Contents. Revised: 2015/6/1

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2 Contents Copyright SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors. SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED HEREUNDER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS, NOR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY EVEN IF SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. The SolarWinds, the SolarWinds & Design, ipmonitor, LANsurveyor, Orion, and other SolarWinds marks, identified on the SolarWinds website, as updated from SolarWinds from time to time and incorporated herein, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks may be common law marks or registered or pending registration in the United States or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks contained and/or mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Microsoft, Windows, and SQL Server are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Revised: 2015/6/1 For legal notices regarding the third-party components used in this software, see: 2

3 Table of Contents About SolarWinds v Contacting SolarWinds v Conventions v SolarWinds Documentation Library vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Architecture 1 Database Performance Analyzer Server 2 Browser View 2 Database Performance Analyzer Repository Database 2 Monitored Database Instances 2 Monitored Virtualization Environment 2 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer 3 System Requirements 3 Browser Requirements 3 Database Performance Analyzer Server Requirements 4 System Requirements for a Self-Managed DPA Server 4 More than 250 monitored instances 4 System Requirements for an Amazon EC2 DPA Server 5 Database Repository Requirements 5 Minimum System Requirements 5 Ensure Adequate Disk Space for the Repository 6 Administrator Credentials Are Required 6 Database Versions You Can Monitor 6 Self-Managed Databases 7 i

4 Database Performance Analyzer Amazon RDS Databases 7 Databases Converted to RDS or Back are Considered New Instances 9 Before You Install 9 Installation Overview 10 Installing on Windows 11 Starting the Installer 11 After Installing 11 Installing on UNIX and Linux 12 After Installing 13 Installing on Amazon AWS 13 Differences Between Amazon AWS and Self-Managed Servers 13 Launching a SolarWinds DPA Instance 13 Logging on to the SolarWinds DPA Server 17 Configuring DPA Central Server Mode 18 How to Set Up a DPA Central Server 19 How to Add Remote DPA Servers 19 How to View DPA Central Server Mode 19 Advanced Configuration 20 Troubleshooting Tips 25 Upgrading the Database Performance Analyzer Server Software 26 Upgrading on Windows 26 Upgrading on UNIX and Linux 27 Upgrading on an Amazon AMI Instance 28 Resizing to More Powerful Amazon AWS Instance Types 28 Licensing 29 License Types 29 Database Instance Licenses 29 Virtual Machine (VM) Licenses (Optional) 30 Purchasing Licenses 30 Viewing Purchased Licenses 30 ii

5 Table of Contents If You Do Not See Your License 31 Activating Your Licenses 31 Activating Licenses if You Have Direct Internet Connectivity 31 Activating Licenses Offline if You Do Not Have Direct Internet Connectivity 32 Allocating Licenses to Database Instances 34 Opening the License Allocation Page 34 Viewing the Current License Allocations 34 Allocating Licenses to Database Instances 34 Allocating VM Licenses to VM Database Instances 35 Deallocating Licenses 35 Deactivating Licenses 35 Online Deactivation 36 Offline Deactivation 36 Troubleshooting Over-Allocated Licenses 36 Adding Users and Controlling Access 37 Enabling Active Directory User Authentication 37 Enabling LDAP User Authentication 37 Enabling Single Sign On (SSO) 37 Creating a user or AD/LDAP group 38 Chapter 3: Getting Started 39 Step 1: Identify the Top 3 Query Problems 40 Step 2: Correlate Response Time with System Resources 42 Step 3: Determine Specific Wait Bottlenecks Slowing Response Time 44 Step 4: Diagnose the Situation Right Now 47 Step 5: Set Up Proactive Management 50 Reports 50 Setting Alerts 52 The Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet 56 Performing Advanced Analysis 57 Instance Groups 58 iii

6 Database Performance Analyzer Monitoring 58 Logs 59 More Features 59 Trend Reports 59 Trend Reports Use Summarized Data 60 Minimum Data to Generate a Report 60 Creating a Report 60 Report Types 61 Alerts 62 Wait Time Alerts 63 Database Administration Alerts 63 Custom Alerts 64 Alert Attributes 65 Monitoring Blackout Periods 68 Enabling SNMP Monitoring in SCOM 68 iv

7 About SolarWinds About SolarWinds SolarWinds, Inc. develops and markets an array of network management, monitoring, and discovery tools to meet the diverse requirements of today s network management and consulting professionals. SolarWinds products continue to set benchmarks for quality and performance and have positioned the company as the leader in network management and discovery technology. The SolarWinds customer base includes over 45 percent of the Fortune 500 and customers from over 90 countries. Our global business partner distributor network exceeds 100 distributors and resellers. Contacting SolarWinds You can contact SolarWinds in a number of ways, including the following: Team Contact Information Sales Technical Support User Forums Conventions The documentation uses consistent conventions to help you identify items throughout the printed and online library. Convention Bold Italics Fixed font Straight brackets, as in [value] Curly braces, as in {value} Specifying Window items, including buttons and fields Book and CD titles, variable names, new terms File and directory names, commands and code examples, text typed by you Optional command parameters Required command parameters v

8 About SolarWinds Logical OR, as in value1 value2 Exclusive command parameters where only one of the options can be specified SolarWinds Documentation Library The following documents are included in the SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer Documentation Library. Document Purpose Page Help Video Tutorials Success Guide Online Help Release Notes Provides context-sensitive help for the DPA user interface. Browse to the Database Performance Analyzer videos Provides a process for deploying Database Performance Analyzer. Provides information on getting started. To access this help, click How do I use a performance analysis tool? on the banner bar. Provides late-breaking information, known issues, and updates. The latest Release Notes can be found at vi

9 Chapter 1: Introduction Database Performance Analyzer for Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, and Sybase gives you the means to easily and quickly monitor, diagnose, and resolve performance problems. Database Performance Analyzer is a 24/7 database performance monitoring and problem isolation tool based on industry best practice performance intelligence and wait time analysis methods. Architecture SolarWinds DPA consists of: a SolarWinds DPA server a SolarWinds DPA repository database one or more database instances you want to monitor The SolarWinds DPA server collects performance data from a set of database instances you choose to monitor.. SolarWinds DPAthen stores this data in the repository database. Note: Placing the optimal performance the repository and the monitored database instances need to reside on the same high-speed LAN. If your environment contains database instances that are on separate LANs, we recommend that it be set up on each LAN. The Database Performance Analyzer server provides a web interface to let you view performance data from a web browser from any computer with access to the Database Performance Analyzer server. Several Database Performance Analyzer installations can reside on the same machine. On UNIX/Linux, this is done by installing each instance of Database Performance Analyzer in a separate directory. The Database Performance Analyzer Windows version supports the installation of a single Database Performance Analyzer on a machine. Contact if you need multiple instances of Database Performance Analyzer installed on a Windows machine. 1

