Here we review and compare the best Database Performance Analyzer for monitoring and analyzing the database performance:
We are living in a data age, surrounded by data from all sides. Each day and year passing by, the amount of data collected is going to further grow.
Database performance analysis is a practice of monitoring and analyzing the database payloads against different metrics.
Table of Contents:
Database Performance Analyzer Review
Some components or areas that are usually monitored are:
- Size monitoring: Monitor how your database is growing in terms of size and set up alerts when a particular threshold is reached so that an appropriate scaling strategy can be applied.
- Throughput: Refers to the number of requests that the database can cater to in a given time frame – usually measured as requests per second. If the throughput is degrading, it’s indicating DB has a slowdown and a potential performance issue.
- Expensive and Slow queries: From time to time, your database can be exposed to several slow and bulky queries. At some times, the queries are inefficient and not constructed appropriately, while at times you might have to execute those without any other options. Slow queries result in having others wait till the time queries are executed.
Keeping track of these and alerting appropriate stakeholders is important to keep the database performance within the check. - Suspicious activity and hack attempts: Another important monitoring area is keeping track of any unusual activity happening in terms of unknown queries and queries coming from unknown IP addresses. These are used to prevent data breaches and unauthorized access attacks like SQL injections.
The below snapshot provides the market size of Enterprise Performance Management tools:
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Top Database Performance Analyzer Tools
We will review the below database performance analyzer tools for monitoring & analyzing the database performance.
- SQL Power Tools
- Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
- dbWatch
- Site 24*7
- Redgate SQL Monitor
- Datadog Database Monitoring
- Nagios
- Spiceworks
- Opsview
- ManageEngine Free SQL Health Monitor
- Solarwinds Database Performance Analyzer
Comparison of Database Performance Analysis Tool
| Tool | Features | Supported Databases | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| DbWatch | Scalable tool for small and medium-sized enterprises for database monitoring. •Quick deployment and setup •Drill down view at instance level for deep analysis and troubleshooting. | Supports most of the SQL based Databases | Offers free and trial versions. Starts at $400 annually per user. |
| Redgate SQL Monitor | •Enterprise-ready DPA tool •Comprehensive database health checks and dashboards. •Easy configuration with alerting tools like PagerDuty. | Mostly used for MSSQL databases | Offers free trial. The paid version starts with $1495 per license. |
| Datadog Database Monitoring | •Monitor database with rich query metrics as well as historical query performance. •Get details about the query execution plans for deeper insight. •Rich metrics for server instances and correlation between different metrics. | Supports on-premise and cloud-based SQL workloads – Postgres and MySQL | Provides custom pricing – with hybrid plans as well as monthly commitments. |
In this section, we will list the most widely used DPA tools and the distinct features of these tools.
#1) SQL Power Tools
Best for advanced-level data breach and hack protection for SQL-based databases. Typically used by organizations having or dealing with sensitive information.
Features:
- Helps to prevent data theft by analyzing the SQL queries executed on the database workloads.
- Prevents SQL injections by having continuous monitoring and analysis of the queries being executed.
- Extremely useful for preventing any data breach of sensitive data like credit card and bank info, personal details, identification numbers, etc.
- Supports GDPR compliance requirements.
Pros:
- Real-time analysis of database activity.
- Provides a real-time detailed dashboard for analyzing the query data.
- Any unusual or suspicious activity can trigger an email alert with the required details.
- Easy setup with customizable breach alerts and query patterns.
Cons:
- Not so great UX as compared to other tools in the market.
Pricing:
- For pricing – contact the sales team.
#2) Paessler PRTG Network Monitor
Best for enterprises of all sizes, looking for end-to-end IT infrastructure monitoring solutions.
It’s a dependent monitoring solution that can take care of different applications and networks, databases in your IT infrastructure.
Features:
- One-stop solution to monitor all the applications and traffic in IT infrastructure.
- Easily scalable to networks of different sizes.
- Increased cost savings by preventing network coverage.
Pros:
- Ease configuration and setup.
- Provides plugins for easy integration with existing systems like switches and firewalls.
- Real-time graphs to identify anomalies and act swiftly.
Cons:
- The solution is not very customizable – ex deploying custom sensors.
- Customer support is slow at times.
Pricing:
- Offers free trial.
- Starts from $1300 per license.
#3) dbWatch
Best for small to medium and large enterprises looking for a scalable platform for monitoring SQL-based database instances.
It’s a complete SQL Monitoring and Management solution for analyzing DB performance and availability and optimizing the DB workloads.
Features:
- Fast and easy setup/deployment.
- Supports multiple SQL-based databases.
- Monitor performance metrics and allow drilling down to a single instance for investigating the root cause.
