DPA Administrator Guide

Contents
Copyright 1999-2015 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved

worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor
modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part,
or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the written consent
of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and
documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its
respective licensors.
SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER
TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON
SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED HEREUNDER
INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN,
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS,
NOR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING
IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY EVEN IF
SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES.
The SolarWinds, the SolarWinds & Design, ipMonitor, LANsurveyor, Orion, and
other SolarWinds marks, identified on the SolarWinds website, as updated from
SolarWinds from time to time and incorporated herein, are registered with the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered or pending registration in
other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks may be common law marks or
registered or pending registration in the United States or in other countries. All
other trademarks or registered trademarks contained and/or mentioned herein are
used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies. Microsoft, Windows, and SQL
Server are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries.
Revised: 9/22/2015
For legal notices regarding the third-party components used in this software, see:
http://www.solarwinds.com/documentation/legal/dpa/10.0/
Table of Contents
About SolarWinds
Contacting SolarWinds
Conventions
SolarWinds Documentation Library
vi
Chapter 1: Introduction
Architecture
Database Performance Analyzer Server
Browser View
Database Performance Analyzer Repository Database
Monitored Database Instances
Monitored Virtualization Environment
Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer

System Requirements
3
3
Browser Requirements
Database Performance Analyzer Server Requirements
System Requirements for a Self-Managed DPA Server

More than 250 monitored instances
4
4
System Requirements for an Amazon EC2 DPA Server
Database Repository Requirements
Minimum System Requirements
Ensure Adequate Disk Space for the Repository
Administrator Credentials Are Required
Database Versions You Can Monitor
Self-Managed Databases
7
i
Database Performance Analyzer

Amazon RDS Databases
You Can Repoint MySQL but not Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server Instances
Before You Install
9
9
Installation Overview
11
Installing on Windows
11
Starting the Installer
11
After Installing
12
Installing on UNIX and Linux
12
After Installing
13
Installing on Amazon AWS
13
Differences Between Amazon AWS and Self-Managed Servers
13
Launching a SolarWinds DPA Instance
14
Logging on to the SolarWinds DPA Server
18
Configuring DPA Central Server Mode
19
Setting Up a DPA Central Server
19
Adding Remote DPA Servers
19
Viewing DPA Central Server Mode
20
Advanced Configuration
20
Thread Pool Settings
20
General Central Settings
23
Client Factory Cache
24
Troubleshooting Tips
25
Upgrading the Database Performance Analyzer Server Software
26
Upgrading on Windows
26
Upgrading on UNIX and Linux
27
Upgrading on an Amazon AMI Instance
28
Resizing to More Powerful Amazon AWS Instance Types
28
Licensing
29
License Types
29
Database Instance Licenses
29
ii
Table of Contents
Virtual Machine (VM) Licenses (Optional)
30
Purchasing Licenses
30
Viewing Purchased Licenses
30
If You Do Not See Your License
31
Activating Your Licenses
31
Activating Licenses if You Have Direct Internet Connectivity
31
Activating Licenses Offline if You Do Not Have Direct Internet Connectivity
32
Allocating Licenses to Database Instances
34
Opening the License Allocation Page
34
Viewing the Current License Allocations
34
34
Allocating VM Licenses to VM Database Instances
35
Deallocating Licenses
35
Deactivating Licenses
35
Online Deactivation
36
Offline Deactivation
36
Troubleshooting Over-Allocated Licenses
36
Adding Users and Controlling Access
37
Enabling Active Directory User Authentication
37
Enabling LDAP User Authentication
37
Enabling Single Sign On (SSO)
37
Creating a User or AD/LDAP Group
38
Chapter 3: Getting Started
39
Step 1: Identify the Top 3 Query Problems
40
Step 2: Correlate Response Time with System Resources
43
Step 3: Determine Specific Wait Bottlenecks Slowing Response Time
45
Step 4: Diagnose the Situation Right Now
48
Step 5: Set Up Proactive Management
51
Reports
51
Setting Alerts
53
iii

The Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet
57
Performing Advanced Analysis
58
Instance Groups
59
Monitoring
59
Logs
60
More Features
60
Trend Reports
60
Trend Reports Use Summarized Data
61
Minimum Data to Generate a Report
61
Creating a Report
61
Report Types
62
Alerts
63
Wait Time Alerts
64
Database Administration Alerts
64
Custom Alerts
65
Alert Attributes
66
Monitoring Blackout Periods
69
Enabling SNMP Monitoring in SCOM
69
iv
About SolarWinds
About SolarWinds
SolarWinds, Inc. develops and markets an array of network management,
monitoring, and discovery tools to meet the diverse requirements of todays
network management and consulting professionals. SolarWinds products
continue to set benchmarks for quality and performance and have positioned the
company as the leader in network management and discovery technology. The
SolarWinds customer base includes over 45 percent of the Fortune 500 and
customers from over 90 countries. Our global business partner distributor network
exceeds 100 distributors and resellers.
Contacting SolarWinds
You can contact SolarWinds in a number of ways, including the following:
Team
Contact Information
Sales
1.866.530.8100
www.solarwinds.com
Technical Support www.solarwinds.com/support

User Forums
www.thwack.com
Conventions
The documentation uses consistent conventions to help you identify items
throughout the printed and online library.
Convention
Specifying
Bold
Window items, including buttons and fields
Italics
Book and CD titles, variable names, new terms
Fixed font
File and directory names, commands and code

examples, text typed by you
Straight brackets, as
in [value]
Optional command parameters
Curly braces, as in
{value}
Required command parameters
About SolarWinds
Logical OR, as in
value1|value2
Exclusive command parameters where only one of the

options can be specified
SolarWinds Documentation Library

The following documents are included in the SolarWinds Database Performance
Analyzer Documentation Library.
Document Purpose
Page
Help
Provides context-sensitive help for the DPA user interface.
Video
Tutorials
http://www.solarwinds.com/resources/videos.aspx
Success
Guide
http://thwack.solarwinds.com/docs/DOC-175335
Online
Help
Provides information on getting started.
Release
Notes
Provides late-breaking information, known issues, and updates. The

latest Release Notes can be found at www.solarwinds.com.
Browse to the Database Performance Analyzer videos

Provides a process for deploying Database Performance Analyzer.
To access this help, click How do I use a performance analysis tool?
on the banner bar.
vi
Database Performance Analyzer for Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, DB2, and SAP
ASE gives you the means to easily and quickly monitor, diagnose, and resolve
performance problems.
Database Performance Analyzer is a 24/7 database performance monitoring and
problem isolation tool based on industry best practice performance intelligence
and wait time analysis methods.
Architecture
SolarWinds DPA consists of:
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A SolarWinds DPA server
A SolarWinds DPA repository database
One or more database instances you want to monitor
The SolarWinds DPA server collects performance data from a set of database
instances you choose to monitor. SolarWinds DPA then stores this data in the
repository database.
Note: For optimal performance, the repository and the monitored database
instances need to reside on the same high-speed LAN. If your environment
contains database instances that are on separate LANs, we recommend that a
repository be set up on each LAN.
The Database Performance Analyzer server provides a web interface to let you
view performance data in a web browser from any computer with access to the
Database Performance Analyzer server.
Several Database Performance Analyzer installations can reside on the same
machine. On UNIX/Linux, this is done by installing each instance of Database
Performance Analyzer in a separate directory. The Database Performance
Analyzer Windows version supports the installation of a single Database
Performance Analyzer on a machine. Contact www.solarwinds.com/support if you
need multiple instances of Database Performance Analyzer installed on a
Windows machine.
Database Performance Analyzer Server

The Database Performance Analyzer Server performs two key functions:
l
l
Collects data from the monitored database instances

