Foglight for Azure SQL Database (Cartridge) 6.1.0.10

Installation About Monitoring Extensions Installing and Monitoring a Single Azure SQL Database

Viewing the Databases Dashboard Selecting an Instance to Monitor Foglight for Azure SQL Database Overview Dashboard SQL Performance Investigator (SQL PI) Azure SQL Activity Drilldown

Administering Foglight for Azure SQL Database

Opening the Databases Administration Dashboard Reviewing the Administration Settings Customizing Alarms for Foglight for Azure SQL Database Rules

Introducing the Alarms View Modifying Alarm Templates Configuring Email Notifications Cloning Agent Settings Reviewing Rule Definitions

Defining Connection Details Administering SQL Performance Investigator

Reporting

Generating Reports for a Foglight for Azure SQL Database

Reference

Overview of Collections

Usability Query Store Query Store Top SQLs Version Info Resource Stat Wait Statistics Database Connections Summary Database Replication Database Storage Database Recommendations

SQL Performance Investigator Metrics

Glossary

Alarm Authentication Calibration Cartridge Client Machines CPU Usage CPU Wait DataFlow Deadlock Disk Transfer Time Disk Utilization DiskPerf Dispatcher Drilldown DTU Elastic Pool External Procedures Foglight Agent Manager Foglight Management Server General purpose I/O Wait Kernel Memory Kernel Mode Kill Lock Wait Log Buffer Wait Logical Reads LRU LSN Metric Network Wait OLTP Other Wait Paging Panel Physical Reads Process Random I/O Recompile Referential Integrity Relational Data Engine Schema Locks Severity Single database SPID Spinner Threshold Transaction Unused Space vCore

Using Foglight for Azure SQL Database

Foglight for Azure SQL Database monitors the Azure SQL Database activity by connecting to and querying the Azure SQL Database. The agents provided monitor the Azure SQL Database system. The dashboards included with the cartridge provide a visual representation of the status of the major components of the Azure SQL agents. They allow you to determine any potential bottleneck in database performance.

This section provides agent configuration instructions and information on investigating Azure SQL Database performance. It covers the entire monitoring process, starting with the discovery of the databases and the connection with these databases, and proceeding with the use of the various drilldowns and the Global Administration options.

Viewing the Databases Dashboard


	NOTE: The following section describes the various components of the Databases dashboard. To learn how to customize this dashboard’s display and focus on a requested instance, see Selecting an Instance to Monitor.

The Instance home page is launched by accessing the Databases dashboard.

To access the Databases dashboard:

Ensure that the navigation panel on the left is open.

To open the navigation panel, click the right-facing arrow on the left.

On the navigation panel, click Homes > Databases.

The Databases dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of the monitored environment, with all of the currently monitored database types.

The Databases dashboard includes these sections:

•

Database cartridge type tiles — each tile represents a database type (SQL Server, SQL Server BI, Azure SQL, Oracle, SAP ASE, DB2, MongoDB, Cassandra, or All Instances) and displays the number of instances for each database type, along with a breakdown according to the instance health state severity (Normal, Warning, Critical, Fatal).

When selecting the Azure SQL Tile, an Azure SQL Databases table will be displayed. It shows the “regular” Azure SQL Databases.

•

Status section — includes the following components:

•

Status summary — a color-coded bar, which provides a visual representation of the summarized health condition of all instances listed in the Database Group table.

The status summary bar provides a graphic representation of the monitored environment’s current state, broken down to the number of instances and their current health state: Fatal, Critical, Warning, Normal or Unknown.

•

Database-specific health summary — when the database group All is selected, this section displays all of the currently monitored instances for each database type, divided by their health state (for example: four Azure SQL Databases, three of which have the health state Warning and one is indicated with the health state Fatal). When a user-defined database group is selected, this section displays data only about the agents included within the selected group.


	NOTE: The Status Indicators section can be used for filtering the Databases Group table to display only instances that meet a criterion set in this section. For details, see Filtering the Display by Severity .

•

The Monitor button — Use this button to add instances to be monitored.

•

The Configure Alarms button — Takes you directly to the Administration > Alarms page. On the Alarms page you can view the alarms as well as configure the Alarm Template and alarm notification settings.

•

The Settings button — After selecting one or more instances of the same database type, use this button to set options for collecting, storing, and displaying data for the selected instances, as well as configuring the connection to SQL Performance Investigator (if installed). For details, see Administering Foglight for Azure SQL Database .

•

Currently selected database group table — a list of all monitored databases within the database group that is currently selected in the Databases section. For details, see Using the Currently Selected Database Group Table .

