Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise 11.7 - Federation Guide

Spotlight® on SQL Server 11.7.1

Federation Guide

December 2016

These release notes provide information about the Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise release.

Topics:

About this release

Spotlight on SQL Server is a powerful database diagnostic and resolution tool. Its unique user interface provides you with an intuitive, visual representation of the activity on a SQL server. Graphical flows illustrate the rate at which data is moving between server components. Icons display the value of key statistics and alarms. Alarms inform you of bottlenecks and other potential problems. Drilldowns show detailed information on all parts of your SQL Server.

Spotlight integrates data from various sources into a single display. It seamlessly combines data from SQL Server system tables, SQL commands, performance monitor counters, and the Windows registry. Spotlight diagnoses not just your SQL Server, but also the Windows Server that SQL Server is running on.

With Spotlight, diagnostic data can be collected continuously, even when Spotlight is not open on the desktop. A Diagnostic Server can perform data collection continuously from a middleware machine, ready for Spotlight to display whenever Spotlight is started on any client machine.

Business benefits include:

• Data collected and alarms evaluated on a 24x7 basis, even when no Spotlight clients are running.
• Identical data and alarms provided to all users, providing a consistent view across the enterprise.
• Diagnostic data is saved in one place (on the Diagnostic Server), avoiding unnecessary replication of data.
• Diagnostic Server reduces load on databases and operating systems by collecting data once and sharing it between all connected Spotlight clients.
• Long-term historical data can be stored in a repository for future analysis and planning purposes. SQL Server professionals can report off the data for a deeper understanding of their performance issues.
• Diagnostic Server configuration is centralized and applied to all connections. Individual connections can then be customized as required.
• SQL Analysis captures SQL from a SQL Server based on a collection filter you specify and allows you to quickly get a picture of the most expensive SQL running on the server both from real-time and historical perspectives.
• Operating System data is collected only once, even if multiple instances are being monitored on that particular host.