Pros:
- Provides complete overview and control of all the database instances.
- Low memory and CPU footprint.
- Support for custom dashboards.
Pricing:
- Offers trial and free version
- $400 / year / user
#4) Site 24*7
Best for small to mid-sized organizations for monitoring a host of applications ranging from IIS, SQL, and other applications.
It’s an all-in-one offering that can perform monitoring for Web Applications, Databases, Application Server and Performance, etc.
Features:
- Monitor Web Application performance like – HTTPS, SMTP, REST & SOAP services.
- Can monitor user-initiated web transactions which can also help in user conversion.
- It’s also an APM for various windows and Java-based applications and captures stack traces and exceptions that occurred during the execution of such applications.
Pros:
- Easy to deploy and set up.
- Cost-effective as compared to other similar solutions available.
- Detailed reports and dashboards which can be easily configured.
Cons:
- Custom plugins are difficult to set up.
- Documentation and support are not up to the mark.
Pricing:
- Offers free trial.
- Pricing starts at $9/user/month.
#5) Redgate SQL Monitor
Best for organizations that are extremely data-heavy and run thousands of database instances.
This tool helps manage entire SQL instances with quick issue diagnosis and can add custom alerts in addition to monitoring metrics. It can monitor anything from slow queries to SQL injection attacks.
Features:
- Helps in analyzing query performance and identifying slower queries that could be optimized.
- Intelligent alerting and detailed dashboards for quick analysis.
Pros:
- Alerts about the issues and also suggest corrective steps to fix the issues.
- The support team is quick to answer the questions.
- Provides extensive monitoring coverage for numerous data loads.
Cons:
- Doesn’t provide API/SDK integration.
- Customization is not straightforward.
Pricing
- Offers a trial version, but no free version is available.
- The paid version starts at $1495 per license.
#6) Datadog Database Monitoring
Best for typically suited for DBAs and database developers to monitor database performance, analyze query plans and identify bottlenecks.
Datadog Database Monitoring solution allows fetching a lot of quality metrics around the queries executed across the database workloads. This information can optimize and fine-tune the database performance and identify bottlenecks.
Features:
- Detailed query execution plans are available for analysis.
- Query metrics like historical performance, latency, execution time, no of rows returned, etc.
- Unified metrics help to correlate database and infrastructure performance.
Pros:
- Logs can be tracked in near real-time.
- Supports custom dashboards and views.
- Out of box integration with the rest of the Datalog platforms, like monitors, advanced functions, etc.
Cons:
- The initial setup is complicated.
- Configuring alerts is not straightforward.
Pricing:
- Offers trial and free versions.
- Pricing is dependent on features that are selected. The pricing starts at $15 per month for each feature.
#7) Nagios
Best for teams already using Nagios suite of tools and are helpful for DB Administrators, developers, and security engineers.
Nagios enables complete monitoring of database workloads with features like availability, the current size of database and tables, and other key query metrics.
Features:
- Supports most popular SQL-based databases – MySQL, MSSQL, Postgres, DB2, Oracle.
- In-built support for fast detection of database outages.
- Predictive analysis of storage requirements helps do scaling in advance.
Pros:
- Easy to understand dashboards and alerts.
- Provides continuous feedback about the database performance and highlights issues for the configured metrics.
Cons:
- Since it is not available as a separate feature, pricing is expensive.
- Does not offer a lot of customization and configuration for the generated reports.
Pricing:
- Offers free trial.
- Database monitor comes bundled as part of Nagios XI and pricing starts from $1995 per user.
#8) Spiceworks
Best for small teams and freelancers requiring basic monitoring for their database instances.
Spiceworks is a free tool for SQL Server Monitoring. It discovers the SQL instances automatically on your network and executes Health checks regularly for database health.
Features:
- Full automated SQL database monitoring.
- Customize dashboards for viewing database health across various parameters like Network, IO, CPU, etc.
Pros:
- Free for download.
- Lightweight and discover DB instances in the network automatically.
Cons:
- Supports basic monitoring with no advanced query analysis or query plan metrics.
Pricing:
- Available as free software.
#9) Opsview
Best for organizations looking for enterprise monitoring platforms for various applications, network infrastructure, as well as databases.
Opsview is an IT Service monitoring software that can help with application performance and monitoring and help in impact analysis and capacity planning. For MySQL, it offers MySQL Ops Pack which contains 39 performance metrics that can be monitored.
Features:
- Support for ACLs and permissions.
- Integration with tools and platforms like ServiceNow and Splunk.
- Supports most of the on-premise and cloud-based SQL databases.
Pros:
- Provides checks for transactions, database size, lock stats, etc.
- Notifies degradation in database health.
