Some time ago a component executable in the Performance Analysis client was temporarily flagged as a trojan by some leading anti-virus companies.  A virus definition file update two days after the initial identification resolved this issue.  In order to be 100% certain there were no potential threats, we fully recompiled the client and worked to ensure that subsequent updates to the virus definition files would not recreate the problem.  So, we are happy to report that the issue is resolved, and the updated Performance Analysis clients are available on quest.com for Oracle and for SQL Server.

Product documentation and product training are two areas where you (our customers) consistently press us to improve…and we have.

If you navigate to www.quest.com/foglight-performance-analysis-for-sql-server and click on Key Product Documents you’ll be taken to a page that lists all the documents you should need to get you from initial evaluation, to the demo/POC phase, and through implementation and use case training.

Also, a little while back we introduced some new micro workshops so you can get help with things like sizing your environment prior to installation, and with training on using Performance Analysis effectively once it’s installed without breaking the bank. Just navigate to www.quest.com/foglight-performance-analysis-for-sql-server and you’ll see a link to Find out about Technical Training.

Easy, right?  Want more?  We’re happy to help.  Contact your account representative, your favorite Quest SQL Server contact, or participate in one of the forum discussions and ask.

Sound familiar?

“The SQL Server was performing great yesterday and all of a sudden today the performance is terrible.”

Foglight Performance Analysis has a very powerful feature that allows you compare two different properties of your SQL Server workload.  This scenarios could be:

• Comparing the performance of a database over two different time ranges. 
• Comparing the performance of a single stored procedure over two different time ranges.
• Comparing the performance of database A to database B over the same time range.
• etc…

Take a look at this short tutorial and see how the feature could help you in your environment!  Any questions, feel free to comment.

If you’ve ever been affected by a virus definition file update that’s flagged an app or a file that you use as a problem, you know how frustrating it can be.  If you haven’t, consider yourself fortunate.  There has just been a virus file definition update that has flagged some code used by our products as problematic.  RSRunner.exe is a file used by our Performance Analysis products, and is a Delphi executable we use to schedule and generate reports.  The file has been used by the client application for over 5 years without issue, but – perhaps because the name is similar to a Trojan called SRunner.exe – the file is being quarantined in some environments.  A similar issue exists with a DLL used by our SQL Optimizer product called synm.dll. We will have a comprehensive statement on this on Monday, once our development teams have completely reviewed the executable and have prepared a full writeup.

The latest release of Foglight Performance Analysis for SQL Server is live on quest.com.  The new release adds support for Windows 7, and makes certain actions available by default, among other usability and performance enhancements.  For those of you who already know and use Performance Analysis, you can now easily right-click on any tabular metric display to “Select Metrics” in order to customize the list of metrics you see, and in the History view, the historical data resolution selector is on by default.  Sometimes the little things can make all the difference…and from the feedback you’ve been giving us, these are two things that should make quite a difference in the way you use Performance Analysis. 

Keep the feedback coming!  If you have any comments on Performance Analysis, don’t hesistate to provide it to your sales representative, or to participate in a conversation in the forums on sqlserver.quest.com.

If you’re familiar with Foglight Performance Analysis for SQL Server (PA SQL), you know how useful it can be to spend a couple of hours with a product expert.  Whether you have questions about preparing the installation environment, or about how to make the most of your investment in PA SQL, having someone show you the way instead of reading through the manuals is always a welcome alternative. Well, Quest has just initiated a program in conjunction with LeadThem Consulting to offer 2 fully remote, 2 hour engagements with a seasoned PA SQL expert to cover product scoping and sizing, and product usage training.  The cost for each of the workshops is $350, and you can sign up for these at http://www.quest.com/sql-training-leadthem/.

Following the initial rollout of this program, we will be implementing equivalent offerings for Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise and Foglight for SQL Server.  Stay tuned for updates!

Christian Bolton is a name some of you might recognize, but even if you don’t, and as Brent blogged – the guy is good. Here’s a recap that Brent put together that illustrates how SQL Server uses memory and some considerations (high level, but note the reference to his recent book) for memory resource planning.

As Brent mentioned, many DBAs still don’t leverage wait events to tune SQL Server. I have to believe that’s because either they don’t know about them, or because wait events are still really not very well documented anywhere…but if you take a look at Quest’s Foglight Performance Analysis for SQL Server you’ll see how leveraging wait events to tune SQL Server can be both easy and powerful.

We’re thrilled to share the news on our latest award! Thanks to everyone who voted to recognize Foglight Performance Analysis for SQL Server. Also, Quest won Gold in Editor’s Choice of Best Development Tool for Toad for SQL Server, and Gold in Editor’s Choice of Best Backup and Recovery Software Product for Litespeed for SQL Server.

Performance Analysis is one of the most remarkable performance management products on the market. It’s StealthCollect agent technology stands alone as the only memory-scraping, high-frequency data collector in the SQL Server market. This translates into visibility and data collection granularity second only to SQL Trace, but at a fraction of the cost imposed by a trace. Why? Because Performance Analysis gathers data in memory and not by querying SQL Server directly, the StealthCollect agent can gather information even when SQL Server is stuck or non-responsive. By coupling this revolutionary collection technology with powerful automated features like intelligent baselining and dynamic alerting, quick comparisons for immediate understanding of changes in activity or behavior, observation-specific diagnostics and advice, built-in change detection and workload correlation, a revolutionary way of looking at blocking lock activity, and a web interface for full alarm automation and workflow, Performance Analysis is definitely worth a look!

Honestly, quite a lot. When was the last time you looked through http://sqlserver.quest.com, http://sqlserverpedia.com and http://www.quest.com/sql-server/performance-management.aspx?  

Brent has posted a series on Quest’s SQL Server product management and marketing team, and I wanted to follow that up with some information on how I’m working to ensure that our SQL Server performance management products are evolving to meet your needs. By way of a re-introduction, my name is Ari Weil.  I am currently managing our suite of SQL Server performance products.  My background is pretty varied; I’ve worked as a project manager, database developer and development DBA for a web-based startup company, as a production DBA and WebSphere administrator for an international warranty services organization, as a domain expert in Quest’s Israel development lab, and finally as a Solutions Architect for Quest’s SQL Server business before assuming the role of product manager.  So since I started working with technology, I’ve gone from being in a position where I wished I had some decent performance management tools, to trying to ensure the Quest’s performance management tools are the best available.

What does that have to do with you?  Well, our tools are only as good as you perceive them to be, so we’ve been gathering (and of course will continue to gather) your feedback on what you like, what you don’t, and what you want.  Sure, we’re always studying, always following the latest releases and advances in SQL Server technology to understand where the market is headed and how companies are implementing SQL Server. But we know that the real insight comes from interacting with you, our customers.  Oh, by the way, it bears mentioning that Quest are our own customers as well; our own internal IS department uses Quest products to manage, monitor, and diagnose our own systems so you can be sure that feedback on how we’re doing is never far away! 

We have some very exciting developments coming for the rest of this year, and throughout 2010.  If you’ve ever spoken with me, or with your sales or support representative about our performance management products, I’m confident you won’t be disppointed by the enhancements you’ll see in the near future!  If you have anything to tell us, please email pow@quest.com.