10 Chapter 1: Introduction Database Performance Analyzer Server The Database Performance Analyzer Server performs two key functions: collects data from the monitored database instances provides a web interface to let you view performance data from any computer with access to the Database Performance Analyzer server Browser View Database Performance Analyzer uses a web browser to view performance data. From this interface, you configure monitoring and use advanced Database Performance Analyzer features such as alerting and ing reports. Database Performance Analyzer Repository Database The repository database holds all the performance information collected by Database Performance Analyzer. Monitored Database Instances The Database Performance Analyzer remotely connects to each database instance using a JDBC connection. It causes less than 1% overhead on the instance. No software is installed on the monitored server. Monitored Virtualization Environment If you are running Database Performance Analyzer in a virtual environment, it can remotely connect to each VMware vcenter Server or ESX/ESXi host. It causes less than 1% overhead on the monitored systems. No software is installed in the vcenter Server, ESX/ESXi host or Virtual Machines. 2

11 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer This chapter discusses how to install and set up SolarWinds DPA. It contains the following topics: "System Requirements" below "Before You Install" on page 9 "Installation Overview" on page 10 "Installing on Windows" on page 11 "Installing on UNIX and Linux" on page 12 "Installing on Amazon AWS" on page 13 "Configuring DPA Central Server Mode" on page 18 "Troubleshooting Tips" on page 25 "Upgrading the Database Performance Analyzer Server Software" on page 26 "Licensing" on page 29 "Adding Users and Controlling Access" on page 37 System Requirements This section discusses the system requirements for SolarWinds DPA: Browser Requirements Database Performance Analyzer Server Requirements Database Repository Requirements Database Versions You Can Monitor Browser Requirements SolarWinds DPA supports the following browsers: 3

12 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 9, 10, and 11 Note: Do not use IE compatibility view. It is incompatible with SolarWinds DPA and may cause our software to function incorrectly. Firefox 35 and higher Chrome (latest version) Database Performance Analyzer Server Requirements You can install SolarWinds DPA on any physical or virtual Windows, UNIX, or Linux server that supports the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.6 or 1.7. You can also launch SolarWinds DPA in theamazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) from an Amazon Machine Image (AMI). The AMI contains both a SolarWinds DPA server and a built-in Microsoft SQL Server instance preconfigured as the DPA repository. System Requirements for a Self-Managed DPA Server The system must have JRE 1.6 or 1.7 installed. The other minimum requirements for the server specifications and operating system architecture depend on the number of database instances you plan to monitor. Monitored Database Instances CPUs RAM (dedicated to DPA) OS Architecture GB 32 or 64 bit GB 32 or 64 bit GB 64 bit GB 64 bit More than 250 monitored instances If you plan to monitor more than 250 database instances, consider using more than one SolarWinds DPA server for monitoring. "Configuring DPA Central Server Mode" on page 18 4

13 System Requirements for an Amazon EC2 DPA Server System Requirements for an Amazon EC2 DPA Server The minimum required Amazon EC2 instance type for the SolarWinds DPA AMI is m3.medium. Smaller instance types are not supported. An m3.medium size instance can reliably monitor 10 database instances. You may need a larger instance type to reliably monitor more than that. For more information, see Resizing to More Powerful Amazon AWS Instance Types. Database Repository Requirements The SolarWinds DPA repository is the database that stores the data collected by SolarWinds DPA. You may host the repository database on an instance of Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server: Oracle Oracle Oracle Oracle 12.1 single tenant Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server 2008 SP4 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP3 Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP2 Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Do not use Express editions of either Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server. You will run out of space due to the 4GB database size limit on these editions. Do not host the repository on a database instance that you plan to monitor because this affects the performance of that instance. We do not support Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) instances as a repository. You may host a self-managed Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database on Amazon EC2 to use as your repository. Minimum System Requirements The server hosting your repository must meet these minimum requirements: Number of Monitored Database Instances Minimum Number of CPUs Reserved RAM Architecture GB 32 or 64 bit GB 64 bit 5

14 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer GB 64 bit GB 64 bit Note: If you are installing SolarWinds DPA on the same server as the repository database, these requirements are what you need in addition to the SolarWinds DPA requirements. Ensure Adequate Disk Space for the Repository The amount of disk space your repository uses is a function of the number of database instances you are monitoring and the level of activity of each instance. Here is a guideline for you: Database Instance Activity Level Light Medium Heavy Disk Space Required 1 GB 3 GB 5 GB Example You are monitoring 5 light, 3 medium, and 2 heavy activity database instances. (5 x 1GB) + (3 x 3GB) + (2 x 5GB) = 24 GB You should reserve at least 24 GB to provide adequate disk space for this repository database. Administrator Credentials Are Required You will need to know the DBA credentials (Oracle) or the Sysadmin credentials (MSSQL) for the database instance hosting your repository. Database Versions You Can Monitor SolarWinds DPA can monitor database instances you manage on both physical and virtual servers or Amazon RDS instances hosted in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). You can monitor Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase ASE, and IBM DB2 database instances. The server hosting SolarWinds DPA must be able to connect to the monitored server. 6

15 Self-Managed Databases Self-Managed Databases Oracle Database SYS user privileges are required for the initial set up. Microsoft SQL Server SYSADMIN role privileges are required for the initial set up. SAP Sybase ASE SA_ROLE privileges are required for the initial setup. IBM DB2 LUW SYSADM privileges are required to set up performance tuning in DB2. Supported Version 10g Release 5 ( ) 11g Release 2 (11.2.x) 12c Release 1 (12.1.x) single-tenant 2008 SP R2 SP SP x Amazon RDS Databases SolarWinds DPA can monitor Amazon RDS Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server instances. Some features that are available on self-managed database instances are not available for Amazon RDS instances because of Amazon RDS access restrictions. 7

16 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer Amazon RDS Supported Versions Oracle 11.2.x Unavailable alerts: Key Differences Oracle Alert Log Error uses V$DIAG_ALERT_ EXT instead of X$DBGALERTEXT Explain plans: Explain plans cannot be generated with a SYS account. You must specify a different account to generate the live plan. Workarounds for not having a SYS.UTL_CON package Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 sp To kill a real-time session, use RDSADMIN.RDSADMIN_UTIL.KILL Trace session permissions granted through START_TRACE_IN_SESSION and STOP_ TRACE_IN_SESSION Unavailable alerts: SQL Server Windows Service not Running SQL Server Long Running Jobs SQL Server Log has Many Virtual Logs SQL Server Job Failure SQL Server Error Log Alert Explain plans: The DPA monitoring user does not have a sysadmin role and may have limited access to objects. You can specify a different user to generate the live plan before you generate the plan. WMI-based statistics are not available: CPU Queue Length 8

