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Foglight for SQL Server (Cartridge) 5.9.5.10 - 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

Customizing Alarms for Foglight for SQL Server Rules

Many Foglight for SQL Server multiple-severity rules trigger alarms. To improve your monitoring experience, you can customize when alarms are triggered and whether they are reported. You can also set up email notifications.

This section covers the following topics:

Introducing the Alarms View

The Alarms view enables you to modify global settings and agent-specific settings for alarms.

2
Click Alarms.

Setting and Modifying Alarm Sensitivity Levels

Foglight for SQL Server has four sensitivity levels that control which alarms are reported:

Essential — Store and display only critical or fatal alarms.
Normal — Store and display most alarms — essential and best practices; only critical and fatal statistical alarms.
Tuning — Store and display all SQL Server alarms sent to Foglight.
Performance — Store and display only availability and SQL PI related alarms.

You can change the sensitivity level assigned to each agent. If a sensitivity level does not include all the alarms you want to track or includes too many alarms, you can view a list of multiple-severity rules and modify the sensitivity level that is mapped to each severity.

Changes made to a sensitivity level affect all agents that are assigned that sensitivity level. If you want to enable or disable alarms for the selected agents, see Enabling or disabling alarms for selected agents .

Each agent has its own sensitivity level setting. The default is Normal.

1
In the Alarms view, click the Sensitivity Level tab.
4
Click Save changes.

You can view a list of multiple severity rules to see which severities are assigned to which sensitivity level. If desired, you can change the assignments. Changes to sensitivity levels affect all agents.

To see descriptions of the rules, follow the steps described in Reviewing Rule Definitions .

1
In the Alarms view, click the Sensitivity Level tab.
2
Click Define sensitivity levels.
3
If you want a record of the existing settings, click View as PDF and export the settings to a PDF file.
5
Click Set level.
7
Click Set.

Modifying Alarm Settings

You can customize how the alarms generated by the default Foglight for SQL Server rules are triggered and displayed in the Alarm view’s Settings tab. All changes to alarm settings apply to the selected agents, with the exception of thresholds, which can be customized by agent.

IMPORTANT: Avoid editing Foglight for SQL Server rules in the Administration > Rules & Notifications > Rule Management dashboard. Default rules may be modified during regular software updates and your edits will be lost. Always use the Alarms view.

The Alarms list controls the contents displayed to the right and the tasks that are available.

All Alarms – Displays all rules with configured alarms and indicates whether alarms are enabled. In this view, you can enable or disable alarms for all the rules at once. You can also set email notifications and define mail server settings.
Category of rules – Displays a set of related rules with configured alarms. In this view, you can enable or disable alarms and also set email notifications for the category of rules.
Rule name – Displays the alarm status for the selected rule. If the rule has multiple severity levels, displays the threshold configured for each severity level. In this view, you can enable or disable the alarm, edit the alarm text, and edit severity levels and their thresholds. You can also set email notifications for the alarm.

You can complete the following tasks:

Your changes are saved separately and applied over the default rules. This protects you from software upgrades that may change the underlying default rules.

You can override the global alarm sensitivity level setting for the selected agents. You can enable or disable alarms for all rules, a category of rules, or an individual rule.

To see descriptions of the rules, follow the steps described in Reviewing Rule Definitions .

All alarms

Click All Alarms. In the Alarms Settings tab, click either Enable all or Disable all.

Category of rules

Click a category. Click either Enable all or Disable all.

Selected rule

Click the rule. In the Alarms Settings tab, click the link that displays the alarm status. Select Enabled or Disabled from the list and click Set.

4
Click Save changes.

You can and should modify the thresholds associated with alarms to better suit your environment. If you find that alarms are firing for conditions that you consider to be acceptable, you can change the threshold values that trigger the alarm. You can also enable or disable severity levels to better suit your environment.

When a rule has severity levels, a Threshold section appears in the Alarm Settings tab showing the severity levels and bounds by agent. For an example, see the DBSS - Worker Thread rule. The threshold values corresponds to the lower bounds shown in this table. Many rules, such as Baseline rules, do not have severity levels and thresholds.

When editing thresholds, ensure that the new values make sense in context with the other threshold values. For most metrics, threshold values are set so that Warning < Critical < Fatal. However, in metrics where normal performance has a higher value, such as DBSS - Buffer Cache Hit Rate, the threshold values are reversed: Warning > Critical > Fatal.

TIP: If you want to review the thresholds for all Foglight for SQL Server rules in a single view, use the Rule Management dashboard. In the navigation panel, click Homes > Administration, then click Rules. Type DBSS in the Search field to see the list of predefined rules for SQL Server databases. For rules with severity levels, you can see the threshold values set for each level. If you want to edit threshold values, return to the Alarms view. Edits made directly to the default rules may be overwritten during software upgrades.
3
Click the Alarms Settings tab.

Edit severity levels and set threshold (lower bound) values for all agents.

Click Enhance alarm. Select the check boxes for the severity levels you want enabled and set the threshold values. Click Set.

Change the threshold (lower bound) values for one agent.

Click Edit beside the agent name. Set the new threshold values and click Set.

Copy the changes made to one agent’s threshold values to all other agents.

Click Edit beside the agent name that has the values you want to copy. Select Set for all agents in table and click Set.

6
Click Save changes.

For individual rules, you can change the message displayed when an alarm fires. You cannot add or remove the variables used in the message. This is a global setting that affects all agents.

3
Click the Alarm Settings tab.
4
Click Enhance alarm.
6
Click Set.
7
Click Save changes.
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