You can extract a lot of performance data from SQL Server by using custom scripts, but this can take an excruciating amount of time. You have to log in to the server, run the scripts, collate the results, analyze the results, and then move on to the next server. At the end of your daily checks, you might find nothing's wrong, but you still have to check, just in case there is a problem. Or do you?
A SQL Server monitoring tool can alert you to any potential issues and give you an overview of your entire estate of SQL Servers. Your daily checks can be cut down to minutes rather than hours.
Fixing problems in SQL Server is a fact of life. Things go wrong and need rectifying. But when you are constantly firefighting, jumping from one critical concern to the next, you know you have a problem. By proactively monitoring your SQL Server, creating performance baselines, benchmarking, and continuously monitoring your SQL Server estate, you can catch issues that arise before they become all-consuming, bang-your-head-against-the-wall problems. This helps your stress levels too!
We've all had the question, "Why was the server slow last night?" "I don't know" isn't the answer they want to hear. An effective SQL Server monitoring tool can give you those answers, and allow you to go back in time to see exactly what was happening on the server at any point in time and what caused the problem.
Whether your users are internal to your company or external customers, keeping the systems working, and keeping them happy, is a top priority. If something isn't working how it should, they'll let you know. By proactively monitoring your SQL Servers, you can be aware of a problem before your users are. And if you know what the problem is, you can fix it before it impacts on your users.
When you have a couple of SQL Servers, monitoring them manually might be possible, if time consuming. But what about when you have 10, 20, 50, or 150 servers? Will you be able to keep track of issues across your entire SQL Server estate? Will you be able to measure performance accurately?
When your SQL Server estate is growing, you need to think about smarter, more effective ways to monitor. Redgate Monitor can take the pain out of monitoring a growing environment with overviews, alerts, and diagnostic tools that let you see at a glance how your SQL Servers are doing, and pinpoint what needs attention now.
