AppDynamics vs SQL Sentry

• Giving a network map of our application that shows where slowdowns are occurring and where network traffic is running into a bottleneck.
• We are able to gather node-specific information that shows the number of sessions a web server or even Redis session statistics.
• We use AppDynamics to give a holistic view of our application allowing us to quickly narrow in on problems.

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• Alerting is very flexible and configurable to our needs
• Linking alerting into third party alerting tools via PowerShell was easy
• Collecting and rolling up SQL statements make it much easier to troubleshoot performance problems
• Drilling into PLE and what’s happening when it drops out
• Ease of drilling into time-frame to figure out what was the issue at that time
• Being able to query the SentryOne database for management reports is awesome (Deadlocks and Blocking)

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• Price of the AppDynamics is high. But it has many valuable features. This makes it difficult for small businesses to enter.
• Functionality is overkill for most small to midsize businesses (SMBs). When stacking up product units, it can get pricey for enterprises as well.
• With fine granular configs and customizations available, it will also mean that it is very complicated and requires a certain amount of knowledge before we can make full use of all features in the product. Much careful thought and planning is required to get the most of it. Set-up will be longer. One recommendation is for features to be better documented.

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• The presentation of SQL server waits needs work. A large value on a throw away wait like cxpacket will change the scale such that an important wait like sos_schedular _yield is not readable. I have been told this is being addressed in the next release.
• Installation of the client requires sysadmin access on the repository server for the initial install. Once the install is complete sysadmin can be removed.
• There is a web interface but this does not have much of the functionality yet.
• I have not found a way to view page splits over time.

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• AppDynamics isn't cheap, but it definitely helps to ensure our applications and APIs are up and running without issue. The alerting is usually good but occasionally mixed, for example sometimes flagging a single error as a critical issue since the API is usually completely error free.
• The cost saving in terms of trouble shooting and analyzing issues in production is fantastic - to know about issues before they are reported by customers enables you to be proactive in resolving them and ensuring maximum up time for our applications.

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• SQL Sentry has had a positive impact in that root cause analysis can be performed much faster. This has led to reduced time spent investigating.
• The complexity of SQL Sentry can be overwhelming when training new users/admins.

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