Database administrators (DBAs) face increasing pressure to monitor databases

Database platforms are mature products with powerful capabilities, but they still require regular care to maintain a high level of performance. It’s therefore critical to continually monitor database instances for availability, health, performance, and security. This practice generally makes heavy use of automation to handle routine tasks, allowing database administrators (DBAs) to focus on issues requiring human intervention. Database professionals are steadily increasing their use of tools to monitor databases, according to recent surveys.

Database platforms

• Mature and powerful products

• Require high level of performance

• Need regular care

Monitoring automation

• Use in-house or commercial off-the-shelf tools

• Handle routine tasks

• Allow DBAs to focus on issues requiring human intervention

Database monitoring

• Critical

• Monitor continually

• Check for availability, health, performance, and security

Monitoring tools

• Steadily increasing use of tools

• Becoming near-universal practice

• Most DBAs are satisfied with commercial off-the-shelf tools

Key drivers

• Increasing size and complexity of database estates

• Most enterprises shifting most IT infrastructure to cloud

• Organizations have higher expectations of their databases

Increased DBA workload

• Responsible for many more database instances

• Increasing pressure to do more with less

• Less time to add strategic value to organizations

More hybrid environments

• Use both on-premises and cloud servers

• Use multiple cloud platforms for different purposes

• Complicate increased burden on DBAs

Increased workload from COVID-19 pandemic

• Monitoring on-premises servers difficult with remote DBAs

• Increased complexity of remote data collection and access

• Lay-offs and hiring freezes limit options to reduce staff shortages

Growing database estate sizes

• Need to continually improve systems

• Easily swamped when responding to incidents

• Increases chances of something going wrong

Features of good monitoring tools

• Provide DBAs and other IT staff with single interface

• Manage databases both on-premises and in the cloud

• Issue alerts when problems occur

• Allow team members to identify causes in minutes rather than hours

Benefits of good monitoring tools

• Prevent constantly putting out fires

• Learn about new features and putting them to use

• Spend more time tuning poorly performing queries

• Plan implementation of new systems

Database monitoring summary

The lack of good monitoring tools requires DBAs to constantly put out fires instead of learning about new features and putting them to use. They’ll also be able to spend more time tuning queries that are performing poorly and planning the implementation of new systems. The right monitoring tools provide DBAs and other members of the IT department with a single interface to monitor all the SQL Server instances they manage, whether they’re on-premises or in the cloud. They can also issue alerts when problems occur, allowing team members to identify the cause in minutes, as opposed to the hours this process often requires with manual monitoring.