Provides a web interface to let you view performance data from any
computer with access to the Database Performance Analyzer server
Browser View
Database Performance Analyzer uses a web browser to view performance data.
From this interface, you configure monitoring and use advanced Database
Performance Analyzer features such as alerting and emailing reports.
Database Performance Analyzer Repository Database

The repository database holds all the performance information collected by
Database Performance Analyzer.
Monitored Database Instances

The Database Performance Analyzer remotely connects to each database
instance using a JDBC connection. It causes less than 1% overhead on the
instance. No software is installed on the monitored server.
Monitored Virtualization Environment

If you are running Database Performance Analyzer in a virtual environment, it can
remotely connect to each VMware vCenter Server or ESX/ESXi host. It causes
less than 1% overhead on the monitored systems. No software is installed in the
vCenter Server, ESX/ESXi host or Virtual Machines.
Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up

This chapter discusses how to install and set up SolarWinds DPA. It contains the
following topics:
l
"System Requirements" below
"Before You Install" on page 9
"Installing on Windows" on page 11
"Installing on UNIX and Linux" on page 12
Accessing SolarWinds DPA for the First Time
"Upgrading the Database Performance Analyzer Server Software" on page

26
"Licensing" on page 29
"Adding Users and Controlling Access" on page 37
System Requirements
This section discusses the system requirements for SolarWinds DPA:
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SolarWinds DPA supports the following browsers:
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Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 9, 10, and 11

Note: Do not use IE compatibility view. It is incompatible with SolarWinds
DPA and may cause our software to function incorrectly.
Firefox 35
Chrome (latest version)

You can install SolarWinds DPA on any physical or virtual Windows, UNIX, or
Linux server that supports the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.6 or 1.7.
You can also launch SolarWinds DPA in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
(Amazon EC2) from an Amazon Machine Image (AMI). The AMI contains both a
SolarWinds DPA server and a built-in Microsoft SQL Server instance ereconfigured as the DPA repository.
System Requirements for a Self-Managed DPA Server
The system must have JRE 1.6 or 1.7 installed.
The other minimum requirements for the server specifications and operating
system architecture depend on the number of database instances you plan to
monitor.
Monitored
Database
Instances
CPUs
RAM
(dedicated to DPA)
OS
Architecture
1 20
1 GB
32 or 64 bit
20 50
2 GB
32 or 64 bit
51 100
4 GB
64 bit
101 250
8 GB
64 bit
More than 250 monitored instances
If you plan to monitor more than 250 database instances, consider using more
than one SolarWinds DPA server for monitoring. See "Configuring DPA Central
Server Mode" on page 19.
System Requirements for an Amazon EC2 DPA Server
The minimum required Amazon EC2 instance type for the SolarWinds DPA AMI
is m3.medium. Smaller instance types are not supported.

An m3.medium size instance can reliably monitor 10 database instances. You
may need a larger instance type to reliably monitor more than that. For more
information, see Resizing to More Powerful Amazon AWS Instance Types.

The SolarWinds DPA repository is the database that stores the data collected by
SolarWinds DPA. You may host the repository database on an instance of Oracle
or Microsoft SQL Server:
Oracle
Oracle 10.2.0.5
Oracle 11.2.0.5
Oracle 12.1 non-container database architecture
Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server 2008 SP4

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP3
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP2
Microsoft SQL Server 2014
We do not recommend using any of the Express editions of Oracle or Microsoft
SQL Server for the repository because of their database size limits.
Do not host the repository on a database instance that you plan to monitor
because this affects the performance of that instance.
We do not support Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) instances as a
repository. You may host a self-managed Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server
database on Amazon EC2 to use as your repository.
Minimum System Requirements
The server hosting your repository must meet these minimum requirements:
Number of Monitored
Database Instances
Minimum Number Reserved

of CPUs
RAM
Architecture
1 - 20
2 GB
32 or 64 bit
20 - 50
4 GB
64 bit
51 100
8 GB
64 bit
101 250
16 GB
64 bit

Note: If you are installing SolarWinds DPA on the same server as the repository
database, you need these requirements in addition to the SolarWinds DPA
requirements.
Ensure Adequate Disk Space for the Repository
The amount of disk space your repository uses is a function of the number of
database instances you are monitoring and the level of activity of each instance.
Use the following guideline:
Database Instance Activity Level Disk Space
Required
Light
1 GB
Medium
3 GB
Heavy
5 GB
Example
You are monitoring 5 light, 3 medium, and 2 heavy activity database instances.
(5 x 1GB) + (3 x 3GB) + (2 x 5GB) = 24 GB
Reserve at least 24 GB to provide adequate disk space for this repository
database.
Administrator Credentials Are Required
You must know the DBA credentials (Oracle) or the Sysadmin credentials
(MSSQL) for the database instance hosting your repository.

SolarWinds DPA can monitor database instances you manage on both physical
and virtual servers or Amazon RDS instances hosted in the Amazon Elastic
Compute Cloud (EC2). You can monitor Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL,
SAP ASE, and IBM DB2 database instances. The server hosting SolarWinds
DPA must be able to connect to the monitored server.
Database
Supported Version
Oracle
SYS user privileges are required for the

initial setup.
Microsoft SQL Server

SYSADMIN role privileges are required for
the initial setup.
SAP Sybase ASE

SA_ROLE privileges are required for the
initial setup.
IBM DB2 LUW

SYSADM privileges are required to set up
performance tuning in DB2.
MySQL
SYS user privileges are required for the
initial setup.
11g Release 2 (11.2.x)

12c Release 1 (12.1.x) noncontainer database
architecture
2008 SP4
2008 R2 SP3
2012 SP2
2014 CU1
15.0.x
15.5
15.7
16
9.5
9.7
10.1
10.5
Community version 5.6
Percona 5.6
Amazon RDS Databases

SolarWinds DPA can monitor Amazon RDS Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and
MySQL instances. Some features that are available on self-managed database
instances are not available for Amazon RDS instances because of Amazon RDS
access restrictions.
Amazon
RDS
Oracle
Supported
Versions
11.2.x
Key Differences
Unavailable alerts:
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Oracle Alert Log Error uses V$DIAG_ALERT_

EXT instead of X$DBGALERTEXT
Explain plans:
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Explain plans cannot be generated with a

SYS account. You must specify a different
account to generate the live plan.
Workarounds for not having a SYS.UTL_CON

package
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Microsoft
SQL Server
2008 R2
sp1
2012
To kill a real-time session, use

RDSADMIN.RDSADMIN_UTIL.KILL
Trace session permissions granted through
START_TRACE_IN_SESSION and STOP_
TRACE_IN_SESSION
Unavailable alerts:
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SQL Server Windows Service not Running
SQL Server Long Running Jobs
SQL Server Log has Many Virtual Logs
SQL Server Job Failure
SQL Server Error Log Alert
Explain plans:
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The DPA monitoring user does not have a

sysadmin role and may have limited access to
objects. You can specify a different user to
generate the live plan before you generate the
plan.
WMI-based statistics are not available:

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CPU Queue Length
Amazon
RDS
Supported
Versions
Key Differences
CPU Utilization
Disk Queue Length
Memory Paging Rate
Memory Utilization
Physical I/O Rate
Physical Read Rate
Physical Write Rate
Workaround for not having a sysadmin role:

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MySQL
5.6
DPA user is a member of processadmin role
No differences.
It is not possible to transfer a registered Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database

instance between Amazon RDS and a self-managed database and retain
SolarWinds DPA historical data. Any Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database
instance transferred between Amazon RDS and a self-managed instance
appears as separate instances.
MySQL database instances can be repointed. You can continue monitoring
where you left off after transferring a database instance between Amazon RDS
and self-managed. To repoint, update the connection details of the registered
database to point to the new location.
Before You Install

Before installing Database Performance Analyzer, perform the following steps.
1. Identify the server where the Database Performance Analyzer software will
be installed. Make sure the server:
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Is powerful enough to handle the load of the potential number of

monitored database instances that you will register.
Has network connectivity to the Database Performance Analyzer

