Benefits of having a tool to monitor your SQL server

Effective, persistent monitoring of your SQL server is essential, but unless you understand the reasons behind this, you might not be adequately concerned with fulfilling your maintenance duties.

To remedy this here is a rundown of the main advantages that come with using modern monitoring tools, and the features these bring to the table.

Automation of key monitoring tasks

Without the right tools, monitoring an SQL server can be a tedious and time-consuming process, as you will need to keep tabs on performance manually and you may not have the time or resources to achieve this.

Conversely, with software designed for monitoring on tap, you will have the power to automate the overseeing of the server’s operation from moment to moment. This means you can focus on other, more important duties, while still being able to get the alerts and updates you need if issues arise, while the smaller problems are dealt with without the need for direct intervention.

Of course, there are a number of SQL server monitoring solutions out there so you should compare different tools here to find the one that’s right for you, both in terms of capabilities and cost.

Troubleshooting is made simpler

A well-maintained SQL server ecosystem should run smoothly, but even in a best-case scenario, you can expect some issues to crop up over time. Being able to detect that a problem exists is one thing, but actually working out the root cause is a challenge in its own right.

Once again, monitoring tools come riding to the rescue by giving you easily accessible insights into the current state of the server, letting you see at a glance whether particular processes are creating blocks and deadlocks, or whether any queries are failing to complete as expected.

All of this information could be gleaned manually, as mentioned earlier, but monitoring tools simply speed up the process and let you troubleshoot a wide range of SQL server faults in a much shorter time frame.

Customization is possible

While a one-size-fits-all approach to SQL server monitoring may be suitable for the majority of users, it is good to know that you can make adjustments and get custom alerts if you need them.

This is a big benefit of contemporary monitoring tools, as you should be able to tailor the experience to your particular requirements. Such benefits will be relevant not only today but as your needs change and evolve over time.

Remote monitoring is straightforward

Checking in on server performance and being able to make optimizations while you are on the move is obviously an advantage, and this is something which monitoring tools provide since most offer a browser-based interface for administrator interactions.

As well as enabling remote monitoring capabilities, lots of tools also deliver customizable dashboards so that there is even more personalization possible.

In short, unless you have monitoring tools on your side and you learn the skills to use them, you will not be able to unlock the true potential of your SQL server.