Database Performance Analyzer is a great complement to Oracle Enterprise Manager
February 02, 2019
Database Performance Analyzer is a great complement to Oracle Enterprise Manager
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
Database Performance Analyzer is used across our organization for performance analysis and alert notification. It provides a very useful supplement to Oracle Enterprise Edition Diagnostics and Tuning Packs. The DBAs use it predominantly for both reactive and proactive performance tuning. The custom alert function is used to notify DBAs of potential issues which require investigation. We use the Reports feature on occasion for presentations and data-sharing with management.
- Excellent overall view of database performance from the standpoint of SQL wait times. The main page for each database clearly displays the "pain points," if any.
- Ability to "drill down" to analyze particular problems in detail.
- Annotations provide a clear marker of changes so that any effect may be clearly seen.
- No PostgreSQL support.
- No ability to see a historical listing of annotations. Once annotations roll off the 30-day window, they are no longer accessible.
- There is no "timezone awareness" for global monitoring. All times are local to the area where DPA is run; this can throw off remote staff. We have sometimes created annotations at the incorrect time.
- In certain cases, the GUI gets cumbersome. This is especially true in the new (version 12) screen which shows SQL details.
- The screen presentation often doesn't lend itself to copy-paste for data to go into an email, documentation, etc.
- No facility for tracking unused or seldom used indexes.
- No integration with Oracle's Diagnostic and Tuning Pack features.
- Database Performance Analyzer has enabled cost saving by reducing slowdowns or downtime due to database performance. Recently, following an upgrade to Oracle 12c, the DBAs were able to discover a pattern in poor performance that allowed a quick determination of the source of the problem. Though difficult to quantify, without this insight production would have been negatively affected for far longer and causing a loss of time and materials.
- Proactive use of Database Performance Analyzer made improvements to in-house applications much easier by allowing us to quickly determine the bottlenecks and ensure that modified applications result in the expected improvements.
- Database Performance Analyzer has had no negative impact on our business. It is always the first tool we turn to when there is a complaint or problem with database performance.
- The custom alerting capability has enabled us to proactively respond to problems before they have become visible to the users or application. Other than database availability, all of our alerts are customized to provide quick feedback on areas where our architecture tends to have the most problems.
Oracle Enterprise Manager performance management has two main advantages over Database Performance Analyzer: monitoring is closer to real-time (15-second refresh versus 10+ minutes) and it integrates with Oracle features. Database Performance Analyzer's advantages over Oracle's tool are its ease of use, far better historical information, better display of information, and greater UI responsiveness. We use both because they complement each other well.