•

The Show Quick View () button — provides the ability to open a quick view of the instance at the bottom of the screen.

•

The Select dashboards () button — provides direct link to several drilldowns and panels, thereby saving the need to navigate to these locations through the Overview drilldown.


	IMPORTANT: If the display is filtered to show only Azure SQL Databases the Databases table is renamed to Azure SQL.

Selecting an Instance to Monitor

Because the Databases dashboard displays by default all of the currently monitored databases, it is advisable to customize the dashboard’s view to display only the relevant instances, and then preview such instances to decide which to monitor.

To select an instance to monitor:

Display only instances relevant for your needs, using one of the following methods:

•

Filter by database type — if multiple database types are being monitored, click the database type tile that represents the requested type (in this case, Azure SQL).

•

Filter by severity — use the status indicators to display only instances of a specific database type that share a specific health state severity. For further details, see Filtering the Display by Severity .

•

Create user-defined groups — use the Databases area to create groups that contain only the databases that need to be monitored for a specific need. For further details, see Creating User-defined Database Groups .

View the selected instances’ severity level, using the status indicators.

Click the requested instance to view a cue card with a preview of the instance’s most significant performance indicators.

Click Home Page on the cue card to launch a full-screen view of the requested instance.


	IMPORTANT: Launching a full-screen view of the requested database by clicking the Home Page link can be carried out only for instances monitored in Foglight for Azure SQL Database mode.

Filtering the Display by Severity

The Status Indicators section can be used for filtering the Databases Group table to display only instances that meet a criterion set in this section.

To filter the display by severity:

Click a a certain type of severity within a a specific database type (for example: Azure SQL databases whose severity level is Critical).

The selected filter is shown in the table’s title.

To select another filter, click the required status indicator (for example: Azure SQL > Normal severity).

Creating User-defined Database Groups

Use the Databases area of the navigation pane to create, edit, and remove groups of database instances. Click Edit Group to add or remove database instances from the sub-group.

To create a database group:

Select the parent database instance group, Database Group, under Databases in the navigation pane.

Click the button.

The Add Group dialog box opens.

Type a name for the group in the Name field.

Type a description for the group (optional).

Select an instance in the Available column, and click [>] to move the instance to the Selected column.

Alternatively, click [>>] to move all of the databases to the Selected column.

Click OK.

The group name appears in the Database Groups list.

The database instances are listed in the Databases pane.

After adding one or more user-defined groups, it is possible to add sub-groups to these groups.

To add sub-groups to a selected group:

Position the cursor on the requested group’s name.

Repeat Step 2 to Step 6 described in To create a database group: .


	NOTE: The Add Group dialog box displays the name of the parent group in the Parent field. Before proceeding, ensure that the sub-group is added to the requested group.

To remove a database group:

Select the group to be removed.

Click the

button.

The Remove Groups dialog box appears, asking approval to remove the selected group with all its sub groups.

Click Remove.

The group is removed from the Database Groups list.

To edit a database sub-group:

Select the requested group.

Click the

button.

The Edit Group dialog box opens.

To add an instance to the group, select the requested instance in the Available column and click [>] to move the selected instance to the Selected column.

To remove an instance from the sub-group, select the requested instance in the Selected column, and click [<].

The selected instance moves to the Available column.

Click OK.

Components Shared by All Foglight for Azure SQL Database Screens

The tables’ Customizer button and the In-context action buttons are common to all Foglight for Azure SQL Database screens.

The Customizer button — use this button, which is found on the upper right corner of each table, to create a custom filter for the table. The filter is created by clicking Customizer and specifying the criteria that the various values should meet in order to be displayed in the table (having a specific name, exceeding a certain size, and so on). For detailed instructions and examples, see Foglight User Guide > Working with Dashboards > Working with Tables.

Figure 1. Customizer button

In-context actions buttons — found on the upper right corner of all screens:

•

Refresh — clicking this button retrieves the data acquired using the most recent sampling.

•

Agent Settings — when using panels whose configuration is set using the Databases Administration dashboard, clicking this button opens the relevant screen in the Databases Administration dashboard (for example, clicking this button from within the Databases > Locks panel opens the Locks screen).

Using the Currently Selected Database Group Table

The currently selected database group table displays the following columns.

Table 1. Currently Selected Database Group Table

The highest severity alarm of the Azure SQL Database, which determines the database’s health state.

Name

The name of the Azure SQL Database. In addition, this row includes the Go to Home Page button.

Version

The version number of the Azure SQL Database.