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Foglight for SQL Server (Cartridge) 5.9.4.20 - User Guide

Introduction to this Guide Using Foglight for SQL Server
Viewing the Databases Dashboard Overview Dashboard Advisories Dashboard Monitoring Data Replication Monitoring SQL Performance Reviewing Memory Usage Reviewing the Instance Activity Reviewing Database Usage Reviewing the Services Using the HADR Drilldown Using the Logs Drilldown Reviewing Configuration Settings Viewing User-defined Performance Counters and Collections
Monitoring Business Intelligence Services Administering Foglight for SQL Server
Configuration Settings Managing Foglight for SQL Server Agent Settings Reviewing Foglight for SQL Server Alarms Generating Reports Monitoring SQL Server instances on VMware servers
Glossary
A
Access methods Adhoc SQL Plans Alarm Alert Allow updates Anonymous subscription Authentication AutoClose AutoGrow Automatic Discovery AutoShrink B Batch BCP (Bulk Copy Program) Blocking Books Online Bound trees Buffer Buffer cache Buffer pool Bulk copy Bulkinsert Bulk load C Cache CAL Calibration Cardinality Cartridge Chart Checkpoint process Client network utility CLR Compile Connect Connection Connectivity software CPU Usage Cursors D Data access components Data file Data storage engine Database Database object DataFlow DBCC DBID DBO Deadlock Disk queue length Disk transfer time Disk utilization DiskPerf Distributing instance Distributor DMO Drilldown DTC DTS E Error log Event alert Execution contexts Extended stored procedures Extent External procedures F File Filegroup File cache Foglight Agent Manager Foglight Management Server Foreign key Forwarded records Free buffers Free list Free pages Free potential Free space Freespace scans Full text search G GAM Ghosted records Growth increment GUID H Hash buckets Hashing Heap Hit rate Hit ratio Host name Host process I I/O Index Indid Integrated security Intent Locks J Job K Kernel memory Kernel mode Kill L Latch Lazy writer Licensing Lightweight pooling Lock Lock area Lock escalation Lock mode Log Log cache Log writer Logical I/O LRU LSN M Master MaxSize MDAC Metric Misc.normalized trees Model Monitor page file N Named pipes Net library NIC Null O OBID Object plans OLAP OLAP service OLTP Optimizer Optimizer cache osql P Page life expectancy Paging Panel Parse Parser Per seat licensing Per server licensing Performance alert Physical I/O Physical read Physical write PID Pinned Plan Plan cache Potential growth Prepared SQL plans Primary key Privileged mode Procedure cache Procedure plans Process Profiler Publication database Publisher Publisher databases Publishing server Pull subscription Pulse Push subscription Q Query plan R RAID Random I/O Read ahead Recompile Referential integrity Relational data engine Replication procedure plans Role Rollback S sa Schema locks Sequential I/O Session Severity SGAM Shared locks Show advanced options SMP Sort, Hash, Index Area SPID Spike Spinner SQL Agent Mail SQL Mail SQL Plans SQL Server Agent SQL Server authentication SQL Server books online Standard deviation Stolen pages Stored procedure Support service SYSADMIN role T TDS TempDB Temporary tables and table variables Threshold Torn page detection Transaction Trigger Trigger plans Truncate Trusted U UMS Unused space User connection area User mode V Virtual log file VLF W Waitfor Windows authentication mode Working set
Reference
SQL PI Repository Cold Backup Procedure SQL Performance Investigator Metrics
Active Time All SQL Agents CPU Usage All SQL Agents Resident Memory Usage Availability Average Physical I/O Operations Average SQL Response Time Backup Recovery Wait Blocked Lock Requests Checkpoint Pages CLR Wait CPU Usage CPU Wait Cursor Synchronization Wait Database Replication Wait Deferred Task Worker Wait Degree of Parallelism Disk Utilization DTC CPU Usage DTC Resident Memory Usage Distributed Transaction Wait Executions Ended Executions Started External Procedures Wait Full Scans Full Text Search CPU Usage Full Text Search Resident Memory Usage Full Text Search Wait Free Buffer Wait Hosted Components Wait IO Bulk Load Wait IO Completion Wait IO Data Page Wait IO Wait Latch Buffer Wait Latch Wait Latch Savepoint Wait Lazy Writes Lock Wait Lock Bulk Update Wait Lock Exclusive Wait Lock Intent Wait Lock Requests Lock Schema Wait Lock Shared Wait Lock Update Wait Lock Wait Log Buffer Wait Log Flushes Log Other Wait Log Synchronization Wait Log Wait Log Write Wait Memory Wait Network IO Wait Network IPC Wait Network Mirror Wait Network Wait Non SQL Server CPU Usage Non SQL Resident Memory Usage OLAP CPU Usage OLAP Resident Memory Usage OLEDB Provider Full Text Wait Other CPU Usage Other Miscellaneous Wait Other Wait Overall CPU Page Life Expectancy Page Splits Parallel Coordination Wait Physical I/O Physical Memory Used Physical Page Reads Physical Page Writes Probe Scans Plan Cache Hit Rate Range Scans Rec Ended Duration Remote Provider Wait Run Queue Length Samples Service Broker Wait Session Logons Session Logoffs SQL Agent CPU Usage SQL Agent Resident Memory Usage SQL Executions SQL Mail CPU Usage SQL Mail Resident Memory Usage SQL Recompilations SQL Response Time SQL Server Background CPU Usage SQL Server Cache Memory SQL Server Connections Memory SQL Server Connections Summary SQL Server Foreground CPU Usage SQL Server Resident Memory Usage SQL Server Swap Memory Usage Synchronous Task Wait Table Lock Escalation Target Instance Memory Total CPU Usage Total Instance Memory Virtual Memory Used
Rules Collections and Metrics
SQL Server Agent's Default Collections Access Methods Agent Alert List Agent Job List Always On Availability Groups Backup Locations Blocking History Blocking List Buffer Cache List Buffer Manager CLR Assemblies Cluster Summary Configuration Database Index Density Vectors Database Index Details Database Index Fragmentation Info Database Index Histogram Database Index List Database Information Database Properties Database Sessions (Session List) Database Summary Database Tables List Databases Deadlock DTC Information Error Log Error Log List Error Log Scan File Groups File Data Flow Statistics File Groups Files Files Drive Total Files Instance Summary Full Text Catalog InMemory OLTP (XTP) Instance Wait Categories Instance Wait Events Job Messages Latches and Locks Lock Statistics Locks List Log Shipping Log Shipping Error Logical Disks Memory Manager Mirroring Mirroring Performance Counters Missing Indexes Plan Cache Distribution Plan Cache List Replication Agents Replication Agent Session Actions Replication Agent Session Merge Articles Replication Agent Sessions Replication Agent Sessions by Type Replication Available Replication Publications Replication Subscriptions Reporting Services Resource Pool Session Data Session Trace SQL PI Instance Statistics SQL Server Connections Summary SQL Server Global Variables SQL Server Host SQL Server Load SQL Server Services SQL Server Throughput SQL Server Version Info SSIS OS Statistics SSIS Summary Statistics Top SQLs Top SQL Batch Text Top SQL Long Text Top SQL Plan Top SQL Short Text Top SQL Summary Traced SQL PA Usability User-defined Performance Counters User-defined Queries Virtualization XTP Session Transactions Statistics