Repository and each of the monitored database instances that you will
register. Database Performance Analyzer software can be installed on
the same server as the repository instance although it is not required.
2. Identify the Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database instance that will hold
the Database Performance Analyzer Repository.
a. Ensure the repository is not installed in a critical production database
instance.
b. For a Microsoft SQL Server Repository, ensure that a
username/password with SYSADMIN privileges is available during
installation.
c. For an Oracle Repository, ensure that a username/password with
DBA privileges is available during installation.
3. Obtain appropriate login credentials for each of the monitored databases.
Database
Oracle
Credentials
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Non-SYS DBA username/password
SYS password
SQL
Server
SYSADMIN username/password
DB2
Username/password with SYSADM
Sybase
Username/password that is a member of the sa_role
MySQL
If the SQL Server instance uses Windows Authentication,

Database Performance Analyzer will need a SYSADMIN
username/password that it will store and use for monitoring.
Non-SYS DBA username/password
SYS password
4. If you are using Database Performance Analyzer with the VM option, you
must have a read-only user with access to vCenter or ESX for monitoring.
10
Tip: Database Performance Analyzer monitoring performs best if a

high-speed network exists between the repository and the monitored
database instances. Although monitoring will work across a WAN or
low-speed network, it may be necessary to reduce the frequency that
Database Performance Analyzer collects the performance data.
1. Install the Database Performance Analyzer server software on a Windows,
UNIX, or Linux computer.
2. Use the Database Performance Analyzer Setup Wizards to:
a. Create and configure a repository database on a non-production
instance of Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server.
b. Register database instances to be monitored by the repository. You
should not monitor the same database instance from more than one
installed instance of Database Performance Analyzer.
Installing on Windows
SolarWinds DPA for Microsoft Windows comes as a typical Windows installer.
You can download the 64-bit installer as a .ZIP file from your SolarWinds
customer portal, https://customerportal.solarwinds.com/
If you require the 32-bit installer, please open a technical support ticket on our
website:
http://www.solarwinds.com/support/ticket/
Note: You can download evaluation versions of SolarWinds DPA from the
SolarWinds web site.
Starting the Installer

The default installation folder is C:\Program Files\Solarwinds\DPA. If you choose
to not specify your own installation folder during the installation process, this
default folder becomes the SolarWinds DPA Home directory.
The installation process creates a Windows service called Ignite PI Server. This
service is set to run automatically when the server is restarted. You can stop
11

SolarWinds DPA by shutting down this service. You may change the start up type
of this service to manual if you so choose.
1. Log on to your Windows server as an administrator.
2. Extract and run the installer program file from the .ZIP file.
3. Follow the instructions in the installer.
After Installing
1. Open your web browser to http://yourserver:8123
2. Complete the Repository Creation Wizard.
3. Begin registering database instances for monitoring in the Register Instance
Wizard.
Installing on UNIX and Linux

The installer requires Java 1.6 or 1.7 installed on your system. If you do not have
Java, you can still proceed by following the manual unzip instructions. The
procedure below includes both sets of instructions.
1. Download the installer from the SolarWinds customer portal,
https://customerportal.solarwinds.com/
Note: If you require the 32-bit installer, please open a technical support
ticket on our website:http://www.solarwinds.com/support/ticket/
Note: You can download evaluation versions of SolarWinds DPA from the
SolarWinds web site.
2. Create a directory to hold this version (and future versions) of Database
Performance Analyzer (e.g., /home/dpa).
3. Untar the downloaded file into the above directory.
4. Run the dpa_<version>_installer.sh script:
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Make it executable and run it directly:

chmod +x dpa_<version>_installer.sh
./dpa_<version>_installer.sh
-orl
Run it in the shell:

sh dpa_<version>_installer.sh
12
After Installing
5. If the installer fails because you do not have Java:

1. Use an unzip tool to manually extract the files from the installer to
/home/dpa.
2. Set chmod 775 file permissions on all extracted executable files.
Example:
find "/home/dpa/dpa_9_1_85" -name "*.sh" -exec chmod 775 {} \;
6. The installer will prompt you for needed information, including creating a
directory on the server to hold the new installation. This will be the
Database Performance Analyzer Home directory.
7. Start Database Performance Analyzer.
1. From the Database Performance Analyzer home directory, run
./startup.sh.
2. Open a browser and connect to http://yourserver:8123/.
When you run Database Performance Analyzer for the first time, a
wizard walks you through the process of creating a repository and
monitoring database instances.
After Installing
1. Open your web browser to http://yourserver:8123.
2. Complete the Repository Creation Wizard.
3. Begin registering database instances for monitoring in the Register Instance
Wizard.
Installing on Amazon AWS

You can deploy SolarWinds DPA in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
(Amazon EC2) from an Amazon Machine Image (AMI).
Differences Between Amazon AWS and Self-Managed Servers

Runs on default HTTP/HTTPS ports 80 and 443
You can access the SolarWinds DPA user interface on the standard HTTP
port 80 and HTTPS port 443. The Windows Firewall settings have been set
13

to allow inbound HTTP and HTTPS traffic.
Preconfigured DPA repository
This server comes with a built-in, Microsoft SQL Server DPA repository. The
DPA repository stores the monitoring data for SolarWinds DPA.
Preconfigured administrator account
There is a preconfigured DPA administrator account, "dpa". The password
is the Amazon Instance ID of the server. You can find the Instance ID in your
Amazon EC2 dashboard.

Follow these instructions to launch an instance in Amazon EC2.
1. Log on to Amazon AWS.
2. Select the Amazon EC2 region in which you want to launch the instance.
For example: US East (N. Virginia).
3. Click EC2.
4. Click Launch Instance.
5. On the Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) page:
1. Click the Community AMI tab.
14
2. Search for SolarWinds DPA and then click Select next to the AMI.
6. On the Choose an Instance Type page:

1. Select an instance type that is at least m3.medium or larger. This
table lists the instance types we recommend.
General Purpose Compute optimized Memory optimized
m3.medium
c3.large
r3.large
m3.large
c3.xlarge
m3.xlarge
c3.2xlarge
m3.2xlarge
m3.medium is an economical choice and a logical instance type to
start with. However, large deployments and managing very active
databases need the increased resources and optimizations available
to the larger instance types. You can select the size you need right
now and then resize to a larger instance type later.
2. Click Next: Configure Instance Details.
7. On the Configure Instance Details Type page:
If you have used Amazon EC2 before, you probably already have an
Amazon VPC network and subnet set up. Your existing network and subnet
15
is selected by default.
1. Make sure that:
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You have enabled Auto-assign public IP so you can connect to

SolarWinds DPA from your desktop.
You have configured any other settings to suit your network or
subnet requirements.
2. Click Next: Add Storage.

8. On the Add Storage page:
1. You can configure additional storage beyond this default storage that
the AMI provisions for you:
Type
Size
Root 50 GiB
EBS 100 GiB
The Delete on Termination option is not selected by default. It is a
good precautionary practice to have to separately delete the data
volume after terminating an instance.
2. Click Next: Tag Instance.
9. On the Tag Instance page:
1. Give the tag Name the value SolarWinds DPA to more easily
recognize your instance in Amazon EC2.
2. Click Next: Configure Security Group.
10. On the Configure Security Group page:
1. Add rules that allow inbound access to at least the remote desktop
and the HTTP/HTTPS ports.
Type Protocol Port Range
HTTP
TCP
80
HTTPS TCP
443
RDP
3389
TCP
16
2. If you want to restrict access to DPA to just your current IP address,

change the Source for these rules to My IP. Leaving Source set to
Anywhere is less secure.
3. If you want to restrict access to DPA to just people in your
organization, select Custom IP for the Source and specify an IP
range in CIDR notation that matches the external IP addresses used
in your organization.
4. Click Review and Launch.

