SQL Server Optimize

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.

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.