By Eric Russo
August 2014
Business Value
of Complete
SQL Server
Health Checks
The
ABSTRACT:
A SQL Server is a complex database environment that needs iterative analysis and constant tweaking to ensure its continual, optimal operation. This requires routine "health checks."
What criteria should help a manager properly evaluate the merits of a paid health check? In this paper, we explore various possibilities including working with outsourced database management firms, using in-house services, or simply waiting to perform any such examination.
The Business Value of
Complete SQL Server Health Checks
content
SQL Server Improvements Checklist ...
Datavail SQL Server Health Check Prerequisites? ...
What Should a Comprehensive SQL Server Health Check Include? ...
Interpreting SQL Server Health Check Reports ...
Who Needs a Server Health Check? ...
Outsourcing SQL Server Health Checks ...
Don't Wait Until Server Performance Tanks ...
Conclusion ...
About Datavail ...
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In a complex database environment such as that of SQL Server, continuously monitoring each system's health and stability is critical to ensuring data availability, accessibility, recoverability, and security.
Accomplishing this requires routine health checks that provide information about the maintenance services needed to optimize database performance.
There are any number of free health-check options available on the market, but a database administrator doesn't always have the time or expertise to write a diagnostic query or script, run it, and then fix any issues that arise.
With all the options available to users, what should you look for in a health check?
Experience should be at the top of the list.
Having performed thousands of health checks for our clients, we’ve identified the top issues affecting SQL Server performance. With this evidence-based list, we are able to quickly troubleshoot any issues, whether it's misconfigured memory settings or missing backups, that imperil the database.
What Are The Top Issues?
They include:
Index fragmentation
Missing backups
Misconfigured memory settings
Duplicate or unused indexes
Regularly scheduled maintenance issues,
some of which may need daily attention
Ensuring high availability
Setting best practices, known in SQL Server
jargon as Server and Database Options
Evaluating database growth patterns, some
of which can impede performance
SQL Server
Improvements Checklist
Frequently, DBA managers have assumed responsibility for a database and are unaware of the status of its environment.
I understand your challenges, including why you may be hesitant to move forward with such an undertaking. You may have had the database handed off to you without being fully briefed on the transfer, or you may have been given the responsibility after a corporate acquisition. You might be thinking, "I don't want to own this database and get the brunt of it if there is some major stuff wrong. What if it's going to fall apart?"
No matter how you came to be responsible for a database, remember: Knowledge is power. You need a baseline showing details about the existing system to give you an idea of what maintenance is needed in the first 30 days of operation.
A SQL Server health check should not only be a diagnostic tool, but it also should provide a checklist of work that needs to be performed, and a quick and comprehensive overview of system status.
With a comprehensive SQL Server Health Check like Datavail's, you should learn exactly what you need to know to prioritize maintenance and operation tasks. A health check should make it easier for you to assess and elevate the health of your database environment, and bring it to optimal status with recommendations and assistance.
At Datavail, we automatically conduct health checks for any new SQL Server client, making a general assessment to develop a basic understanding of the environment. Once we have this information, we offer to delve deeper, finding other potential issues that can benefit from tuning or other maintenance.
Datavail SQL Server
Health Check Prerequisites?
Database administrators often ask about the technical issues and requirements associated with completing a health check, for instance, security settings and levels of permissions. A comprehensive health check may need:
• Local administrator privileges on every server on which a health check is run
• A sysadmin server role on SQL Server
• At least one server running Windows 2003 or higher and PowerShell 2.0 or above to act as the ‘central’ health check server.
• Network connectivity to each target SQL Server instance from the central Health Check server. • Open FTP; if it's not open, some method to gather/
transmit result files
The process is lightweight, with low CPU consumption and little overhead. The check is typically run off hours, either after work hours or during routine maintenance. Typically, we are asked whether a particular fix or set of repairs will require an outage. This isn't always the case, but in the event one is needed, any partner you choose should explain the tasks that will be accomplished in that window of time.
What Should A Comprehensive
SQL Server Health Check Include?