Monitoring the Replication Agents

The Replication Agents drilldown provides detailed information of all the agents that were active during the selected time range. This drilldown allows you to filter the display to show agents of selected type or a selected severity level within a certain agent type, and review all the agent’s session actions.

Figure 9. The Replication Agents drilldown.

This drilldown contains the following sections:

•
Agent type tiles — used for configuring the list displayed on the Agents table; either displaying all agents by clicking All, or filtering the display by agent type or severity level.
•
Agent table — provides detailed data regarding each of the agents or jobs selected to be displayed. For details, see Reviewing agent-specific data .
•
Sessions ran by the currently selected agent — displays all the sessions run by the agent selected in the table during the specified time range. Selecting a session on the list displays its details on the middle and right sections.
•
Details of the currently selected session — displays prominent statistics about the session currently selected on the list.
•
Agent-specific session actions data — displays actions (and merge articles, for Merge agents) for all sessions run during the specified time range by the agent selected in the Agent table. For details, see Reviewing session activity data for the selected agent .
Reviewing agent-specific data

The Agents table displays all agents whose type tile was selected on the toolbar. Each row on this table provides the following data about a specific agent:

•
Agent identification — the following agent-related data:
•
Highest severity level
•
Name
•
Type
•
Average delivery rate during the specified time range.
* 
NOTE: Hovering over this gauge displays a pop-up that contains a description of the flow, and a chart that shows the relevant data plotted over the specified time range.
•
Operation start time
•
Entities involved in the publishing process — provides the names of the following components:
•
Publishing server
•
Publication database
•
Publication
•
Subscribing server
•
Subscription database

Except for agents of type Misc. Jobs, clicking each agent row displays the sessions ran by the selected agent during the specified time range. For details, see Reviewing session activity data for the selected agent .

Reviewing session activity data for the selected agent

The lower section of the Replication Agents drilldown displays agent-specific session data for all agents whose type is other than Misc. Jobs.

To view the session actions of a single agent:
1
Click the requested agent’s row on the Agents table.
Session data is retrieved only on demand by clicking a button or link, or by refreshing a screen component. The initial display of the Session section provides no data on the Sessions Actions pane.
Figure 10. Click this link to retrieve action data.
* 
NOTE: When the selected agent’s type is Merge, the Sessions section also displays the Session articles.
2
To retrieve action data for the first session on the session list, click the link under the message title.
To retrieve action data for any other session, click the requested session on the session list on the left.
The retrieved data is displayed on a detailed list of all actions performed by the session during the specified time range, indicating the time the action took place, and the action message.

Monitoring the Replication Subscriptions

The Replication Subscriptions drilldown allows performing an in-depth analysis of all subscriptions servers by the selected distributing instance.