11. On the Review Instance Launch page:
1. Review your instance options.
2. Click Launch - the Select an existing key pair or create a new key
pair dialog box appears.
12. In the dialog box, secure your AMI instance with a public key pair.
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If you do not have a key pair yet:

1. Select Create a new key pair.
2. Enter a Key pair name.
3. Click Download Key Pair.
4. Store this file in a secure and accessible location.
If you have a key pair already:

1. Select Choose an existing key pair.
2. Select a secure and accessible key pair.
3. Accept the acknowledgment.
13. Click Launch Instances.
17
14. Wait a few minutes for the provisioning and initialization to finish.
Logging on to the SolarWinds DPA Server

You can access your SolarWinds DPA server by its public hostname or IP
address.
1. On the Amazon EC2 Instances page, find:
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The public DNS or public IP address of your new SolarWinds DPA

server.
The instance ID
2. Open a web browser to the host name or IP address of your new

SolarWinds DPA server.
3. From the web browser, log on as the dpa user. The password is the
Instance ID. For example: i-12345678.
4. (First time only) Select your time zone and then wait for the first-time
configuration to finish.
18

DPA Central Server is a configuration option that lets you link separate
SolarWinds DPA servers together. This is useful if:
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You want to monitor more than 250 database instances. You can divide
monitoring tasks between different SolarWinds DPA servers.
Your monitored databases are distributed geographically. You can install
separate SolarWinds DPA servers in each geographic location.
The DPA Central Server collects information from all your remote DPA servers
and rolls up the data into a single interface including viewing alarm information,
monitoring summary information, and database issues.
Setting Up a DPA Central Server

All SolarWinds DPA versions support DPA Central Server.
1. Install SolarWinds DPA on a server. This will be your DPA Central Server.
2. Log on to that instance as an administrator.
3. Click Options > Administration tab > Manage Central.
4. Your SolarWinds DPA server should already be listed as the Central
DPA Server in the list of Registered Servers.
Adding Remote DPA Servers

1. Click Add Server.
2. Fill in the details about the remote DPA server.
3. Click Test connection.
4. If the test failed, it may be because the host name you entered for Server
Name contains an underscore _ character which is not valid for host names.
If you cannot rename the host, you can enter an IP address here instead.
5. If the test succeeds, click Save.
6. Repeat these steps for all remaining remote DPA servers.
The details of your remote DPA servers are not stored in the repository, but rather
in a local file on your Central DPA Server:
/iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/iwc/central/RemoteRepositories.json
19

This file is a JSON file which is plain text and fairly human-readable. No sensitive
data is stored in this file.
Viewing DPA Central Server Mode

The default home page of a DPA Central Server is the SolarWinds DPA home
page. Navigate to the Central Server page to see information from all registered
remote servers.
1. Log on to your DPA Central Server as an administrator.
2. Click Options > Administration tab > Manage Central.
3. Click the Central button.
Advanced Configuration
Central is preconfigured to run fine in most environments, but depending on how
it is used you may need to make some configuration changes to make it run more
efficiently for your environment. The following tables explain some of these
advanced setting.
To change the default behavior, you can edit the system.properties file in the
/iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/idc directory of your Central DPA Server and add
the desired setting. Bold values are the default values.
These settings control the number of threads that will be used by Central to make
web service calls to other remote servers. The default settings are set for a few
concurrent users hitting up to 100 remote instances. If you have more than 100
instances or a lot of concurrent users you may want to adjust these settings.
20

com.confio.iwc.centralServiceTaskExecutor.corePoolSize
20
The core
number
of
threads
that Central uses
to make
web service calls
to the
remote
servers.
com.confio.iwc.centralServiceTaskExecutor.maxPoolSize
40
The maximum
number
of
threads
that Central uses
to make
web service calls
to the
remote
servers.
Central
adds
more
threads
only
when all
core
threads
are in
use and
the task
queue is
full.
21
com.confio.iwc.centralServiceTaskExecutor.queueCapacity
100- The max0

imum
number
of
requests
in the
queue
before
Central
either
spawns
new
threads
to help
with the
work or
rejects
the
request.
Tasks
will be
rejected
if all 40
threads
can't
keep up
with the
requests
being
made.
com.confio.iwc.centralServiceTaskExecutor.keepAliveSeconds
120
22
The number of
seconds
to keep
an idle
thread
before
pruning

it.
com.confio.iwc.central.enabled
true
/false
Enables or disables the use of

Ignite Central.
com.confio.iwc .token.login.supported
true
/false
Enables or disables the use of

encrypted login tokens when jumping from "Central" to a remote Ignite
instance. If true, a web service call
will authenticate the user and create a short lived token to identify
the incoming user and bypass the
login process. If false, the user is
always prompted to log in to the
remote Ignite instance.
com.confio.iwc.show.all.errors
true/
false
Determines which users see

failures in the Unavailable Ignite
Servers section. If true, all users
see failures for all Ignite instances.
If false, only administrators see
failures. Set this option to false if
you do not want all users to know
about other Ignite instances
throughout the organization.
com.confio.iwc.automatic.update true
/false
Enables or disables a process that

performs simple checks on the file
when Ignite starts (for example,
flagging any local instances as the
"Central" server).
23
com.confio.iwc.alarm.level
com.confio.iwc.alarm.count
Warning The minimum message level to

include on the Alarm Details tab.
Valid values are:
200
Critical
Warning
Normal
empty
(disables details)
The number of detail rows to show

on the Alarm Details tab.
Client Factory Cache

A client factory creates web service clients that are used to talk to remote
instances on a per user basis. One client factory is created per host:port
combination (not per user) so the same factory will be used to create individual
clients for different users. Factory creation is fairly expensive since an initial
handshake is done between the client and server, therefore we keep them in a
cache to be reused.
com.confio.iwc.client.factory.cache.size
100
com.confio.iwc.client.factory.cache.timeout
1800 The number of seconds

a client factory will
remain in the cache
without being used.
The default is 1800 (30
minutes).
24
The maximum number

of client factories held
in the cache. The
default is 100, which
equates to 100 unique
remote Ignite instances.
Increase this value if
you are connecting to
more than 100 remote
instances.
com.confio.iwc.client.factory.connection.timeout 15
The number of seconds

a client will attempt to
establish a connection
before it times out. The
default is 15. 0 specifies that the client will
continue to attempt to
open a connection
indefinitely.
com.confio.iwc.client.factory.read.timeout
30
The number of seconds

that the client will wait
for a response before it
times out. The default is
30 seconds. 0 specifies
that the client will wait
indefinitely.
com.confio.iwc.client.factory.enable.chunking
true/ Enables or disables

false HTTP chunking. False
is the safer option.
com.confio.iwc.client.factory.enable.log
true Enables logging of

/false inbound and outbound
messaging to capture
the web service calls.
Log levels are still controlled in the log4j.xml
file. Set this value to
false if you need to disable logging.
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View the logs available in the installdir/iwc/tomcat/logs/ directory.
Make sure a firewall is not running on the machine.
Make sure another process is not using the default Database Performance
Analyzer ports. If the ports are being used by another process, change the
default ports of 8123 and 8127 by editing
25
installdir/iwc/tomcat/conf/server.xml
and updating the following lines
with new port numbers:

<Connector port="8123"/><Server port="8127" shutdown="SHUTDOWN">
Upgrading the Database Performance Analyzer

Server Software
SolarWinds DPA 10.0 allows upgrades from:
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Confio Ignite 8.3 or later
SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer 9.0 or later
To upgrade from an earlier version of the software, please open a SolarWinds