17 Databases Converted to RDS or Back are Considered New Instances Amazon RDS Supported Versions Key Differences CPU Utilization Disk Queue Length Memory Paging Rate Memory Utilization Physical I/O Rate Physical Read Rate Physical Write Rate Workaround for not having a sysadmin role: DPA user is a member of processadmin role Databases Converted to RDS or Back are Considered New Instances SolarWinds DPA considers any databases you convert to Amazon RDS or back to self-managed to be a new instance. You must unregister the previous version of the instance and then register the conversion as a new instance. It is not possible to update the registered database connection information to simply repoint the connection to the new location of the database instance if moving it back and forth from an RDS version. Before You Install Before installing Database Performance Analyzer, perform the following steps. 1. Identify the server where the Database Performance Analyzer software will be installed. Make sure the server: Is powerful enough to handle the load of the potential number of monitored database instances that you will register. Has network connectivity to the Database Performance Analyzer Repository and each of the monitored database instances that you will register. Database Performance Analyzer software can be installed on the same server as the repository instance although it is not required. 9

18 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer 2. Identify the Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database instance that will hold the Database Performance Analyzer Repository. a. Ensure the repository is not installed in a critical production database instance. b. For a Microsoft SQL Server Repository, ensure that a username/password with SYSADMIN privileges is available during installation. c. For an Oracle Repository, ensure that a username/password with DBA privileges is available during installation. 3. Obtain appropriate login credentials for each of the monitored databases. Database Oracle Credentials non-sys DBA username/password SYS password SQL Server DB2 Sybase SYSADMIN username/password If the SQL Server instance uses Windows Authentication, Database Performance Analyzer will need a SYSADMIN username/password that it will store and use for monitoring. Username/password with SYSADM Username/password that is a member of the sa_role 4. If you are using Database Performance Analyzer with the VM option, you must have a read-only user with access to vcenter or ESX for monitoring. Tip: Database Performance Analyzer monitoring performs best if a high-speed network exists between the repository and the monitored database instances. Although monitoring will work across a WAN or low-speed network, it may be necessary to reduce the frequency that Database Performance Analyzer collects the performance data. Installation Overview 1. Install the Database Performance Analyzer server software on a Windows, UNIX, or Linux computer. 10

19 Installing on Windows 2. Use the Database Performance Analyzer Setup Wizards to: a. Create and configure a repository database on a non-production instance of Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server. b. Register database instances to be monitored by the repository. You should not monitor the same database instance from more than one installed instance of Database Performance Analyzer. Installing on Windows SolarWinds DPA for Microsoft Windows comes as a typical Windows installer. You can download the 64-bit installer as a.zip file from your SolarWinds customer portal, If you require the 32-bit installer, please open a technical support ticket on our website: Note: You can download evaluation versions of SolarWinds DPA from the SolarWinds web site. Starting the Installer The default installation folder is C:\Program Files\Solarwinds\DPA. If you choose to not specify your own installation folder during the installation process, this default folder becomes the SolarWinds DPA Home directory. The installation process creates a Windows service called Ignite PI Server. This service is set to run automatically when the server is restarted. You can stop SolarWinds DPA by shutting down this service. You may change the start up type of this service to manual if you so choose. 1. Log on to your Windows server as an administrator. 2. Extract and run the installer program file from the.zip file. 3. Follow the instructions in the installer. After Installing 1. Open your web browser to 2. Complete the Repository Creation Wizard. 11

20 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer 3. Begin registering database instances for monitoring in the Register Instance Wizard. Installing on UNIX and Linux The installer requires Java 1.6 or 1.7 installed on your system. If you do not have Java, you can still proceed by following the manual unzip instructions. The procedure below includes both sets of instructions. 1. Download the installer from the SolarWinds customer portal, Note: If you require the 32-bit installer, please open a technical support ticket on our website: Note: You can download evaluation versions of SolarWinds DPA from the SolarWinds web site. 2. Create a directory to hold this version (and future versions) of Database Performance Analyzer (e.g, /home/dpa). 3. Untar the downloaded file into the above directory. 4. Run the dpa_<version>_installer.sh script: Make it executable and run it directly: chmod +x dpa_<version>_installer.sh./dpa_<version>_installer.sh -or- Run it in the shell: sh dpa_<version>_installer.sh 5. If the installer fails because you do not have Java: 1. Use an unzip tool to manually extract the files from the installer to /home/dpa. 2. Set chmod 775 file permissions on all extracted executable files. Example: find "/home/dpa/dpa_9_1_85" -name "*.sh" -exec chmod 775 {} \; 6. The installer will prompt you for needed information, including creating a directory on the server to hold the new installation. This will be the Database Performance Analyzer Home directory. 12

21 After Installing 7. Start Database Performance Analyzer. 1. From the Database Performance Analyzer home directory, run./startup.sh 2. Open a browser and connect to 3. When you run Database Performance Analyzer for the first time, a wizard will walk you through the process of creating a repository and monitoring database instances. After Installing 1. Open your web browser to 2. Complete the Repository Creation Wizard. 3. Begin registering database instances for monitoring in the Register Instance Wizard. Installing on Amazon AWS You can deploy SolarWinds DPA in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) from an Amazon Machine Image (AMI). Differences Between Amazon AWS and Self-Managed Servers Runs on default HTTP/HTTPS ports 80 and 443 You can access the SolarWinds DPA user interface on the standard HTTP port 80 and HTTPS port 443. The Windows Firewall settings have been set to allow inbound HTTP and HTTPS traffic. Pre-configured DPA repository This server comes with a built-in, Microsoft SQL Server DPA repository. The DPA repository stores the monitoring data for SolarWinds DPA. Pre-configured administrator account There is a pre-configured DPA administrator account, "dpa". The password is the Amazon Instance ID of the server. You can find the Instance ID in your Amazon EC2 dashboard. Launching a SolarWinds DPA Instance Follow these instructions to launch an instance in Amazon EC2. 13

22 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer 1. Log on to Amazon AWS. 2. Select the Amazon EC2 region in which you want to launch the instance. For example: US East (N. Virginia). 3. Click EC2. 4. Click Launch Instance. 5. On the Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) page: 1. Click the Community AMI tab. 2. Search for SolarWinds DPA and then click Select next to the AMI. 6. On the Choose an Instance Type page: 1. Select an instance type that is at least m3.medium or larger. This table lists the instance types we recommend. 14

23 Launching a SolarWinds DPA Instance General Purpose Compute optimized Memory optimized m3.medium c3.large r3.large m3.large c3.xlarge m3.xlarge c3.2xlarge m3.2xlarge m3.medium is an economical choice and a logical instance type to start with. However, large deployments and managing very active databases need the increased resources and optimizations available to the larger instance types. You can select the size you need right now and then resize to a larger instance type later. 2. Click Next: Configure Instance Details. 7. On the Configure Instance Details Type page: If you have used Amazon EC2 before, you probably already have an Amazon VPC network and subnet set up. Your existing network and subnet is selected by default. 1. Make sure that: You have enabled Auto-assign public IP so you can connect to SolarWinds DPA from your desktop. You have configured any other settings to suit your network or subnet requirements. 2. Click Next: Add Storage. 8. On the Add Storage page: 1. You can configure additional storage beyond this default storage that the AMI provisions for you: Type Root EBS Size 50 GiB 100 GiB The Delete on Termination option is not selected by default. It is a 15

