Uninstall
To uninstall Spotlight on SQL Server Standard
- Open Windows Control Panel.
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Select Programs and Features
Windows XP - Select Add or Remove Programs
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Select Spotlight on SQL Server and click Remove.
Note: You can backup your customizations before you delete the application by backing up the Spotlight on SQl Server Standard\Agent directory.
The Playback Database
The Playback Database is not removed when Spotlight on SQL Server is uninstalled. You may delete it or use it again with another Spotlight on SQL Server installation.
Connections to SQL Servers
To view an existing connection:
| » | Select the connection from the Recent connections or Connections | SQL Server menu in the Spotlight Browser. |
This opens the Spotlight Home Page.
To add multiple SQL Server instances via discovery or by importing them from a file
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Click Configure | Connections.
- In the Connection Bar on the left, click SQL Server.
- In the Connection list, double-click Discover.
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Complete the steps in the wizard.
Action Information Discovery Note: The Discovery Wizard locates and displays the SQL Servers on the network that you may want the Spotlight Diagnostic Server to monitor. If the wizard discovers no instances of SQL Servers on the network, one reason may be that the SQL Server components that enable Spotlight to discover those servers have not been installed.
Import from file To import SQL Server instances from a file, each line in the file must contain a reference to a single SQL Server instance with optional user name and password details. The format is:
Instance name[,User[,Password]]
If no user name is specified, Windows authentication is used.
Limitations This version of Spotlight on SQL Server is designed to monitor a maximum of 100 SQL Server or Analysis Services instances and 100 Windows servers. Monitoring more than this recommended limit may result in poor performance or product instability.
To add an individual connection
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Click Configure | Connections.
- In the Connection Bar on the left, click SQL Server.
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In the Connection list, double-click Add new connection.
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Complete the connection details:
Field Description Target SQL Server Instance Address
Enter the connect string used to link to a server (that is, the Server Name, Server Instance Name, or IP address).
Note: For a Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) enter the virtual name of the cluster.
Windows Authentication (using Diagnostic Server credentials)
Select this option to use the user name and password configured on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server to connect to the SQL Server instance.
Database User
A valid user that enables Spotlight to connect to the target system.
Password
The password required to connect the specified user to the target system.
Linked OS Connection
Connection
Select the Windows machine to connect to.
For a Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) select Cluster (monitor active node).
Note: For a Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) Spotlight uses the current host node name to select the operating system connection. Therefore each Windows node in the cluster must be monitored by Spotlight. Check that each Windows node is in the list of available OS connections in the Linked OS Connection drop down field. See Connections to Windows Servers to add a Windows node (connection) to the list.
Click Create New to create a new connection to a Windows machine.
If you do not want to monitor an associated Windows machine, select Do not monitor.
Create New Click to create a new connection to a Windows machine.
You will need to complete the following:
Address
The IP address, hostname, or URL of the Windows machine you want to connect to.
Use Diagnostic Server credentials
Select this option to use the user name and password configured on the Spotlight Diagnostic Server to connect to the Windows machine.
User
A valid user account on the target system.
Note: Spotlight on Windows needs to use an account with the privileges required to retrieve server information, query the registry, and access WMI and performance monitor objects. An account with administrative rights to the target machine allows this.
Password
The password required to connect the specified user to the Windows machine.
Use Spotlight on SQL Server
Diagnose CPU
Spotlight continually monitors CPU usage on the target server and alarms if it crosses a threshold. The thresholds are:
| CPU Usage |
Alarm severity |
|---|---|
| 0 – 67% | Normal |
| 67 – 80% | Low |
| 80 – 93% | Medium |
| 93 – 100% | High |
A CPU alarm indicates that a bottleneck on CPU is likely. This bottleneck could exist for a number of reasons – expensive queries could be running, excessive compilation or recompilation could be occurring, or a process on the server, not even related to SQL Server, is ‘hogging’ the CPU. With Spotlight, you can investigate the causes of a bottleneck both in real-time and in the immediate past.
When Spotlight detects that there is a bottleneck on the CPU, an alarm is raised. You can see alarms on the Spotlight home page, and in Spotlight Today.
Our first order of business is to find out what process is using all of the CPU.
| From the Spotlight Home Page | From Spotlight Today |
|---|---|
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Click Diagnostics.
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Select the alarm and click Diagnose.
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This opens the Diagnostics drilldown. The Diagnostics drilldown helps you answer questions such as:
- Why is CPU usage higher than usual?
- Is the SQL Server causing high CPU usage?
- If it is the SQL Server, is it optimizing queries or executing them?
The first grid on the CPU page shows possible causes of CPU pressure and the likelihood that each is contributing to high CPU usage on the server being monitored. Click an item in the grid to display an explanation of the diagnosis and supporting information.