Technical Support ticket for assistance.
Upgrading on Windows
If you are upgrading from SolarWinds DPA 9.0 or earlier, we have granted you
new instance-based licenses for DPA that you will find in your customer portal.
Before upgrading, log on to the SolarWinds Customer Portal and verify that you
have your new instance-based keys listed as Category 1, Category 2, and
VM Option.
1. Download the most recent version of the software from your SolarWinds
Customer portal, http://customerportal.solarwinds.com.
2. Run the installer.
3. When asked, verify that you have a valid instance-based Category 1 or
Category 2 activation key(s).
4. Follow the installer instructions.
5. Open a web browser to your SolarWinds DPA server.
6. Click Enter Activation Key.
7. Activate a key using the online or the offline method as appropriate, and
then click Done. "Licensing" on page 29.
8. Click Proceed with Upgrade.
9. Wait for the upgrade to finish.
26

If you are upgrading from SolarWinds DPA 9.0 or earlier, we have granted you
new instance-based licenses for DPA that you will find in your customer portal.
Before upgrading, log on to the SolarWinds Customer Portal and verify that you
have your new instance-based keys listed as Category 1, Category 2, and
VM Option.
2. Install the new version of the software on your existing server.
3. Run shutdown.sh from the old installation directory.
4. Locate the directory that was created when you installed the new version:
/home/dpa_9_0_xxx <= old installation home (might be ignite_8_x_xxx)
/home/dpa_9_1_xxx <= new SolarWinds DPA home
5. Copy or move these directories from the old installation to the new:
WARNING! Do not copy any hotfix files!
cp -fr OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/* NEW_
home/iwc/tomcat/ignite_config/
cp -fr OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/logs/* NEW_home/iwc/tomcat/logs/
cp OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/licensing NEW_home/iwc/tomcat/
6. If you are:
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using LDAPS, or
using SSL, or
have changed the default SolarWinds DPA ports
then also complete the following tasks:

a. Copy server.xml to the new installation.
cp -fr OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/conf/server.xml NEW_
home/iwc/tomcat/conf/
NOTE: If you are using LDAPS but not SSL, it is not necessary to
copy the server.xml file.
b. Copy the keystore to the new installation.
cp -fr OLD_home/iwc/tomcat/conf/.keystore NEW_
home/iwc/tomcat/conf/
7. Run ./startup.sh from the new directory.
27
8. Open a web browser to your SolarWinds DPA server.

10. Activate a key using the online or the offline method as appropriate, and
then click Done. "Licensing" on the facing page.
11. Click Proceed with Upgrade.
12. Wait for the upgrade to finish.
Upgrading on an Amazon AMI Instance

1. Open a remote desktop session to your SolarWinds DPA instance in
Amazon EC2 and log on.
3. Run the installer.
4. The installation wizard upgrades Database Performance Analyzer.
Resizing to More Powerful Amazon AWS Instance Types

The m3.medium Amazon EC2 instance type is sufficient only for monitoring up to
10 database instances. You should resize your AWS Instance type as your
monitoring needs grow.
For more information, see the Amazon AWS Documentation topic, "Resizing Your
Instance": http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/ec2instance-resize.html#resize-ebs-backed-instance
The brief steps are:
1. Go to the EC2 dashboard.
2. Stop the instance.
3. Click Actions > Instance Settings > Change Instance Type and then
select a more suitable instance type.
4. Restart the instance and then reassociate any Elastic IP addresses.
28
Licensing
Licensing
SolarWinds DPA comes with a 14-day evaluation license. During the evaluation
period, you can monitor and view data for an unrestricted number of database
instances. After the end of the evaluation period, you will need to purchase the
appropriate quantity and type of licenses for the database instances you want to
monitor.
License Types
Each database instance you monitor with SolarWinds DPA requires a license.
You must buy a database instance license for each database instance you
monitor. In addition, you may buy virtual machine licenses to monitor the virtual
infrastructure hosting one of your database instances.
Database Instance Licenses
Purchase an instance license for each database instance you want to monitor.
SolarWinds sells licenses by category according to the database edition they are
authorized to monitor.
Category 1 licenses monitor...
Oracle: all editions except Standard and Express
Sybase: all editions except Express
IBM DB2: all editions except Express
29
Category 2
licenses
monitor...
MySQL: All
editions
Microsoft
SQL Server:
all editions
Oracle:
Standard
and
Express editions
Sybase:
Express edition
IBM DB2:
Express edition
If you run out of Category 2 licenses, use Category 1 licenses instead.

Category 1 licenses can monitor all database types.
Virtual Machine (VM) Licenses (Optional)
Purchase optional Virtual Machine licenses to see information related to the
virtual infrastructure of database instances in the Virtualization view. Each license
lets you see VM-related information for one database instance.
A VM license can be applied only to a database instance you have already
bought a database instance license for.
Purchasing Licenses
Contact our sales team to purchase licenses directly from SolarWinds in the
manner most convenient to you.
Only buy licenses for active database instances. Standby database
instances used for disaster recover or high availability do not need
licenses.
On the web:
http://www.solarwinds.com/onlinequotes/
Via email:
sales@solarwinds.com
Via telephone:
+1 (866) 530-8100
Viewing Purchased Licenses

You can view your SolarWinds DPA licenses in the SolarWinds customer portal
(http://customerportal.solarwinds.com). Log on to the customer portal with your
SolarWinds Customer ID and password or your individual user profile.
The licenses for your SolarWinds DPA product are in the License Management
section of the Customer Portal. Scroll to locate your Database Performance
Analyzer licenses. The licenses are listed by category.
Category 1 is for Oracle, Sybase, and DB2.
30

Category 2 is for MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle Std/Express, Sybase Express, and
DB2 Express.
If you cannot find your licenses for SolarWinds DPA, please submit a Customer
Service Ticket (http://www.solarwinds.com/support/ticket/) and we will help you.
Activating Your Licenses

Your licenses are grouped into activation keys that you can find in your Customer
Portal. After activating a number of licenses, you can then allocate these licenses
on the License Allocation page amongst the database instances you want to
monitor.
l
If your SolarWinds DPA server uses a proxy to connect to the Internet or has
no Internet connection, follow the activation procedure below titled
"Activating Licenses Offline if You Do Not Have Direct Internet
Connectivity".
If your SolarWinds DPA server has Internet Connectivity, follow the
activation procedure below titled "Activating Licenses if You Have Direct
Internet Connectivity
Activating Licenses if You Have Direct Internet Connectivity

If the SolarWinds DPA server has direct Internet connectivity, you can use online
activation.
1. From the SolarWinds Customer Portal, copy an activation key that has
available licenses.
1. Log on to the SolarWinds Customer Portal
(http://customerportal.solarwinds.com).
2. Locate the license in the SolarWinds customer portal and then click
[+] to expand it.
3. Copy the activation key to the clipboard.
31
2. On the SolarWinds DPA License Manager page, paste the activation key.
1. Open the SolarWinds DPA Web Client in your browser.
2. On the Home page, click License Management and then click
License Manager.
4. Select Online Activation.
5. On the Online Activation page, paste the activation key into the correct
field. For example, if this is a Category 1 key, paste it into the
Category 1 field.
6. In the Amount to Activate section, select All Available or Specify
Amount.
l
l
Select All Available to activate all available licenses.

Select Specify Amount to activate only a portion of the
available licenses.
Tip: Unactivated licenses can be activated at a later time. You can

even reuse an activation key on an entirely different SolarWinds DPA
server and activate any remaining licenses there.
7. Fill out the remaining fields and then click Activate.
8. Click Done.
Your license keys are now activated.
Offline activation requires you to have a way to transfer files between the
SolarWinds DPA server and an Internet-capable computer. You may use email,
shared storage, a USB memory stick, and other such methods to transfer files.
32
1. Go to the Offline Activation page.

2. On the Home page, click License Management and then click
License Manager.
4. Select Offline Activation.
2. On the Offline Activation page, copy the long text string next to the license
type you want to activate and save it to a text file. This is your unique
machine ID. Be sure to include the brackets. For example:
[Ao5yFukOXlTETNF3hjTA278dkwnTCunVTYYteV06n3k/KXe:WqOZI4+jNAMAAAABB
BAkA]
3. Transfer this text file to a computer with Internet access.

