dbWatch Server activity alert
Job details
| Name: | dbWatch Server activity alert |
| Platform: | Sqlserver |
| Category: | Internal Internal |
| Description: | Creates tables that can be used to simulate blocked sessions in the database. |
| Long description: | This alert returns warning/alarm if the dbWatch Server is using consumes a lot of cpu over a period of time. |
| Version: | 1.6 |
| Default schedule: | 2m |
| Requires engine install: | No |
| Compatibility tag: | .[type=‘instance’ & databasetype=‘sqlserver’]/instance[maj_version > ‘2000′ & engine_edition = ‘Microsoft SQL Server’ & eng_inst_priv = 0] |
Parameters
| Name | Default value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| warning_threshold | NO | CPU warning threshold |
| alarm_threshold | NO | CPU alarm threshold |
| history_threshold | NO | Number of day to collect statistics for. |
Job Summary
- Purpose: The purpose of this job is to monitor the dbWatch server activity, particularly focusing on CPU utilization over a period of time.
- Why: This job serves as a proactive measure to manage and optimize the overall efficiency and performance of the dbWatch server. It helps in early detection of high CPU consumption, which could degrade the server performance and affect dependent services and operations.
- Manual checking: To manually check dbWatch server activity, you can issue SQL commands specific to viewing CPU usage, memory usage, and other relevant performance metrics stored in the server’s database.
Detailed Monitoring Aspects
The job tracks several server properties, which are checked regularly:
- CPU load: A key performance metric, particularly to check if the consumption is within specified safe thresholds.
- Memory usage: Important for understanding if the server might run out of memory soon or is operating within acceptable limits.
- Thread and worker statistics: Including thread count, thread pool size, thread queue, and worker count. These are vital for understanding the server’s capacity to handle concurrent operating tasks.
Historical Data Management
Further, this job manages historical data through the creation and maintenance of tables that store such information:
- Creation of a history table if it does not exist.
- Regular insertion of the server’s current state into this history table.
- Cleaning up data older than a specified period to prevent excessive growth of the historical table.
- Managing aggregated historical data by creating and updating summary entries for various periods.
Alerting and Reports
Based on the performance metrics:
- Alerts are generated if certain thresholds are reached (e.g., CPU or memory usage exceeds predefined limits).
- Detailed reports can be generated which include:
- CPU utilization over time
Predefined threshold values allow the job to transition from normal monitoring to alerting status, triggering notifications for administrators to take potential corrective actions.
Reporting Mechanisms
The job includes an XML configuration setup for dbWatch server which allows:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| CPU Utilization History | Visual representation of CPU load over time |
| Memory Utilization Report | Tracks how memory usage varies |
| Thread Activity Report | Monitors thread usage and pool sizes |
| Server Activity Details | Summarizes server operations within the last registered period |
These reports are important for providing a concise overview of the system’s health and activity, which helps in decision-making regarding server management and scaling.