24 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer good precautionary practice to have to separately delete the data volume after terminating an instance. 2. Click Next: Tag Instance. 9. On the Tag Instance page: 1. Give the tag Name the value SolarWinds DPA to more easily recognize your instance in Amazon EC2. 2. Click Next: Configure Security Group. 10. On the Configure Security Group page: 1. Add rules that allow inbound access to at least the remote desktop and the HTTP/HTTPS ports. Type Protocol Port Range HTTP TCP 80 HTTPS TCP 443 RDP TCP If you want to restrict access to DPA to just your current IP address, change the Source for these rules to My IP. Leaving Source set to Anywhere is less secure. 3. If you want to restrict access to DPA to just people in your organization, select Custom IP for the Source and specify an IP range in CIDR notation that matches the external IP addresses used in your organization. 4. Click Review and Launch. 16

25 Logging on to the SolarWinds DPA Server 11. On the Review Instance Launch page: 1. Review your instance options. 2. Click Launch - the Select an existing key pair or create a new key pair dialog box appears. 12. In the dialog box, secure your AMI instance with a public key pair. If you do not have a key pair yet: 1. Select Create a new key pair. 2. Enter a Key pair name. 3. Click Download Key Pair. 4. Store this file in a secure and accessible location. If you have a key pair already: 1. Select Choose an existing key pair. 2. Select a secure and accessible key pair. 3. Accept the acknowledgment. 13. Click Launch Instances. 14. Wait a few minutes for the provisioning and initialization to finish. Logging on to the SolarWinds DPA Server You can access your SolarWinds DPA server by its public hostname or IP address. 1. On the Amazon EC2 Instances page, find: 1. the public DNS or public IP address of your new SolarWinds DPA server. 17

26 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer 2. the instance ID 2. Open a web browser to the host name or IP address of your new SolarWinds DPA server. 3. From the web browser, log on as the dpa user. The password is the Instance ID. For example: i (First time only) Select your time zone and then wait for the first-time configuration to finish. Configuring DPA Central Server Mode DPA Central Server is a configuration option that lets you link separate SolarWinds DPA servers together. This is useful if: you want to monitor more than 250 database instances. You can divide monitoring tasks between different SolarWinds DPA servers. your monitored databases are distributed geographically. You can install separate SolarWinds DPA servers in each geographic location. The DPA Central Server collects information from all your remote DPA servers and rolls up the data into a single interface including viewing alarm information, monitoring summary information and database issues. 18

27 How to Set Up a DPA Central Server How to Set Up a DPA Central Server All SolarWinds DPA versions support DPA Central Server. 1. Install SolarWinds DPA on a server. This will be your DPA Central Server. 2. Log on to that instance as an administrator. 3. Click Options > Administration tab > Manage Central. 4. Your SolarWinds DPA server should already be listed as the Central DPA Server in the list of Registered Servers. How to Add Remote DPA Servers 1. Click Add Server. 2. Fill in the details about the remote DPA server. 3. Click Test connection. 4. If the test failed, it may be because the host name you entered for Server Name contains an underscore _ character which is not valid for host names. If you cannot rename the host, you can enter an IP address here instead. 5. If the test succeeds, click Save. 6. Repeat these steps for all remaining remote DPA servers. The details of your remote DPA servers are not stored in the repository, but rather in a local file on your Central DPA Server: /iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/iwc/central/remoterepositories.json This file is a JSON file which is plain text and fairly human-readable, and there is no sensitive data stored in this file. How to View DPA Central Server Mode The default home page of a DPA Central Server is still the regular SolarWinds DPA home page. You must navigate to the Central Server page to see information from all the registered remote servers. 1. Log on to your DPA Central Server as an administrator. 2. Click Options > Administration tab > Manage Central. 3. Click the Central button. 19

28 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer Advanced Configuration Central is pre-configured to run fine in most environments, but depending on how it is used you may need to make some configuration changes to make it run more efficiently for your environment. The following tables explain some of these advanced setting. To change the default behavior, you can edit the system.properties file in the /iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/idc directory of your Central DPA Server and add the desired setting. Bold values are the default values. Thread Pool Settings These settings control the number of threads that will be used by Central to make web service calls to other remote servers. The default settings are set for a few concurrent users hitting up to 100 remote instances. If you have more than 100 instances or a lot of concurrent users you may want to play with these settings. com.confio.iwc.centralservicetaskexecutor.corepoolsize 20 The core number of threads that Central will use to make web service calls to the remote servers. com.confio.iwc.centralservicetaskexecutor.maxpoolsize 40 The maximum number of threads that Central will use to 20

29 Advanced Configuration make web service calls to the remote servers. Central will add more threads only when there are no more core threads and the task queue is full. 21

30 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer com.confio.iwc.centralservicetaskexecutor.queuecapacity com.- confio.iwc.centralservicetaskexecutor.keepaliveseconds This is the maximum number of requests that we will allow to queue up before spawning new threads to help with the work or flat out rejecting the request. Tasks will be rejected if all 40 threads can't keep with all of the requests being made. 120 This is how long we will keep an idle thread around 22

31 Advanced Configuration before pruning it. General Central Settings com.confio.iwc.central.enabled com.confio.iwc.token.- login.supported com.confio.iwc.show.all.errors true /false true /false true/ false com.confio.iwc.automatic.update true /false This is a flag that will completely disable the use of Ignite Central This is a flag that will enable/disable the use of encrypted login tokens when jumping from "Central" to a remote Ignite instance. When set to true, a web service call is made that authenticates the user and creates a short lived token that will be used to identify the incoming user and bypass the login process. If this value is set to false, the user will always be prompted to login to the remote Ignite instance. When set to true, all users will see all remote failures in the Unavailable Ignite Servers section. When set to false, only administrators will see failures in the Unavailable Ignite Servers section. The idea here is that we may not want normal users to know about other Ignite instances throughout the organization, and seeing failures would let them know. When ignite starts up a process is started that will perform some simple checks on the file like flagging any local instances as the 23

32 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer com.confio.iwc.alarm.level "Central" server. If for some reason this process needs to be turned off, you can set this value to false. Warning The minimum level to include in alarm details, empty disables details. (Valid values are Normal, Warning, Critical and empty). com.confio.iwc.alarm.count 200 The number of detail rows to show on the Alarm Details tab. Client Factory Cache A client factory is used to create web service clients that are used to talk to remote instances on a per user basis. One client factory is created per host:port combination (not per user) so the same factory can and will be used to create individual clients for different users. Factory creation is fairly expensive since an initial handshake is done between the client and server, therefore we keep then in a cache to be reused. com.confio.iwc.client.factory.cache.size 100 By default we will hold on to 100 client factories which equates to 100 unique remote Ignite instances. If a customer is connecting to more than 100 remote instances, this should probably be bumped up. com.confio.iwc.client.factory.cache.timeout 1800 The amount of time in seconds that a client factory will remain in the cache without being used. The default is 30 minutes. 24

