SolarWinds SQL Sentry

[SolarWinds] SQL Sentry is well suited for any production SQL Server that has performance issues or a need to look into the guts of the server itself. Using the very specific features that are targeting SQL Server, you can see that every feature you use was described by the hands of a DBA and it is suited to be used by one. It is not suitable to be used with other database technologies at the moment.

[SolarWinds] SQL Sentry is well suited in [the] following cases: Nodes, availability, monitoring, query optimization, identification of problems, and increasing overall database performance. With the help of dashboards and graphs one can easily check all the important factors in one go. Network performance monitoring can be done easily. Databases can be monitored on AWS with the help of SentryOne.

Just had an end-user approach me about a long-running report. I was able to utilize the Top SQL tab and view the long-running report, copy the SQL being executed so I can place it in a notebook for later review for performance optimization. My manager looked in on the DBA Space earlier this morning to inquire about login issues for an application. As we had the dashboard loaded on our primary monitor, we were able to quickly glance and identify that the issue was not with the database. The issue was with a specific web server that was identified with other tools. We received a lot of calls in a short period of time with reports of 504 issues in the application. Using the Top SQL tab, identified that there was a report query being run multiple times that was causing table locks to not release. All these issues were identified in seconds with SentyOne. Most were resolved in under 60 seconds from the initial report of concern.

Sometime I repeat myself and it takes a long time for bug releases.

Of all the tools I've used, SolarWinds SQL Sentry's Top Query has been the single most helpful tool in helping me identify which queries are putting a load on our servers and at what times. This greatly simplifies my job in prioritizing tuning. Having Plan Explorer directly linked to the tool is icing on the cake.

I only see one scenario for this type of tool. I want all tools in this category to collect OS and SQL performance metrics over a time frame and present and or alert on them in a way that allows me to diagnose availability and performance issues on the servers. I need this information in real time and historically. I need to be able to report on this information at the micro and macro level. I need a tool that just works and a company that stands behind there tool. SQL Sentry meets these needs.

The only scenario I see were SQL Sentry would not work is were purchase cost of the product is weighted very heavily as opposed to all other factors.

They usually respond within a few hours and will pull in needed resources without the need for me to escalate the issue. They take the initiative to follow up. They are open to suggestions for future enhancements and actually implement them. They give the impression they want to resolve your issues.

I accept that the flexibility of the alerting comes at a price. Other than the alerting SQL Sentry's interface is intuitive. Connecting to a new SQL instance, given that all the needed ports are open in your firewalls is straight forward. Reviewing the performance and queries for an instance is available in with a right click. As you dig in new tabs are created to present the detailed data. I find the ability to filter and rollup metrics on a query very helpful in dealing with the "it's running slow". You can easily compare the metrics of run times for the same query to let the user know, it's probably data your doing a billion reads instead of the usual 100 thousand.

[Well suited to] Show top running queries and details like CPU usage and start time.

This solution is perfect for a team with a large server count and, at least, moderate experience supporting a SQL Server environment. If the environment is smaller or the team has less experience working with SQL Server performance tuning methodologies, then the tool may be overwhelming for the users.

SQL Sentry can be utilised for both performance monitoring and alerting. It is good if you need to analyse performance issues whether in production or in development. Easily can export stats to send to vendors where applications are not performing well. And can setup alert thresholds that can send emails to support teams or write out to SCOM or the event log.

From their infancy as a smaller company to now as a global player they have always kept focus on prioritising he customer. They know their product and the technology it supports and are easily accessible for both resolving problems with the product all the way to adding value through additional training and assisting with getting return on investment through utilisation of the many features the product provides.

I don't know how we survived before without this tool, the added value that you get from it to do deep dive performance analysis, reactive problem solving and proactive monitoring and alerting is limitless. We have only scratched the surface of what we can do with this tool at my company. The support and ROI that SentryOne provide is exceptional and one of my favourite vendors to deal with.

SQL Sentry has a very simple to follow layout for configuration and is easily adapted to each instance that has special requirements. Also, having the option to configure an alert to do more than one action is invaluable. Using the Alerting Channel, emails, and running scripts to address the issue automatically provides great value. Being able to set time windows of when to monitor and not monitor, as well as turning off all monitoring as needed by the server or reducing unneeded alerts during maintenance.

SQL Sentry is a great monitoring tool for performance in environments that are transaction-heavy. It gives a complex overall view of performance on a daily/hourly/etc. basis so you know where spikes are happening (and when, more importantly). It also provides insight into blocking processes, so if you have a long-running query/job, you can see what's happening more clearly.

I feel this tool is ideally suited for monitoring performance issues in an OLTP environment maybe not so much for DW applications.

SQL Sentry is so flexible it's amazing. It comes with a steep learning curve and will take time to truly implement and dial in, but you're not alone--customer support is outstanding. My biggest complaint is that the thick client is slow and almost unusable over a VPN. Since COVID hit, that's a big deal. The web portal is snappy and fast, and I look forward to when the thick client is retired in favor of the portal.

