As a SQL Server database administrator, it is crucial to monitor your databases to avoid performance problems and prevent running out of disk space. Fortunately, there are two options available in Azure that can help you achieve this: Azure SQL Analytics and Azure SQL Insights. In this article, we will explore these two monitoring solutions and discuss their features and benefits.
Azure Monitor: The Foundation
Before diving into Azure SQL Analytics and Azure SQL Insights, let’s first understand Azure Monitor. Azure Monitor is a core feature of Azure that allows you to collect logs and metrics from various Azure services. It provides detailed analytics, troubleshooting capabilities, and the ability to create alerts and automatic actions based on the collected data.
Azure Monitor collects two types of data: metrics and logs. Metrics are numeric data that provide near real-time insights into resource usage and performance. Logs, on the other hand, store data in records with different sets of properties and can be queried using the Kusto query language (KQL).
Azure SQL Analytics: Monitoring Made Easy
Azure SQL Analytics is a monitoring solution that enables you to monitor all your Azure SQL databases in a single view. It supports monitoring Managed Instances and Elastic pools as well. The best part is that it doesn’t require any additional agents for data collection.
To set up Azure SQL Analytics, you need to:
- Create a Log Analytics Workspace.
- Configure diagnostic settings on your Azure SQL databases to send logs and metrics to the Log Analytics Workspace.
- Install the Azure SQL Analytics solution from the Azure Marketplace.
Once set up, Azure SQL Analytics provides you with a monitoring dashboard where you can easily drill down into details such as top consuming queries, wait types, query durations, deadlocks, and more. It offers a user-friendly interface and requires minimal configuration.
Azure SQL Insights: Customizable Monitoring
Azure SQL Insights is another monitoring solution that collects data from Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) of your databases. It offers more customization options compared to Azure SQL Analytics but requires additional setup.
To set up Azure SQL Insights, you need to:
- Create a Log Analytics Workspace.
- Create a virtual machine (VM) running Ubuntu 18.04 as the operating system.
- Create a monitoring profile and connect it to your Log Analytics Workspace.
- Add your virtual machine to the monitoring profile and configure connection strings.
Once set up, Azure SQL Insights allows you to drill down into your databases, instances, and availability groups to view dashboards and tables. You can also customize the dashboards with your own graphs and save them for future use.
Choosing the Right Option
Both Azure SQL Analytics and Azure SQL Insights offer powerful monitoring capabilities for your Azure SQL databases. Here are some key considerations to help you choose the right option:
Azure SQL Analytics:
- Easier to set up and doesn’t require additional virtual machines.
- Provides a single view of all your Azure SQL databases.
- Doesn’t support on-premises SQL Server databases or databases hosted in VMs.
Azure SQL Insights:
- Offers more customization options and flexibility.
- Can monitor SQL databases from multiple subscriptions and even on-premises SQL Servers.
- Requires the installation of a monitoring agent on a separate virtual machine.
It’s important to note that these are not the only options available for monitoring your SQL Server databases. Techniques such as Extended Events and third-party tools like Redgate SQL Monitor can also be considered for more advanced monitoring scenarios or hybrid/on-premises environments.
Conclusion
Monitoring your SQL Server databases is essential for maintaining optimal performance and avoiding potential issues. Azure SQL Analytics and Azure SQL Insights are two powerful monitoring solutions offered by Azure. While Azure SQL Analytics provides a straightforward and easy-to-use monitoring experience, Azure SQL Insights offers more customization options and flexibility. Choose the option that best suits your requirements and budget to ensure the smooth operation of your SQL Server databases.