batches, transactions, cache misses, recompiles, cursor operations, and many other valuable SQL Server performance metrics.
Eliminates continual starting and stopping of Profiler and refreshing Activity Monitor, and tediously correlating and calculating aggregates.
Quick Trace can be fired automatically in response to many different conditions such as "Job: Runtime Threshold Max", so if a problem occurs after hours you’ll always have the full details.

Calendar View of Top SQL and Blocking

See Top SQL, Blocking, and Deadlocks on the Outlook-style SQL Sentry Event Manager calendar, alongside SQL Agent jobs and other events.
Chronological display of these types of events provides unparalleled insight into how they can impact each other and SQL Server performance which simply can’t be ascertained from grids alone as used in other software tools.
Quickly jump back and forth between Performance Advisor and Event Manager via context menus and toolbar buttons.

SQL Server Disk Space

Software provides a graphical display of disk space utilization by database and file.
Easily monitor and identify SQL Server disk capacity issues and understand where various database files reside on the disk system.

Pricing

SQL Sentry Performance Advisor is licensed per individual monitored Microsoft SQL Server instance. First year annual software maintenance is required and provides technical support via e-mail and phone, fixes and updates and free version upgrades.

For a complete listing, view the product price list and online store.

Performance Advisor for SQL Server	License $	Maintenance $	Savings $	Discount %
Performance Advisor for SQL Server license:	$1,495	$299
Quick Start 5-Pack, includes: (5) Performance Advisor for SQL Server licenses	$4,495	included	($4,475)	50%

SQL Sentry Power Suite	License $	Maintenance $	Savings $	Discount %
Power Suite License for SQL Server, includes: (1) Performance Advisor for SQL Server license (1) Event Manager EE for SQL Server license	$1,995	$399	($594)	20%
Quick Start 5-Pack, includes: (5) Performance Advisor for SQL Server licenses (5) Event Manager EE for SQL Server licenses (5) Event Manager EE for Windows Task Scheduler licenses	$6,995	included	($6,745)	49%

Product Evaluation

Download Performance Advisor for SQL Server, Performance Advisor for Analysis Services, and Event Manager.

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"SQL Sentry Performance Advisor has helped us identify SQL Server performance problems that we did not know we had and correct them before our users ever noticed. The time Performance Advisor saves us when troubleshooting is immeasurable."

-- Sarah Barela, Director DBA Services, MaximumASP

"As an early tester of SQL Sentry Performance Advisor, I couldn't be happier about the way it integrates with SQL Sentry Event Manager, a console I am already using heavily. The feature set and configurability blow the other guys out of the water!"

-- Aaron Bertrand, Microsoft SQL Server MVP

"SQL Sentry Performance Advisor has quickly become our main tool for identifying current and potential performance problems with Microsoft SQL Server. Diagnostic analysis and reporting tasks that previously required numerous tools and lengthy steps have been consolidated into a single, indispensible part of our toolbox."

-- Denis McDowell, Senior Systems Engineer, Peak 10

"Within 15 minutes of downloading SQL Sentry Performance Advisor I had at my finger tips every possible piece of pertinent information regarding my SQL Server environment. Within the first 30 minutes of running Performance Advisor I was able to identify, pinpoint and correct a blocking issue caused by legacy code that I never knew existed and was causing sporadic performance problems in our environment. Finally a truly useful and comprehensive performance monitoring and tuning tool designed by people who understand the performance factors relating to SQL Server."

-- Ken Pfeiffer, Director of Technology, Blue Sky Factory