4. Retrieve the license key files using the computer with Internet access:
1. Log on to the SolarWinds Customer Portal
(http://customerportal.solarwinds.com).
2. Locate the license in the SolarWinds customer portal and then click [+]
to expand it.
3. Click Manually Register License.
4. Click Generate Activation Key.

5. Paste the long text string into the Unique Machine ID field and fill in
the other fields appropriately.
6. Click Generate License File. This downloads a license file.
5. Transfer the license file back to the SolarWinds DPA server.
33
6. On the Offline Activation page, click Choose File to choose the license file
you just transferred, and then click Activate.
Your license key is now activated.
Use the License Allocation to configure and reconfigure how your licenses are
allocated to database instances. Make use of your SolarWinds DPA licenses by
allocating them among your registered database instances. We start monitoring
new instances immediately after you allocate your licenses. Category 1 and 2
licenses collect the data shown in the Performance view. VM licenses collect the
data shown in the Virtualization view.
Opening the License Allocation Page

2. On the Home page, click License Management.
Viewing the Current License Allocations
You can see the current license allocations in the summary boxes near the top of
the License Allocation page.
You must allocate a license to each database instance you want to monitor and
collect information from.
34
1. From the list, find the registered database instance you want to monitor.
2. Select the Cat 1or Cat 2 check box next to that instance.
3. Click Save when finished.
After you allocate a license, you will see the license count update accordingly.
If you have VM licenses, you must allocate a license to each database instance
you want to collect virtual infrastructure-related data from. VM licenses are in
addition to the regular SolarWinds DPA licenses required to normally monitor the
database instance.
1. From the list, find a VM-hosted database instance that already has a
Category 1 or 2 license allocated to it.
2. Select the VM check box next to that instance.
3. Click Save when finished.
Deallocating Licenses
If you change your mind about the registered databases instance you want to
monitor, you can deallocate licenses to make licenses available to register other
database instances.
Deallocating a license is similar to allocating a license, except that you clear the
check box instead.
Note: If you clear a Category 1 or 2 license from an instance that also has a
VM license, we automatically clear the VM license for you too.
Deactivating Licenses
For various reasons, you may want to deactivate licenses on a SolarWinds DPA
server to make them available elsewhere. If you were able to use online
activation for your licenses, you can deactivate them online too. If you had to
activate your licenses offline, you must use the offline deactivation process.
35

Online Deactivation

2. On the Home page, click License Management and then click License
Manager.
3. In the Licenses section, locate the License Key you want to deactivate.
4. Click Deactivate.
Your license is deactivated and the License Deactivated notification
appears. The Customer Portal is updated to reflect the deactivation.
Offline Deactivation
To deactivate licenses in an offline or Internet proxy environment, contact

SolarWinds customer support:
Troubleshooting Over-Allocated Licenses

A red banner appears on the home page if SolarWinds DPA is tasked with
monitoring more registered database instances than you have licenses to
monitor. This can happen in two situations:
l
A license expires when you still have unexpired licenses of the same type
on the server.
You deactivate a license and still have other licenses of the same type on
the server.
If SolarWinds DPA licenses are over-allocated, you cannot view or analyze your
database instances until you deallocate the extra licenses. SolarWinds DPA
continues monitoring the databases, so you will not lose any data while you bring
the allocated licenses back to an allowable level.
To fix over-allocated licenses, deallocate database instances until you reach the
proper number of licenses. If the over-allocation is for Category 2 licenses, you
may assign any available Category 1 licenses to cover the shortage.
1. On the Home page, click License Management.
2. Look at the allocations chart to find the over-allocated license type. Overallocated license types are shown in red.
36
3. Deallocate databases instances until the chart is no longer red.

4. Click Save.
You should now be able to see your database instances in your views.

SolarWinds DPA provides a way to create and manage several different types of
users who can access repository data. Some users can only view the data, while
others can start and stop monitoring database instances or change the monitoring
parameters. Each user in an installed instance of SolarWinds DPA must have a
unique user name.
SolarWinds DPA supports Active Directory(AD) and LDAP authentication. Using
your existing authentication infrastructure eliminates the need to duplicate your
user accounts in SolarWinds DPA. After you configure AD or
LDAP authentication, your users can log in with either their domain account or a
"custom user" account that SolarWinds DPAcreates for each of them.
Enabling Active Directory User Authentication
SolarWinds DPA integrates with Windows Active Directory 2003 or later and
leverages the security group information from AD to assign permissions to groups
within SolarWinds DPA.
For more information, see
http://www.solarwinds.com/documentation/kbloader.aspx?kb=5881.
Enabling LDAP User Authentication
SolarWinds DPA integrates with most LDAP implementations to assign
permissions to groups within SolarWinds DPA.
Enabling Single Sign On (SSO)
Single sign-on allows your AD and LDAP users to log into SolarWinds DPA
without re-entering the domain credentials they used to log on to their operating
system.
37

Note: Before configuring SSO, make sure you have configured SolarWinds DPA
for either AD or LDAP authentication.
Creating a User or AD/LDAP Group

1. From the main menu, click Administration > User Administration.
2. Click Create User.
If you have configured Database Performance Analyzer to point to your Active
Directory or LDAP server. You will see an option to either create a user or a group
(corresponds to a group in Active Directory or LDAP).
38

SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer gives you the ability to quickly
answer critical performance questions about your database. Database
Performance Analyzer is the fastest and most effective solution for finding the root
cause of database delays that impact business applications.
Even the simplest tools require you to start somewhere. This chapter will help you
immediately begin using Database Performance Analyzer to identify and resolve
the urgent performance problems in your database.
You will learn how to:
l
Identify the top three queries with the highest impact on application
response time.
Correlate these queries with system resources to understand the complete
picture.
Identify the specific bottlenecks slowing response time.
Diagnose current problems happening right now.
Become proactive with by using alerts and automatic report distribution.
These first steps cover the basics of Database Performance Analyzer, but once
you have completed this chapter you will have acquired enough knowledge and
experience to begin performing more advanced analysis.
Database Performance Analyzer works with Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, DB2 /
LUW, and Sybase. There are some differences in the examples and screen shots,
but generally the application works the same for all database types.
Database Performance Analyzer is an agentless solution that places less than
1% load on the monitored databases. You will see best results on a heavily used
database where there are problems to solve.
This guide assumes Database Performance Analyzer is currently installed and
you have started monitoring a database. For installation and setup instructions,
see the Introduction section.
39
If you are not seeing the metrics you expect, or if charts have no data,
you may have performance schemas switched off. For more
information, see MySQL Requirements and Information.

The efficiency of processing SQL queries is one of the most important indicators
of database performance, so start by determining which queries are creating the
largest delays in the database. The response time measure is critical because it
reflects where end-users are waiting on the database. Identifying and improving
response time for SQL queries has the biggest impact on the service delivered by
your database.
Note: Before continuing with this step, let Database Performance Analyzer
capture at least two days of performance data so you have a representative
sample of data to begin with.
Screen 1 below identifies the SQL queries most responsible for database delays.
Which SQL queries were consistently contributing to response time on the days
where data was captured? If there was a day with particularly poor performance,
which SQL queries were most prevalent on that day?
40
Screen 1: Main Screen with Instances and Monitor Status

The legend entries are sorted by total database wait time, so the first three entries
on the list should be your highest priorities.
Note: For the best results, be sure to record your results at each step of the
process. To help you track your progress and record important information, use
the Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet.
Click on the instance name to bring up the Trend View showing the Top SQL
Statements for the days you have gathered data.
Expected and abnormal wait times are displayed on the Trends screen.
41
Screen 2: Top SQL Queries by Daily Wait