To investigate the requested subscription:
1
Select which subscription type to display, by selecting the tile that represents the requested type: Snapshot, Transactional, Transactional with update, Merge or All.
* 
IMPORTANT: In each of these tiles, it is possible to filter the display to show only subscriptions with a specific severity status, by clicking the icon that represents that status. For example, Not Started.
2
Review the requested publication data on the Subscriptions table:
•
Severity — the highest (worst) severity level
•
Status
•
Subscribing server name
•
Subscription database name
•
Subscription type — Pull, Push, or Anonymous
•
Publication name
•
Publishing server name
•
Publication database name
•
Publication type
•
Agents taking part in the transaction — Log Reader, Queue Reader, and Snapshot agents

Click the subscription’s row to access the Subscription Details screen.

The Subscription Details Screen

The Subscription Details screen allows tracking the process of replicating data to the selected subscription, by displaying all components involved in the process and providing links for further investigation.

Figure 11. The Subscription Details screen.

Similar to the Replication home page, this screen contains the following panes, each representing a stage at the replication process:

•
Publisher — provides the publication-related data that appears on the Replication home page, that is, publishing server, publication database, and publication name, and the following data:
•
Type
•
Latency
•
Status — can have one of the following values: Running, Failed, Retrying, Idle, and Not started.
•
Agents used by Publisher — displays the replication agents used for replicating the publication data to the subscribing server.
The agent types displayed on this pane for each publication type are as follows:
•
In snapshot, Transactional and Merge publications — Snapshot and Log Reader.
•
In Transactional with update publications — Snapshot, Log Reader, and Queue Reader.
* 
IMPORTANT: To carry out an in-depth analysis of the agent’s actions using the Replication Agents drilldown, click the requested agent’s row. The Replication Agents drilldown appears, with the clicked agent’s row selected in the All Agents table. For details, see Monitoring the Replication Agents .
•
Subscriber — provides the following data regarding each of the publication’s subscriptions:
•
Subscribing server
•
Subscription database
•
Subscription type — Push, Pull, or Anonymous. For further details, see glossary definitions for Pull subscription , Push subscription , and Anonymous subscription .
•
Subscription status — can have one of the following values: Running, Failed, Retrying, Idle, and Not started.
•
Sessions — provides agent-specific session data for all agents taking part in the selected subscription process. If the process involves more than one agent, this section is divided into the following panes:
•
Publisher to Distributor — displays the session actions of the Snapshot or Log Reader agent.
•
Distributor to Subscriber — displays the Distribution agent’s session actions.

Monitoring Alarms

The Alarms pane contains a table that displays only replication-related alarms, invoked if the metrics defined in the replication-related rules have been exceeded during the specified time range (by default: the last 60 minutes). For a detailed list of such alarms, see Replication-related alarms .

Unlike the Alarms pane on the Foglight for SQL Server home page, which always displays all alarm types, this table allows alternating between two display methods:

•
Displaying all alarms — by clicking All.
•
Filtering the alarm display by severity level — by clicking a specific severity level.
* 
IMPORTANT: Fatal alarms are invoked when the SQL Server agent stops responding, and are not due to replication errors. Therefore, the count of alarms whose severity level is Fatal (indicated in red) should always remain 0. The alarm display should be filtered by clicking either the Warning or Critical severity level.
* 
NOTE: To view detailed information regarding each alarm, go to the Replication Agents drilldown.
Figure 12. Alarm Indicator Descriptions
Indicator
Description
Yellow (Warning)

The metric (or workload resource) has exceeded the configured threshold or deviated from the baseline.

Orange (Critical)

The metric (or workload resource) has exceeded a threshold or extremely deviated from the baseline.

Red (Fatal)

The SQL Server is not responding, triggering a fatal alarm.

Replication-related alarms

The replication-related alarms are as follows:

•
Replication Agents - Delivery Latency — invoked when the delivery latency for a specific instance exceeds a predefined threshold.
•
Replication Agents - Status — invoked when the replication agent fails to start.
•
Replication Publications Due to Expire — invoked when the number of hours left until the replication publications are due to expire falls below a predefined threshold.
•
Replication Publications - Errors — invoked when an error is encountered in one of the replication publications.
•
Replication Publications - Status — invoked when a replication publication fails to start.
•
Replication Subscriptions - Status — invoked when a replication subscription fails to start.
•
Replication Available — invoked when the replication process has encountered a failure.

For details, see the Foglight for SQL Server Reference Guide.

Monitoring SQL Performance

The SQL Performance page provides the ability to investigate the activity and resource consumption of a selected instance. There are two levels of metrics available:

•
Without SQL PI configured — basic History, lock analysis data, and activity highlights. See Monitoring SQL Performance without SQL PI configured
•
With SQL PI configured — The ability to perform a more in-depth analysis and investigation of the Instance activity and resource consumption by adding a dimension view of the activity, change tracking analysis, execution plan analysis and compare toll. See Monitoring SQL Performance with SQL PI Configured .

The SQL Performance page displays the following components:

•
The Instance View — Provides the ability to investigate and analyze the resource consumption of the instance.
•
The Resource toolbar — By selecting one of the resources, the resource consumptions charts and the overview section are updated to display only the relevant information regarding the activity of the selected resource.
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