SQL Sentry is good for overall monitoring and job configuration. There are capabilities for deep-dive troubleshooting. However, it is highly recommended to get training. Be prepared for a steep learning curve on how to get the system configured the way you want it. But, it is worth it. Do not expect this to be an all in one solution. This will not take care of backups.

It has great out-of-the-box features that make it easy to install and get it up and running right away. However, fine tuning and customization of the solution, like setting up custom alerts and notifications, needs to be someones dedicated responsibility. Because of this, we don't necessarily have the time allocated to become true subject matter experts on the tool. What we get out of the box is usually going to be the norm.

It fairly easy to use with out of the box features and doesn't require a lot of customization. Interfaces are also easy to read and drill into to get more details when needed.

SQL Sentry Performance Advisor is good at monitoring your system over time and allowing you to go back to previous problems to compare what was happening then to what is happening now. It is also good at reporting on harder to trap errors occurring in your system, memory pressure events in analysis services spring to mind here.

I've have heard of people trying to replace DBAs with this tool, that is a bad idea. This is a tool for DBAs, not a replacement.

The main platform is very well supported. Requests for help with customizing alerts and monitors have been rapidly and thoroughly responded to. Our use of the chain feature seems to be out of the ordinary and our defect reports there while understood and taken seriously, tend to be lower priority than defects in the main platform. They will work diligently to give us a workaround but correction in the standard release is a little slower in the chain feature.

As a general rule, out of the box use of the product is very easy. With little to no experience in the platform, we were up and running with it inside of 3 days. New developers and DBAs in the organization can get a grip on how to use monitoring features inside of half an hour.

SQL Sentry is amazing at getting information relating to the state of SQL servers. Alerts and issues are easy to consume as an action list.

I think SQL Sentry is typically useful for us to understand an environment with performance issues. With this product onboard, we are able to continuously improve our system to give our users the best experience.

On Contrast to other vendors SQL Sentry stands top. Sentry one is doing good job in terms of connecting with SQL community and imparting the SQL knowledge.

I believe SQL Sentry is well suited for any environment where you need to monitor performance for both the databases and the database server. I wouldn't think it would be neccessary in a development environment.

I have always received prompt, professional support. Without fail, they are able to answer my questions and get things up and going.

Once you get over the inital hump, SQL Sentry is very easy to use, but also has a great deal of information that is very configurable.

SQL Sentry is very useful in production and performance testing environments for identifying and fixing slow performing applications. It is difficult on very high volume instances with a lot of history.

Thankfully, we have not needed to submit many support requests. I believe he have less than 5 cases in the last 4 years. However, when we do need support, the team is there for us.

For our organization, we find this tool to be the best for our needs in the Performance Engineering space. We love how quickly we can identify queries that need tuning and fix deadlocks. The user interface is simple to figure out. We would love to see the Sentry One client be more flexible to allow a single instance to show information from different repositories. We have three different installations of the tool for three different platforms. All three end up on slightly different versions at times, and that requires that users need to connect to a different machine to run the client since it has to match the back end repository. It would be preferable if it functioned more like SQL Server Management Server that is forward and backward compatible to a degree.

We are running 25 instances through a single monitoring service and it is able to keep up. We are finding that this many instances in our environment is about as many as can be handled. We will need to deploy additional monitoring services. Luckily, there is no additional licensing costs to deploy additional monitoring services. For us, it's just an additional Azure VM.

A customer experiences a slow Analysis Services cube processing overnight from their Data Warehouse and wants to understand why this issue has occurred. SentryOne provides you the capability to see exactly what happened, with just as much detail as if you were sitting on the servers at 3:00am monitoring it directly. This applies for SQL Server, Windows, Azure, APS. Once you have experienced the product, you will realize you must have it.

The support received is outstanding. They are quick to respond, will happily speak with you on the phone, and go above and beyond on every single ticket to ensure that you have the best resolution, and provide a detailed breakdown around the problem, or if you are having issues understanding the metrics. The training / support materials alone that SentryOne provide are invaluable.

Users from SQL Server DBAs, Managers, to non technical Account Managers can drive the product, and the help function and resources provided enable anyone to double check any functions they aren't sure about, or even it its to analyse a particular chart or graph. But there aren't any issues with usability we've experienced.

SQL Sentry allows the user to get a quick overview of the DB server and then drill into problem areas to get more details. The dashboard charts make it easy to snip and paste into Teams chats for the group to analyze. It seamlessly integrates with Plan Explorer for detailed analysis of the execution plan.

Great for indepth monitoring where you can plug in 3rd party tool and know you are gathering everything needed to troubleshoot issues. If you dont have a datbase administrator, the amount of details gathered may be to large and set you off down the wrong path / give you red herrings for some issues

Great support from the team both pre and post purchase

Great tool, captures lots of metrics to help diagnose and monitor performance

It is well suited for monitoring all servers in one consolidated interface, rather than bouncing around between different registered SQL Servers.

Support has been great, but have had instances where the solution I desired was not inherently available in Task Factory.