Screen 2 displays data for each day the monitors have been running. The length
of each bar represents the total wait time across all sessions. The longer the bar,
the longer the users had to wait for the database. The colors represent the
individual SQL queries, identified by hash values accumulating the response time
delay. In screen 2, it is immediately obvious that a combination of queries on June
22 is creating the most significant delay in the instance QAORA10_ QAORA10.
Action: Note the top three SQL query hash values with highest performance
priority and enter this information into the Database Performance Analyzer
Worksheet.
Database Performance Analyzer lets you assign names to the SQL queries so
reports and charts are more understandable. In the following screen, the legend
shows SQL names, not just numerical hash values. Before you move on to more
detailed analysis, assign names to the SQL queries you have chosen.
42
Step 2: Correlate Response Time with System Resources
Screen 3: Assign a name to the SQL Hash Value

Click on the SQL hash number in the legend to get the SQL Name dialog box.
Assign an understandable name to this query as it will be used throughout all
Database Performance Analyzer reports.
Action: Assign names to your top three SQL query problems.
Step 2: Correlate Response Time with System

Resources
Now it is time to compare the response time results with system resource usage
such as CPU, I/O, and memory. You will learn if specific response time spikes are
related to server resources by comparing chart results at the same times.
Click the Resource tab on the Trend View screen. A default set of resources are
shown, but you can change them by clicking Resources on the right.
43
Screen 4: The Resource Tab Correlates Resource with Response Time

Choose from the resources of most interest by clicking Add Resource Chart.
Customize this resource page so you can quickly return and correlate with the
response time chart.
Note: Viewing the specific top Wait Types/Events, as explained below, will help
you determine which resources are having the biggest impact on database
response time. For example, if you have db_file_sequential_read as a top Wait
Type/Event you would want to monitor storage layer resource metrics.
Action: Choose the two or three resources of most interest at your site and
customize your tab. Note the resource names in the Database Performance
Analyzer Worksheet.
44
Step 3: Determine Specific Wait Bottlenecks

Slowing Response Time
Once you have the basics of identifying problem SQL queries based on response
time analysis and impact, you can drill down for more detail about the problem
and identify the cause of the bottleneck.
From screen 2, Top SQL by Daily Wait, click on your day of concern to drill in for
more detail. See the daily wait time chart, screen 5, showing the response time
delay in each hour of the day and the SQL queries that created the delay. This is
similar data, but is now focused on one day with each bar representing an hour.
The Interval drop-down can be used to adjust the time interval. Drill into a specific
hour then use the Timeslice tab to view a range of intervals down to one second.
Screen 5: SQL Statements Causing Delays in Each Hourly Period

Was there a particular hour that had problems or that represents commonly found
problems? From screen 5, choose an hourly period of concern. Click the Hourly
link to bring up the Top SQL chart, screen 6.
45
Screen 6: Top SQL Statements Causing Delays in the Selected Hour

Screen 6, Top SQL Statements, ranks the specific query bottlenecks in the
chosen period. Here the SQL queries with most accumulated wait time across all
sessions are charted to show the total delay for each. If they were running during
this time period, your named SQL statements from Step 1 may appear with long
bars. Click the name (or hash) to get detail on the SQL query.
Screen 7: Detail and Statistics on Problem SQL Statements

The SQL text and execution statistics are shown in screen 7. The tabs along the
top row allow you to drill down based on programs, sessions, objects and other
dimensions captured in the Database Performance Analyzer Repository.
46

Action: Click the Programs tab and see which programs were executing the query
you have chosen and note the program name in the Database Performance
Analyzer Worksheet.
Now you have detailed visibility to the problem SQL query. Use the Database
Performance Analyzer screens illustrated to identify the specific cause of the
bottleneck.
For easy navigation, use the breadcrumb trail in the top banner to move to
previous screens and keep track of where you are. Click the hourly period to go
back to Top SQL Statements for that hour.
Now go back to the Top SQL Statement chart again, shown below in screen 8.
For the first query, named Object Trend Message Priority, note how the majority of
the bar corresponds to a colored Wait Type/Event in the legend db file scattered
read.
Screen 8: Top SQL statements Causing Delays in the Selected Hour

This is an important piece of information. Database Performance Analyzer has
shown the specific bottleneck causing delay in the query Message Priority. The
db file scattered read Wait Type/Event is the one item causing delay, here shown
as responsible for the response time. What is this Wait Type/Event?
Click a wait time to see SolarWinds's recommended optimization
solution.
47

Click on the Wait Type/Event in the legend to see an explanation of the specific
bottleneck as shown below.
Screen 9: Description of the Wait and Details on How to Best Resolve the Issue
Now Database Performance Analyzer has isolated the top SQL queries creating
increased user response time and has shown you the Wait Types/Events
uniquely responsible for the response time in each one.
Action: For the three SQL queries of interest identify the two or three Wait
Types/Events that comprise more than 75% of the total response time. In many
cases, one single wait bottleneck will be responsible for nearly all of the delay.

Up to this point all the analysis has focused on historical Trend View data. But
when a problem is actually occurring, you need to be able to instantly diagnose it
in real-time. To see immediate performance issues, switch to the Database
Performance Analyzer Current View and examine response time and resources
within the past minutes and seconds.
48
Software developers can incorporate DPA metrics to improve the

performance of database-related code.
Go back to screen 2 and click the Current link from the upper right of the Trend
screen to see the last hour of collected data.
The Current View starts off by giving you an overview of the past hour broken into
10 minute intervals. Click it to drill down into the top SQL queries during a recent
10 minute interval.
Screen 10: Current View Shows Current Conditions

Select the time interval you want to analyze. This takes you to screen 11 where
you can see performance for smaller time increments. Click the Timeslice tab to
see a minute by minute breakdown of the response time and resource data.
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Screen 11: Timeslice to See Performance for Small Time Increments

The timeslice view breaks the current data into one minute intervals, for both
response time and system resources. Examine the response time charts, then
scroll down to the resources and identify any correlation.
Note: To get to a one second timeslice you will need to click on one of the one
minute times listed below the chart in screen 11 (For example, 3:01 PM), then
click the Timeslice tab.
50

Action: Evaluate the current performance situation. If there are queries and
resources that are showing performance problems right now, record them in the
Database Performance Analyzer Worksheet.

Proactive response time monitoring is one of the best ways to maintain top
database performance. Database Performance Analyzers automated reports and
alerts help keep you, managers, and developers focused on improving database
response time, while immediately warning the appropriate people when
significant performance degradation occurs. Many times this results in resolving
issues before they have critical impact end users.
In this step you will set up reports to automatically run daily and email details on
your top three queries.
Reports
Click the Reports link from the top of the Database Performance Analyzer main
screen.
Now select the database instance to use for the report and Report Type = Top
SQLs. Then click Report Options.
Screen 12: Report Creation

Now you can choose the Top SQLs Report and the number of SQL statements to
display.
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Then click Display Report near the top of the Report Creation Window. Screen 13
shows the report with just the chosen queries for the most recent days.
52
Setting Alerts
Screen 13: Custom Report for Three Critical Queries
Make sure to use the Save As link with a report name to keep the selections you
have chosen for repeated use and scheduled distribution.
First, you want to schedule the report to be delivered automatically via email to
you and your manager on a weekly basis. From top right navigation, click
Options, then from the Monitor Setup tab click Report Schedules.
Note: Database Performance Analyzer has a default SMTP email configuration
that works in most cases. If your network or firewall requires use of an internal
SMTP server, see the Configuring SMTP Mail Server for Outgoing Email
Knowledge Base article.
Creating a report delivery schedule just requires a few pieces of information on
this screen:
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Name the schedule and descriptive text for the email.
Choose when to deliver the report daily, weekly or monthly.
Choose the report you want using the name created earlier.
Choose the recipients by adding their email addresses.
Action: Create the report Total Response Time for three Critical SQLs for the
queries identified in Step 1. Create a report schedule to deliver it via email to you,
colleagues, or managers every Monday morning.
Setting Alerts
Database Performance Analyzer enables you to find the routine performance
history at any time. You also can generate summary reports to watch queries of
interest. Now you can take the final step of establishing proactive alerts to watch
for major increases in SQL response time and other metrics.
You will determine the average execution response time for each of your SQL
queries, then set Alerts to warn you of significant deviations.
First, determine the normal execution time for your queries. Go back to screen 2.
See the View Historical Charts for SQL drop-down menu. Choose your first query
and view the historical chart, as in screen 14. You will see this chart with a black
bar through the center located near the bottom on the page Historical Charts for
SQL. This chart shows the average execution time for the SQL on each day, and
the black bar denotes the average wait for this query across all the days
displayed in the chart.
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Screen 14: Daily Average Wait Time on Historical SQL Page