- Suggests corrective measures for fixing database issues
Cons:
- Notification configuration is not straightforward.
- Licensing model charges the same for prod and non-prod environments – this could be improved.
Pricing:
- Supports OpsView cloud and Enterprise plans – Pricing is available on request with the Sales team.
#10) ManageEngine Free SQL Health Monitor
Best for small teams and freelancers looking for basic monitoring of their SQL instances.
It’s a Free SQL Health Monitoring tool for basic performance monitoring of SQL based databases like – MSSQL, MySQL
Features:
- Monitor CPU, Memory, and disk space utilization.
- Get details about SQL sessions, memory, and locks.
- Can auto-discover SQL instances for the network.
Pros:
- Free to use and easy to set up.
- Have Reporting features and integration with an email to get a snapshot of database performance at a given point in time.
Cons:
- Supports only basic metrics and no query metrics, execution plans, etc.
Pricing:
- Free for download and use.
#11) Solarwinds Database Performance Analyzer
Best for database administrators, DB developers, and the DevOps team to investigate slowing queries and increased workload on the database servers.
It’s a cross-platform solution to monitor database performance. It supports both on-premise and cloud databases.
Features:
- Supports Historical Trend analysis.
- Has in-build support for permissions using an access control list.
- Has a dashboard to help visualize results.
- Supports both on-premise and cloud setup.
- Supports API-based integration.
- Detailed analysis of bottlenecks.
- Supports multiple database types, ranging from Oracle to Postgres.
Pros:
- Agent-based software that’s easy to install.
- Allows to set up custom alerts to monitor database workloads.
- Provides suggestions for fixing common issues that are slowing down queries.
Cons:
- Agent is very resource-intensive and can consume lots of memory and CPU cycles.
Pricing:
- Offers a free trial.
- Starts at $1625 per license (and depends on the feature set). Contact the sales team for more details on pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is database performance analysis?
Databases like any other application need to be analyzed and monitored continuously for their performance, as slow queries and stressed database servers can eventually become bottlenecks for your application and eventually lead to revenue loss in different forms.
Database Performance analysis or DPA is nothing but analyzing various infrastructure elements related to the database as well as the actual performance of the queries the database is executed.
Metrics like server memory, CPU usage in correlation with the execution time of queries are used to analyze the capacity requirements for the database workloads and eventually leading to better performance of the applications relying on the databases.
How do you analyze SQL query performance?
SQL Query performance can be analyzed by monitoring various query metrics and the query plan that was used to execute a particular query.
A few of the important query metrics that could be monitored are:
Lock waits per second
Memory wait percentage
SQL Compilations per second
Query plan – Indexes used, etc.
Overall, the end result of all the above is monitoring the query performance in terms of time taken to execute, as well as how can the query be optimized for better throughput and performance in terms of execution time.
What database does SolarWinds use?
What is SQL performance tuning?
SQL Performance tuning is a multi-faceted approach to fine-tune the performance of a given query to obtain desired results and provide a better experience for the end-users or applications.
Performance tuning is not only dependent on the actual query, but a lot of database settings, caching strategies, etc.
Even before you tune a query, it’s important to understand what’s causing the query execution to be slow and then apply the right solution. This is a step-by-step process.
For example, you can generate a query execution plan to analyze how the query generates results. Other areas can identify the resources that the query is consuming, etc.
How does SolarWinds DPA work?
SolarWinds have a DPA server that collects performance data from the database workloads that you want to monitor.
It’s important to note that the DPA server as well as all the database instances you want to monitor are recommended to be on the same LAN to facilitate performance data capture in real-time.
The server collects and processes this data and makes it available to a web-based interface that could query and analyze the data as well as create dashboards and reports out of that data.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we learned about Database Performance Analyzer Tools, also commonly known as DPA tools. With Application Performance Monitoring (APM tools) gaining popularity, database monitoring is also gaining its pace and is becoming an important aspect of application monitoring.
These tools help to provide monitoring and analyzing infrastructure in the form of web interfaces, dashboards, and periodic reports by capturing performance data, memory consumption, query execution from the databases that are chosen to be monitored.
This data is then analyzed to optimize the queries and estimate the capacity that the databases require depending on the load patterns and projections for the same.
Of the tools we discussed, some of the more common tools used as Industry standards are Solarwinds and Datadog.
Solarwinds is a popular DB Performance Analyzer supporting most of the widely used SQL-based Databases and can monitor different performance as well as query metrics. The data collection is also agentless and doesn’t require any special software to be installed on database server instances.
Datadog is another tool useful for viewing all query metrics and execution plans in a single place. It’s integrated with its existing APM suite and organizations using other features of Datadog can configure to use Database monitoring features depending on the available license.