33 Troubleshooting Tips com.confio.iwc.client.factory.connection.timeout 15 Specifies the amount of time, in seconds, that the client will attempt to establish a connection before it times out. The default is 15 seconds. 0 specifies that the client will continue to attempt to open a connection indefinitely. com.confio.iwc.client.factory.read.timeout 30 Specifies the amount of time, in seconds, that the client will wait for a response before it times out. The default is 30 seconds. 0 specifies that the client will wait indefinitely. com.confio.iwc.client.factory.enable.chunking com.confio.iwc.client.factory.enable.log Troubleshooting Tips true/ false true /false Enables http chunking, false is the safe way to go. Enables logging of inbound and outbound messaging to capture the web service calls. Log levels are still controlled in our log4j.xml file but setting this to false will disable it altogether in case it is causing problems. View the logs available in the installdir/iwc/tomcat/logs/ directory. 25

34 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer Make sure a firewall is not running on the machine. Make sure another process is not using the default Database Performance Analyzer ports. If the ports are being used by another process, change the default ports of 8123 and 8127 by editing installdir/iwc/tomcat/conf/server.xml and updating the following lines with new port numbers: <Connector port="8123"/><server port="8127" shutdown="shutdown"> Upgrading the Database Performance Analyzer Server Software SolarWinds DPA 9.2 allows upgrades from: Confio Ignite 8.3 or later SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer 9.0 or later To upgrade from an earlier version of the software, please open a SolarWinds Technical Support ticket for assistance. Upgrading on Windows If you are upgrading from SolarWinds DPA 9.0 or earlier, we have granted you new instance-based licenses for DPA that you will find in your customer portal. Before upgrading, log on to the SolarWinds Customer Portal and verify that you have your new instance-based keys listed as Category 1, Category 2, and VM Option. 1. Download the most recent version of the software from your SolarWinds Customer portal, 2. Run the installer. 3. When asked, verify that you have a valid instance-based Category 1 or Category 2 activation key(s). 4. Follow the installer instructions. 5. Open a web browser to your SolarWinds DPA server. 6. Click Enter Activation Key. 26

35 Upgrading on UNIX and Linux 7. Activate a key using the online or the offline method as appropriate, and then click Done. "Licensing" on page Click Proceed with Upgrade. 9. Wait for the upgrade to finish. Upgrading on UNIX and Linux If you are upgrading from SolarWinds DPA 9.0 or earlier, we have granted you new instance-based licenses for DPA that you will find in your customer portal. Before upgrading, log on to the SolarWinds Customer Portal and verify that you have your new instance-based keys listed as Category 1, Category 2, and VM Option. 1. Download the most recent version of the software from your SolarWinds Customer portal, 2. Install the new version of the software on your existing server. 3. Run shutdown.sh from the old installation directory. 4. Locate the directory that was created when you installed the new version: /home/dpa_9_0_xxx <= old installation home (might be ignite_8_x_xxx) /home/dpa_9_1_xxx <= new SolarWinds DPA home 5. Copy or move these directories from the old installation to the new: WARNING! Do not copy any hotfix files! cp -fr OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/* NEW_ home/iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/ cp -fr OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/logs/* NEW_home/iwc/tomcat/logs/ cp OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/licensing NEW_home/iwc/tomcat/ 6. If you are: using LDAPS, or using SSL, or have changed the default SolarWinds DPA ports then also complete the following tasks: a. Copy server.xml to the new installation. cp -fr OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/conf/server.xml NEW_ home/iwc/tomcat/conf/ NOTE: If you are using LDAPS but not SSL, it is not necessary to 27

36 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer copy the server.xml file. b. Copy the keystore to the new installation. cp -fr OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/conf/.keystore NEW_ home/iwc/tomcat/conf/ 7. Open a web browser to your SolarWinds DPA server. 8. Click Enter Activation Key. 9. Activate a key using the online or the offline method as appropriate, and then click Done. "Licensing" on the facing page. 10. Click Proceed with Upgrade. 11. Wait for the upgrade to finish. Upgrading on an Amazon AMI Instance 1. Open a remote desktop session to your SolarWinds DPA instance in Amazon EC2 and log on. 2. Download the most recent version of the software from your SolarWinds Customer portal, 3. Run the installer. 4. The installation wizard upgrades Database Performance Analyzer. Resizing to More Powerful Amazon AWS Instance Types The m3.medium Amazon EC2 instance type is sufficient only for monitoring up to 10 database instances. You should resize your AWS Instance type as your monitoring needs grow. For more information, see the Amazon AWS Documentation topic, "Resizing Your Instance": instance-resize.html#resize-ebs-backed-instance The brief steps are: 1. Go to the EC2 dashboard. 2. Stop the instance. 3. Click Actions > Instance Settings > Change Instance Type and then 28

37 Licensing select a more suitable instance type. 4. Restart the instance and then reassociate any Elastic IP addresses. Licensing SolarWinds DPA comes with a 14-day evaluation license. During the evaluation period, you can monitor and view data for an unrestricted number of database instances. After the end of the evaluation period, you will need to purchase the appropriate quantity and type of licenses for the database instances you want to monitor. License Types Each database instance you monitor with SolarWinds DPA requires a license. You must buy a database instance license for each database instance you monitor. Optionally, you may buy virtual machine licenses to monitor the virtual infrastructure hosting one of your database instances. Database Instance Licenses Purchase an instance license for each database instance you want to monitor. SolarWinds sells licenses by category according to the database edition they are authorized to monitor. Category 1 licenses monitor... IBM DB2: all editions except Express Oracle: all editions except Standard and Express Sybase: all editions except Express Category 2 licenses monitor... Microsoft SQL Server: all editions IBM DB2: Express edition Oracle: Standard and Express editions Sybase: Express edition If you run out of Category 2 licenses, use Category 1 licenses instead. Category 1 licenses can register all database types. 29

38 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer Virtual Machine (VM) Licenses (Optional) Purchase optional Virtual Machine licenses to see information related to the virtual infrastructure of database instances in the Virtualization view. Each license lets you see VM-related information for one database instance. A VM license can only be applied to a database instance you have already bought a database instance license for. Purchasing Licenses Contact our sales team to purchase licenses directly from SolarWinds in the manner most convenient to you. Only buy licenses for active database instances. Standby database instances used for disaster recover or high availability do not need licenses. on the web over sales@solarwinds.com over the telephone +1 (866) Viewing Purchased Licenses You can view your SolarWinds DPA licenses in the SolarWinds customer portal ( Log on to the customer portal with your SolarWinds Customer ID and password. The licenses for your SolarWinds DPA product are in the License Management section of the Customer Portal. Scroll up or down to locate your Database Performance Analyzer licenses. The licenses are listed by category. Category 1 is for Oracle, DB2, and Sybase. Category 2 is for SQL Server, Oracle Std/Express, DB2 Express, and Sybase Express. 30

