1. Performance Management
2008 MDW Janis Griffin Senior DBA, Confio Software 1 1

2. Who Am I? Senior DBA for Confio Software
Twitter: @DoBoutAnything
20+ Years in SQL Server, Sybase & Oracle
DBA and Developer
Specialize in Performance Tuning
Review Performance of 100’s of Databases for Customers and Prospects

3. Agenda Management Data Warehouse (MDW) Data Collection
What is it
How to set it up
Centralized MDW Database
Data Collection for Multiple Instances
Data Collection
System collection sets
Disk Usage, Server Activity and Query Statistics.
User-defined collection sets
Reporting
How Could It Be Better?
A Comparison
Shortcomings Of MDW

4. Management Data Warehouse (MDW)
Centralized MDW Database
Supports 2008 & Up
Holds multiple Instances performance data
Consider using separate instance & server
Don’t want to collect data on the data collector
Sizing of MDW Database & maintenance
On Creation - Initially sized
Data: 100MB with 50MB auto-growth
Log: 10MB with 10MB auto-growth
Pre-allocate Data & Log sizes to minimize auto-growth
Data growth estimates are MB per day/per DB
Separate Data files and Log Files on separate drives
Recovery model should reflect backup/restore strategy
Default is Simple Recovery

5. How To Create MDW Database

6. Wizard - Create MDW Database

7. Create Centralized MDW Database

8. Manage Recovery & Access for MDW

9. Create Centralized MDW Database

10. Set Up Data Collection Run MDW Wizard on each Instance
Point Data Collection to Centralized MDW
Set up local cache directory
Map Logins & Define Users
Admins / Readers / Writers (custom data collectors)
Start SQL Server Agent

11. Run MDW Wizard on Each Instance

12. Local Cache Directory
Local Server where data is collected from Instance
Stores then forwards data collection (2 jobs)
Collects Data into local files (at some interval)
Loads to MDW (at some interval)
File Naming Convention
servername_MSSQL10_50_instance_{GUID}_##.cache
Defaults to %temp% directory
If changed, make sure Server Agent has read/write perms
Server Activity & Query Statistics are cached by default
not Disk Usage – real time load
SEBOX2_MSSQL10_50_S2008R2_{ FD4-4EB6-AA04-CD59D9BB5714}_36.cache

13. System Data Collection Sets

14. Disk Usage Collection Set Properties
Non-Cached
Data Files &
Log Files Usage
Actual Query
Retention

15. Query Statistics Collection Properties
Cached
Retention

16. Server Activity Collection Properties
DMV Snapshots Performance Counters .
Retention

17. Data Collection Jobs
msdb.dbo.syscollector_collection_items_internal

18. Data Collection Status – Log Viewer
Also, remember to view Job History & Sql Agent logs

19. Summary – All The Piece/Parts
4 Servers with 4 Instances & 1 Centralized MDW Server
msdb
Jobs
Schedules
msdb
Jobs
Schedules
msdb
Jobs
Schedules
msdb
Jobs
Schedules
dir\*.cache files
dir\*.cache files
dir\*.cache files
dir\*.cache files
MDW

20. Reports At Each Instance

21. Reports At Central MDW Database

22. Query Statistics Report
Cached Mode – Collected every 10 seconds / Uploaded every 15 minutes

23. Server Activity Report
Cached Mode – Collected every 60 seconds / Uploaded every 15 minutes

24. Disk Usage Report
Non-Cached Mode – Both Data / Log Files Collected every 6 hours

25. Custom Data Collection Example

26. Custom Data Reports on MDW

27. Performance Data – How to use it?
Proactive View
What if a User Complains
Firefighting – Drive it to ‘Root Cause’
Blocking Issue (not tuning issue)
Long Term Trends
Current (right now) Issue

28. Proactive View - MDW

29. Proactive View

30. Users Complain - MDW

31. Users Complain

32. Specific User Complains

33. Firefighting – Driving to Root Cause

34. Blocking Issue

35. Long Term Issues, Trends & Tuning

36. Current View

37. Shortcomings Of MDW No Centralized Monitoring Centralized Data Store
No Response Time Analysis
Server Health Stats & Top 10 Queries
No Notifications or Alerts
Must Login To Each Instance & View
Complex Customizations
Installed On Each Instance / T-SQL
Complex Architecture
5 Jobs/Instance, Logs, Caches, Agents
Tedious Setup & Conservative Defaults
Need To Run Wizard on Each Instance
Limited Default Reporting
3 Reports Forces ‘Server’ Health View
Limited Performance Coverage
Works Only On
Does Not Facilitate Team Collaboration
DBA Tool Only

38. Summary Management Data Warehouse (MDW) Data Collection Shortcomings
Can be used for Server/Resource Health Metrics
Many pieces/parts to set up & keep running
Free ‘first line of defense’
Data Collection
System collection sets
Disk Usage, Server Activity and Query Statistics.
User-defined collection sets – needs development $$$
Shortcomings
Large Installations require dedicated performance tools to quickly identify and fix the issue

39. Confio Software Wait-Based Performance Tools
Ignite8 - SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, Sybase
Provides Help With
Identifying Biggest Performance Issues
Gathering All Details for Immediate Resolution
Monitoring Continuously for Normal versus Abnormal
Based in Colorado, worldwide customers
Free trial at