When completed, the client should receive an actionable, prioritized report for all versions and editions of SQL, both physical and virtual including:Recommendations for improvements and efficiencies for the current database environment
Backup, security, and monitoring recommendations for the current database environment
Performance improvement recommendations for the current database environment
Specific recommendations for ongoing future support, which might include suggestions regarding upgrades to memory or service packs, defragmentation, or backups of databases
Interpreting SQL Server
Health Check Reports
After a comprehensive health check, you may understandably want to drill into the report to figure out what it means for the network and the operation. You should be able to talk through every point or issue discovered in the health check, fully exploring what each issue means
for your operating environment, how each issue can be fixed, and the specific benefits of doing so.
The intent is to identify fixes that will translate into operational improvements. Some recommendations can result in instant improvement. Others can mean less need to respond to middle-of-the-night alerts.
Who Needs a Server
Health Check?
What types of organizations or enterprises are prime candidates for this type of assessment? Organizations without a database administrator can particularly benefit, as can organizations with database administrators who are stressed and trying to attend to a wide variety of tasks without adequate time. In short, all organizations.
A SQL Server environment that isn't working optimally can be a real headache for a database manager, and can lead to complaints from executives and departments that depend on the information. A potential risk is losing data that is not properly backed up.
Outsourcing SQL Server
Health Checks
When choosing a troubleshooting solution, a manager needs to examine the expertise and availability of each option, including when assessment and subsequent optimization are performed in-house — does the organization have the capacity to do the work itself?
In addition to expertise and experience, your health check partner should be qualified to interpret the data obtained in the check. You may find similar solutions, but which leave you to your own devices after the check is completed (that is, you must prioritize and fix any issues yourself.)
The Business Value of Complete SQL Server Health Checks Page 2
There should be very little disruption to the client or degradation of system performance during any health check.
Don't Wait Until Server
Performance Tanks
If you leave your SQL server unchecked and the problems unaddressed, you risk an ongoing deterioration in
performance and stability. Without a health check, you don't know what is happening or what to do to maintain optimal performance. A health check is the one of the
least expensive ways to evaluate what's happening. Waiting increases the potential for problems — and the associated expenses to boot! For example, if you aren't conducting regular backups of your database and it becomes corrupted, there is no way to recover the information to a certain point in time. There may be no way to retrieve or recover it at all.
You may opt not to have a health check because the access to your database requires a partner to conduct certain procedures that you may not want to go through. But, participating in a health check gives you peace of mind by providing you with a proactive approach to database management.
Conclusion
Experience, expertise and ability to provide ongoing support are the top three things to look for in any comprehensive health check partner. If saving time and investment is important to you, this is a viable option. Any partner you work with should have the staff to fully support you to reach your SQL database goals and help you better understand the health of your system.
Another benefit you could look for is one that provides ongoing support. Once you have a benchmark and identify any issues, you should repeat the health check regularly so you can access a database's history and document progress so you can see for yourself that the service is helping your database perform better.
We’ve found that clients who perform routine health checks see their database operating environment improve over time. After each health check, the client should have a better understanding of a given database environment and chart an actionable maintenance plan from it.
For information about our services, or to schedule your own SQL Server Health Check, get in touch with Datavail.
To learn more about our database managed services, call Datavail toll-free at (866) 828-7843. Prefer to chat online? We have experts available 24x7x365 to answer your questions on our chat line at www.datavail.com.
Page 3 The Business Value of Complete SQL Server Health Checks | © 2014 Datavail, Inc. All rights reserved.
By contracting, an enterprise can save time, while obtaining a more efficient, more
thorough evaluation of its SQL server environment.
The Business Value of Complete SQL Server Health Checks Page 4
BIOGRAPHY
Eric Russo
Vice President and Practice Leader of SQL Server and MySQL Client Services for Datavail
Experienced in the management of large DBA teams involving offshore staff, Eric specializes in ITIL certification, management of local and remote staff, project coordination, database administration, change management, server OS administration, programming and scripting. Eric’s years of
experience as a DBA programmer, ITIL implementer, and change control manager allow him to run high-performance DBA teams providing exceptional customer support. In his off time Eric enjoys spending time with his family, snowboarding, karate, running and computer games.
ABOUT DATAVAIL
Datavail Corporation is the largest pureplay provider of remote database administration (DBA) services in North America, offering database design and architecture, administration and 24x7 support. The company specializes in Oracle, Oracle E-Business Suite, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB, DB2 and SharePoint, and provides flexible on-site/off-site, onshore/offshore service delivery options to meet each customer’s unique business needs.
CONTACT US
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