SQL Governor accelerates Microsoft SQL Server transition to the cloud with product release 11.0

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As our R&D lead, it is my pleasure to tell you a bit about SQL Governor V11. Instead of listing every nut and bolt in the software, I am going to tell just about few new cool features in it!

So, first of all, how doe SQL Governor differ from all the other software solutions out there?

The distinctiveness of SQL Governor comes greatly from combining the SQL Server data platform performance optimization and capacity optimization into one software tool. You are able to monitor, diagnose, alert, predict, plan and solve your DBMS workload utilization in various ways.

Let’s look at some of the new features!

Capacity planning

There are two major improvements into capacity planning in SQL Governor's V11, strenghtening the cloudification readiness of SQL Governor. As you may know, SQL Governor supports both physical and virtual SQL Server right-sizing as well as server-, instance- and database consolidation planning on-premises and into the cloud. 

In V11, you are able to calculate your workloads against Microsoft Azure Managed Instances and Hyperconverged Nutanix ERA compute profiles. Nutanix is a simple, flexible, and cost-efficient cloud platform, one that offers freedom of choice and enables true hybrid and multicloud computing. 

Independent on if you are going to private or public cloud, SQL Governor V11 can assist you in so many ways. Your capacity workload plans can be targeted to:

• On-premises platform
• Physical / Virtualized platform
• AWS and Azure IaaS platform
• Azure PaaS platform
• Hyperconverged (Nutanix) platform

Server consolidation project.

Monitoring

T-SQL query anomaly detection alerts

The idea behind anomaly detection is to predict potential performance problems in data platform, giving you more time to react and fix the issues and therefore leading to improved server uptime and performance SLA’s.

With this patent pending method, you are able to identify bad performing database queries long before they start to degrade the SQL Server performance too much. This feature is based on the idea of seasonality in the database queries: By dividing the T-SQL query plan -specific performance into multiple time dimension levels and continuously brute forcing long-term query behavior from each perspective of time series, we are able to predict the momentum and validity of the workload over time and foresee potential performance bottlenecks. Simple-to-use and straightforward UI implementation makes it easy to understand the validity and the meaning of the deviating workload pattern for each T-SQL query. It just works!

Query anomaly list.

Query anomaly chart.

Blocking queries

Now you are able to monitor blocking T-SQL batches and their corresponding waits over time. You are able to see the blocking statement in blocking query and the blocked statement in blocked query. Also the blocking history is collected so you are able to navigate visually over the time series to see what’s been up to: The time series, trends and patterns. Simple and straightforward.

 

UI visualization.

 

Blocked and blocking queries.

Blocked / blocking statements.

 

Disk utilization

You are able to review the disk volume utilization from various perspectives per server and volume over time:

• Transfers / sec

• Milliseconds / transfer

• Disk time %

• Megabytes / sec

• Used space %

This becomes very handy when figuring out the workload utilization patterns in the underlying storage devices. You are able to pinpoint if any disk starts to deviate from system baselines.

Disk volume utilization chart.

 

New performance counters

Good old performance counters! Now there’s total of 64 of them, on server- instance- and database level overall. Our new performance counters assist you in evaluating excessive CPU usage in terms of query compilation frequency:

• SQL compilations / batches is very essential ratio-based performance counter. Typically, you don’t want to see SQL compilations reaching more than 10% of the batches in total.

• SQL recompilations / compilations is similar to the SQL compilations / batches. You don’t want to see higher numbers than 10% on this ratio counter either.

 

If you are a DBA company interested in partnering with team SQL Governor or potential end user, do not hesitate to ask for a demo! SQL Governor can be used anywhere from smaller SQL Server environments to massive production environments having hundreds of SQL Servers and tens of thousands of databases. 

What's next?

Our next product version, V12, has preliminary release schedule set in Q4 / 2021. SQL Governor V12 will support thoroughly SQL Server Always On availability groups monitoring, which is a big, greatly anticipated feature. Stay tuned!

 

Jani K. Savolainen

Founder & CTO

SQL Governor

 

V11.0 Product sheets