39 If You Do Not See Your License If You Do Not See Your License If you cannot find your licenses for SolarWinds DPA, please submit a Customer Service Ticket ( and we will help you. Activating Your Licenses Your licenses are grouped into activation keys that you can find in your Customer Portal. After activating a number of licenses, you can then allocate these licenses on the License Allocation page amongst the database instances you want to monitor. If your SolarWinds DPAserver uses a proxy to connect to the Internet or has no Internet connection, follow the activation procedure below titled "Activating Licenses Offline if You Do Not Have Direct Internet Connectivity". If your SolarWinds DPA server has Internet Connectivity, follow the activation procedure below titled "Activating Licenses if You Have Direct Internet Connectivity Activating Licenses if You Have Direct Internet Connectivity If the SolarWinds DPA server has direct Internet connectivity, you can use online activation. 1. From the SolarWinds Customer Portal, copy an activation key that has available licenses. 1. Log on to the SolarWinds Customer Portal ( 2. Locate the license in the SolarWinds customer portal and then click [+] to expand it. 3. Copy the activation key to the clipboard. 31

40 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer 2. On the SolarWinds DPA License Manager page, paste the activation key. 1. Open the SolarWinds DPA Web Client in your browser. 2. On the Home page, click License Management and then click License Manager. 3. Click Enter Activation Key. 4. Select Online Activation. 5. On the Online Activation page, paste the activation key into the correct field. For example, if this is a Category 1 key, paste it into the Category 1 field. 6. In the Amount to Activate section, select All Available or Specify Amount. Select All Available to activate all availabe licenses. Select Specify Amount to activate only a portion of the available licenses. Tip: Unactivated licenses can be activated at a later time. You can even reuse an activation key on an entirely different SolarWinds DPA server and activate any remaining licenses there. 7. Fill out the remaining fields and then click Activate. 8. Click Done. Your license keys are now activated. Activating Licenses Offline if You Do Not Have Direct Internet Connectivity Offline activation requires you to have a way to transfer files between the SolarWinds DPA server and an Internet-capable computer. You may use , shared storage, a USB memory stick, and other such methods to transfer files. 32

41 Activating Licenses Offline if You Do Not Have Direct Internet Connectivity 1. Go to the Offline Activation page. 1. Open the SolarWinds DPA Web Client in your browser. 2. On the Home page, click License Management and then click License Manager. 3. Click Enter Activation Key. 4. Select Offline Activation. 2. On the Offline Activation page, copy the long text string next to the license type you want to activate and save it to a text file. This is your unique machine ID. Be sure to include the brackets. For example: [Ao5yFukOXlTETNF3hjTA278dkwnTCunVTYYteV06n3k/KXe:WqOZI4+jNAMAAAABB BAkA] 3. Transfer this text file to a computer with Internet access. 4. Retrieve the license key files using the computer with Internet access: 1. Log on to the SolarWinds Customer Portal ( 2. Locate the license in the SolarWinds customer portal and then click [+] to expand it. 3. Click Manually Register License. 4. Click Generate Activation Key. 5. Paste the long text string into the Unique Machine ID field and fill in the other fields appropriately. 6. Click Generate License File. This downloads a license file. 5. Transfer the license file back to the SolarWinds DPA server. 33

42 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer 6. On the Offline Activation page, click Choose File to choose the license file you just transferred, and then click Activate. Your license key is now activated. Allocating Licenses to Database Instances The License Allocation page lets you configure and reconfigure how your licenses are allocated to database instances. Make use of your SolarWinds DPA licenses by allocating them among your registered database instances. We start monitoring new instances immediately after you allocate your licenses. Category 1 and 2 licenses collect the data shown in the Performance view. VM licenses collect the data shown in the Virtualization view. Opening the License Allocation Page 1. Open the SolarWinds DPA Web Client in your browser. 2. On the Home page, click License Management. Viewing the Current License Allocations You can see the current license allocations in the summary boxes near the top of the License Allocation page. Allocating Licenses to Database Instances You must allocate licenses to each database instance you want to monitor and collect data from. 34

43 Allocating VM Licenses to VM Database Instances 1. From the list, find the registered database instances you want to monitor. 2. Select the Cat 1or Cat 2 check box next to that instance. 3. Click Save when finished. After you allocate a license, you will see the license count update accordingly. Allocating VM Licenses to VM Database Instances If you have VM licenses, you must allocate them to each database instance you want to monitor and collect virtual infrastructure-related data from. VM licenses are in addition to the regular SolarWinds DPA licenses required to normally monitor that database instance. 1. From the list, find a VM-hosted database instance that already has a Category 1 or 2 license allocated to it. 2. Select the VM check box next to that instance. 3. Click Save when finished. Deallocating Licenses If you change your mind about the registered databases instance you want to monitor, you can deallocate licenses to make licenses available to register other database instances. Deallocating a license is similar to allocating a license, except that you clear the check box instead. Note: If you clear a Category 1 or 2 license from an instance that also has a VM license, we automatically clear the VM license for you too. Deactivating Licenses For various reasons, you may want to deactivate licenses on a SolarWinds DPA server to make them available elsewhere. If you were able to use online activation for your licenses, you can deactivate them online too. If you had to activate your licenses offline, you must use the offline deactivation process. 35

44 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer Online Deactivation 1. Open the SolarWinds DPA Web Client in your browser. 2. On the Home page, click License Management and then click License Manager. 3. In the Licenses section, locate the License Key you want to deactivate. 4. Click Deactivate. 5. Your license is deactivated and the License Deactivated notification appears. Offline Deactivation To deactivate licenses in an offline or Internet proxy environment, contact SolarWinds customer support: Troubleshooting Over-Allocated Licenses A red banner appears on the home page if SolarWinds DPA is tasked with monitoring more registered database instances than you have licenses to monitor. This can happen in two situations: a license expires when you still have unexpired licenses of the same type on the server you deactivate a license and still have other licenses of the same type on the server If SolarWinds DPA licenses are over-allocated, you cannot view or analyze your database instances until you de-allocate the extra licenses. SolarWinds DPA continues monitoring the databases, so you will not lose any data while you bring the allocated licenses back to an allowable level. To fix over-allocated licenses, de-allocate database instances until you reach the proper number of licenses. If the over-allocation is for Category 2 licenses, you may assign any available Category 1 licenses to cover the shortage. 1. On the Home page, click License Management. 2. Look at the allocations chart to find the over-allocated license type. Overallocated license types are shown in red. 36

45 Adding Users and Controlling Access 3. De-allocate databases instances until the chart is no longer red. 4. Click Save. 5. You should now be able to see your database instances in your views. Adding Users and Controlling Access SolarWinds DPA provides a way to create and manage several different types of users who can access repository data. Some users can only view the data, while others can start and stop monitoring database instances or change the monitoring parameters. Each user in an installed instance of SolarWinds DPA must have a unique user name. SolarWinds DPA supports Active Directory(AD) and LDAP authentication. Using your existing authentication infrastructure eliminates the need to duplicate your user accounts in SolarWinds DPA. After you configure AD or LDAP authentication, your users can log in with either their domain account or a "custom user" account that SolarWinds DPAcreates for each of them. Enabling Active Directory User Authentication SolarWinds DPA integrates with Windows Active Directory 2003 or later and leverages the security group information from AD to assign permissions to groups within SolarWinds DPA. For more information, see Enabling LDAP User Authentication SolarWinds DPA integrates with most LDAP implementations to assign permissions to groups within SolarWinds DPA. For more information, see Enabling Single Sign On (SSO) Single sign-on allows your AD and LDAP users to log into SolarWinds DPA without re-entering the domain credentials they used to log on to their operating 37

46 Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer system. Note: Before configuring SSO, make sure you have configured SolarWinds DPA for either AD or LDAP authentication. For more information, see Creating a user or AD/LDAP group 1. From the main menu, click Administration > User Administration. 2. Click Create User. If you have configured Database Performance Analyzer to point to your Active Directory or LDAP server. You will see an option to either create a user or a group (corresponds to a group in Active Directory or LDAP). 38

47 Chapter 3: Getting Started SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer gives you the ability to quickly answer critical performance questions about your database. Database Performance Analyzer is the fastest and most effective solution for finding the root cause of database delays that impact business applications. Even the simplest tools require you to start somewhere. This chapter will help you immediately begin using Database Performance Analyzer to identify and resolve the urgent performance problems in your database. You will learn how to: Identify the top three queries with the highest impact on application response time. Correlate these queries with system resources to understand the complete picture. Identify the specific bottlenecks slowing response time. Diagnose current problems happening right now. Become proactive with by using alerts and automatic report distribution. These first steps cover the basics of Database Performance Analyzer, but once you have completed this chapter you will have acquired enough knowledge and experience to begin performing more advanced analysis. Database Performance Analyzer works with Oracle, Sybase, DB2 / LUW, and SQL Server. There are some difference in the examples and screen shots, but generally the application works the same for all database types. Database Performance Analyzer is an agentless solution that places less than 1% load on the monitored databases. You will see best results on a heavily used database where there are problems to solve. This guide assumes Database Performance Analyzer is currently installed and you have started monitoring a database. For installation and setup instructions, see the Introduction section 39

48 Chapter 3: Getting Started Step 1: Identify the Top 3 Query Problems The efficiency of processing SQL queries is one of the most important indicators of database performance, so start by determining which queries are creating the largest delays in the database. The response time measure is critical because it reflects where end-users are waiting on the database. Identifying and improving response time for SQL queries has the biggest impact on the service delivered by your database. Note: Before continuing with this step, let Database Performance Analyzer capture at least two days of performance data so you have a representative sample of data to begin with. Screen 1 below identifies the SQL queries most responsible for database delays. Which SQL queries were consistently contributing to response time on the days where data was captured? If there was a day with particularly poor performance, which SQL queries were most prevalent on that day? Screen 1: Main Screen with Instances and Monitor Status 40

49 Step 1: Identify the Top 3 Query Problems The legend entries are sorted by total database wait time, so the first three entries on the list should be your highest priorities. Note: For the best results, be sure to record your results at each step of the process. To help you track your progress and record important information, use the Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet. Click on the instance name to bring up the Trend View showing the Top SQL Statements for the days you have gathered data. Expected and abnormal wait times are displayed on the Trends screen. Screen 2: Top SQL Queries by Daily Wait Screen 2 displays data for each day the monitors have been running. The length of each bar represents the total wait time across all sessions. The longer the bar, the longer the users had to wait for the database. The colors represent the individual SQL queries, identified by hash values accumulating the response time delay. In screen 2, it is immediately obvious that a combination of queries on June 22 is creating the most significant delay in the instance QAORA10_ QAORA10. 41

50 Chapter 3: Getting Started Action: Note the top three SQL query hash values with highest performance priority and enter this information into the Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet. Database Performance Analyzer lets you assign names to the SQL queries so reports and charts are more understandable. In the following screen, the legend shows SQL names, not just numerical hash values. Before you move on to more detailed analysis, assign names to the SQL queries you have chosen. Screen 3: Assign a name to the SQL Hash Value Click on the SQL hash number in the legend to get the SQL Name dialog box. Assign an understandable name to this query as it will be used throughout all Database Performance Analyzer reports. Action: Assign names to your top three SQL query problems. Step 2: Correlate Response Time with System Resources Now it is time to compare the response time results with system resource usage such as CPU, I/O, and memory. You will learn if specific response time spikes are related to server resources by comparing chart results at the same times. 42

51 Step 2: Correlate Response Time with System Resources Click the Resource tab on the Trend View screen. A default set of resources are shown, but you can change them by clicking Resources on the right. Screen 4: The Resource Tab Correlates Resource with Response Time Choose from the resources of most interest by clicking Add Resource Chart. Customize this resource page so you can quickly return and correlate with the response time chart. Note: Viewing the specific top Wait Types/Events, as explained below, will help you determine which resources are having the biggest impact on database response time. For example, if you have db_file_sequential_read as a top Wait Type/Event you would want to monitor storage layer resource metrics. 43

52 Chapter 3: Getting Started Action: Choose the two or three resources of most interest at your site and customize your tab. Note the resource names in the Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet. Step 3: Determine Specific Wait Bottlenecks Slowing Response Time Once you have the basics of identifying problem SQL queries based on response time analysis and impact, you can drill down for more detail about the problem and identify the cause of the bottleneck. From screen 2, Top SQL by Daily Wait, click on your day of concern to drill in for more detail. See the daily wait time chart, screen 5, showing the response time delay in each hour of the day and the SQL queries that created the delay. This is similar data, but is now focused on one day with each bar representing an hour. The Interval drop-down can be used to adjust the time interval. Drill into a specific hour then use the Timeslice tab to view a range of intervals down to one second. Screen 5: SQL Statements Causing Delays in Each Hourly Period Was there a particular hour that had problems or that represents commonly found problems? From screen 5, choose an hourly period of concern. Click the Hourly link to bring up the Top SQL chart, screen 6. 44

53 Step 3: Determine Specific Wait Bottlenecks Slowing Response Time Screen 6: Top SQL Statements Causing Delays in the Selected Hour Screen 6, Top SQL Statements, ranks the specific query bottlenecks in the chosen period. Here the SQL queries with most accumulated wait time across all sessions are charted to show the total delay for each. If they were running during this time period, your named SQL statements from Step 1 may appear with long bars. Click the name (or hash) to get detail on the SQL query. Screen 7: Detail and Statistics on Problem SQL Statements The SQL text and execution statistics are shown in screen 7. The tabs along the top row allow you to drill down based on programs, sessions, objects and other dimensions captured in the Database Performance Analyzer Repository. 45

54 Chapter 3: Getting Started Action: Click the Programs tab and see which programs were executing the query you have chosen and note the program name in the Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet. Now you have detailed visibility to the problem SQL query. Use the Database Performance Analyzer screens illustrated to identify the specific cause of the bottleneck. For easy navigation, use the breadcrumb trail in the top banner to move to previous screens and keep track of where you are. Click the hourly period to go back to Top SQL Statements for that hour. Now go back to the Top SQL Statement chart again, shown below in screen 8. For the first query, named Object Trend Message Priority, note how the majority of the bar corresponds to a colored Wait Type/Event in the legend db file scattered read. Screen 8: Top SQL statements Causing Delays in the Selected Hour This is an important piece of information. Database Performance Analyzer has shown the specific bottleneck causing delay in the query Message Priority. The db file scattered read Wait Type/Event is the one item causing delay, here shown as responsible for the response time. What is this Wait Type/Event? Click a wait time to see SolarWinds's recommended optimization solution. 46

55 Step 4: Diagnose the Situation Right Now Click on the Wait Type/Event in the legend to see an explanation of the specific bottleneck as shown below. Screen 9: Description of the Wait and Details on How to Best Resolve the Issue Now Database Performance Analyzer has isolated the top SQL queries creating increased user response time and has shown you the Wait Types/Events uniquely responsible for the response time in each one. Action: For the three SQL queries of interest identify the two or three Wait Types/Events that comprise more than 75% of the total response time. In many cases, one single wait bottleneck will be responsible for nearly all of the delay. Step 4: Diagnose the Situation Right Now Up to this point all the analysis has focused on historical Trend View data. But when a problem is actually occurring, you need to be able to instantly diagnose it in real-time. To see immediate performance issues, switch to the Database Performance Analyzer Current View and examine response time and resources within the past minutes and seconds. 47

56 Chapter 3: Getting Started Software developers can incorporate DPA metrics to improve the performance of database-related code. Go back to screen 2 and click the Current link from the upper right of the Trend screen to see the last hour of collected data. The Current View starts off by giving you an overview of the past hour broken into 10 minute intervals. Click it to drill down into the top SQL queries during a recent 10 minute interval. Screen 10: Current View Shows Current Conditions Select the time interval you want to analyze. This takes you to screen 11 where you can see performance for smaller time increments. Click the Timeslice tab to see a minute by minute breakdown of the response time and resource data. 48

57 Step 4: Diagnose the Situation Right Now Screen 11: Timeslice to See Performance for Small Time Increments The timeslice view breaks the current data into one minute intervals, for both response time and system resources. Examine the response time charts, then scroll down to the resources and identify any correlation. Note: To get to a one second timeslice you will need to click on one of the one minute times listed below the chart in screen 11 (For example, 3:01 PM), then click the Timeslice tab. 49

58 Chapter 3: Getting Started Action: Evaluate the current performance situation. If there are queries and resources that are showing performance problems right now, record them in the Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet. Step 5: Set Up Proactive Management Proactive response time monitoring is one of the best ways to maintain top database performance. Database Performance Analyzer s automated reports and alerts help keep you, managers, and developers focused on improving database response time, while immediately warning the appropriate people when significant performance degradation occurs. Many times this results in resolving issues before they have critical impact end users. In this step you will set up reports to automatically run daily and details on your top three queries. Reports Click the Reports link from the top of the Database Performance Analyzer main screen. Now select the database instance to use for the report and Report Type = Top SQLs. Then click Report Options. Screen 12: Report Creation Now you can choose the Top SQLs Report and the number of SQL statements to display. 50

59 Reports Then click Display Report near the top of the Report Creation Window. Screen 13 shows the report with just the chosen queries for the most recent days. 51

60 Chapter 3: Getting Started Screen 13: Custom Report for Three Critical Queries Make sure to use the Save As link with a report name to keep the selections you have chosen for repeated use and scheduled distribution. First, you want to schedule the report to be delivered automatically via to you and your manager on a weekly basis. From top right navigation, click Options, then from the Monitor Setup tab click Report Schedules. Note: Database Performance Analyzer has a default SMTP configuration that works in most cases. If your network or firewall requires use of an internal SMTP server, see the Configuring SMTP Mail Server for Outgoing Knowledge Base article. Creating a report delivery schedule just requires a few pieces of information on this screen: Name the schedule and descriptive text for the . Choose when to deliver the report daily, weekly or monthly. Choose the report you want using the name created earlier. Choose the recipients by adding their addresses. Action: Create the report Total Response Time for three Critical SQLs for the queries identified in Step 1. Create a report schedule to deliver it via to you, colleagues, or managers every Monday morning. Setting Alerts Database Performance Analyzer enables you to find the routine performance history at any time. You also can generate summary reports to watch queries of interest. Now you can take the final step of establishing proactive alerts to watch for major increases in SQL response time and other metrics. You will determine the average execution response time for each of your SQL queries, then set Alerts to warn you of significant deviations. First, determine the normal execution time for your queries. Go back to screen 2. See the View Historical Charts for SQL drop-down menu. Choose your first query and view the historical chart, as in screen 14. You will see this chart with a black bar through the center located near the bottom on the page Historical Charts for SQL. This chart shows the average execution time for the SQL on each day, and the black bar denotes the average wait for this query across all the days displayed in the chart. 52

61 Setting Alerts Screen 14: Daily Average Wait Time on Historical SQL Page Rolling the cursor over each bar shows the popup window with details specific to this day including the Average time for this Wait Type/Event, plus the average time for all wait times on this day. In this case, the average wait time was milliseconds for the example in screen 14. Note that execution time, wait time, and response time all refer to the same concept of how long it takes for the database to return a response to the application. The black bar shows an average time of 15:26 milliseconds wait for this query for all executions for the entire month. A best practice is to alert if the average 53

62 Chapter 3: Getting Started response during a period is greater than 100% higher than this average during a sample period. In this case that would be roughly two seconds. Action: For each of the three chosen SQL queries, estimate the typical response time. Choose a threshold, approximately twice as long, that you will use to set alerts for notification. To create the alert, go to the top right navigation and click Alerts, then the Manage Alerts tab. From here, you can select the Alert Category and the Alert Type. Screen 15: Create a New Alert Click Create Alert and fill in the details as in screen 16 to match your SQL query. Name the alert, give it a short description, and save it. Add your alert parameters. Choose the database instance and one of the three important SQL queries you selected in Step 1 as the target for your Alert. Set low and high level alert thresholds that are approximately twice as long as the typical execution times for your query. Run the alert every 10 minutes or more, allowing enough time to get valid samples and ensure you don t get unnecessary warnings from 54