Rolling the cursor over each bar shows the popup window with details specific to
this day including the Average time for this Wait Type/Event, plus the average
time for all wait times on this day.
In this case, the average wait time was 13.58 milliseconds for the example in
screen 14. Note that execution time, wait time, and response time all refer to the
same concept of how long it takes for the database to return a response to the
application.
The black bar shows an average time of 15:26 milliseconds wait for this query for
all executions for the entire month. A best practice is to alert if the average
54
Setting Alerts
response during a period is greater than 100% higher than this average during a
sample period. In this case that would be roughly two seconds.
Action: For each of the three chosen SQL queries, estimate the typical response
time. Choose a threshold, approximately twice as long, that you will use to set
alerts for notification.
To create the alert, go to the top right navigation and click Alerts, then the Manage
Alerts tab. From here, you can select the Alert Category and the Alert Type.
Screen 15: Create a New Alert

Click Create Alert and fill in the details as in screen 16 to match your SQL query.
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Name the alert, give it a short description, and save it.
Add your alert parameters.
Choose the database instance and one of the three important SQL queries
you selected in Step 1 as the target for your Alert.
Set low and high level alert thresholds that are approximately twice as long
as the typical execution times for your query.
55
Run the alert every 10 minutes or more, allowing enough time to get valid
samples and ensure you dont get unnecessary warnings from a single slow
execution.
Make sure you test the alert (see Test button) to ensure it works properly
and can send email messages from your network.
Screen 16: Alert Creation Details

Please note the following:
56
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You can search for the query to alert on by name or hash value.
The hash value is always returned from search, even when a named query
is selected.
The average wait time is specific to the execution interval, so if the interval
is 10 minutes, Database Performance Analyzer will look at the average wait
time for the SQL statement chosen for that 10 minute period and compare
these values to your thresholds.
Action: For the three selected SQL queries, and the criteria established already,
create, name, and save three alerts that send you warning messages when the
SQL queries exhibit excessively long response times.
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Performing Advanced Analysis

Once you have mastered the basics of SolarWinds DPA, you will want to expand
your skills and explore the more advanced features that SolarWinds DPA
provides.
After at least one database instance has been registered for monitoring,
SolarWinds DPA displays the main screen.
58
Instance Groups
The main screen shows a table of the database instances being monitored.
Notice that different database types can be seen on the same screen. Monitoring
can be started or stopped from this screen.
Instance Groups
You can also group monitored databases using the Instance Groups feature. The
repository above has databases groups defined as the various database types,
but you can define any mix of groups. Database Performance Analyzer will
automatically group Oracle RAC instances. Other databases are not
automatically grouped.
Monitoring
Once monitoring is started it will always monitor if possible. In other words, it is

not necessary to restart the Database Performance Analyzer monitor if either the
repository instance or the monitored database instance was unavailable for a
period of time. Monitoring will automatically resume when both are available
59

again. Using the Monitoring Blackout Periods feature, you can configure times
that monitoring should not occur. This feature is described later in this document.
Logs
Clicking the Log link for a database (found on the Home page in the Action dropdown) shows the Database Performance Analyzer monitoring log for the
associated database. This is helpful to determine why the Database Performance
Analyzer monitor cannot start for some reason, or data seems to be missing. The
Log Viewer link (found on the Options page under the Support tab) shows the log
entries for all monitored database instances.
More Features
Other buttons and links on the page include:

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Register Database for Monitoring: Registers another database instance to

be monitored by Database Performance Analyzer.
Register VMware for Monitoring: Monitors VMware environments. You can
purchase this companion product called Database Performance Analyzer
VM. Database Performance Analyzer will show VMware performance
information in addition to database instance performance data.
Alerts: Allows you to create, edit, and views alerts.
License Management: Allows you to add Database Performance Analyzer
trial or permanent license keys.
Options: Allows you to manage Database Performance Analyzer settings
and advanced features such as custom Database Performance Analyzer
users.
Reports: Allows you to create and edit custom reports.
Trend Reports
Trend Reports let Database Performance Analyzer users communicate the
important, long-term performance of their databases across the organization in
published reports with easy-to-understand charts. With Trend Reports, you can
quickly capture the results of performance tuning efforts, database resources of
concern, or database trends in the form of graphical reports and publish these
reports for managers, team members and customers. Trend Reports give
Database Performance Analyzer users a vehicle to show evidence to support
60

their work across the organization, highlighting database trends for up to five
years.
This standard report and customization feature is easy to use, and provides a
high degree of flexibility. Without complex setup or configuration, reports can be
instantly published. For example, you can highlight the top five resource
bottlenecks, or the highest SQL statement utilization. Then, you can select the
unique set of SQLs, Resources, or Programs of interest, and tailor their own
reports for a customized period.
Trend Reports are different from the detailed data displayed in the typical
Database Performance Analyzer charts because Reports are available for
summarized data that extends over months or years. Detailed repository data is
accessible for a shorter detailed data storage period, typically 30 days. Trend
Reports can show data captured over longer intervals and allows you to display
and capture longer term trends.
To generate Trend Reports, Database Performance Analyzer summarizes and
condenses repository data to make long-term information available within a
manageable size. This process is automatic, and no user management of the
Report data summary process is required. The data is summarized by hour, and
this hourly data is available for 90 days. After 90 days, the data is summarized by
day and is available for five years.
Minimum Data to Generate a Report
Because the Trend Reports are designed to show data trends over hours, days,
months and years, a display of Reports requires a minimum of three hours of
collection. Detailed repository data, with time granularity down to the second, will
display information within 10 minutes of initial collection. Best results are
achieved after letting the repository collection run for at least a full day before
generating Reports.
Creating a Report
You can create a new report by clicking the Reports link from the main page. The
report menu page is displayed.
61

Once a report type has been selected, you may be prompted for some mandatory
parameters. In all cases, you can choose Report Options to change the default
report parameters selected by Database Performance Analyzer. Common report
parameters include date range, interval, and time of day.
This page also shows any saved reports and report groups. A report group is
simply a group of reports that are displayed together.
The Report page also has a Report Schedules tab. Report schedules are used to
automatically email a report (or group of reports) at regular intervals. For example,
you could create a schedule to email a list of the top ten worst performing SQL
statements every Monday at 9:00 am.
Report Types
Database Performance Analyzer is preconfigured with many standard reports,

highlighting the most commonly used wait time statistics. You can use these
standard reports or you can customize the reports to reflect the unique trending
picture they should communicate. Once saved, the custom reports can be easily
published with up-to-date data whenever they are needed. Below are some
examples of the reports that are available.
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Top Waits: This report charts Wait-Events for an entire database. By default,
Database Performance Analyzer displays the top five Wait-Events with
highest accumulated wait time. The user has the option to display the top
ten or select specific waits of interest on the Wait Types/Events tab in the
Report Properties dialog.
Top Waits for single SQL: This report identifies the top Wait-Events (up to
50), ranked by wait time, for a specific SQL statement. The user has the
option to display Wait Types/Events of interest from the Wait Types/Events
tab.
62
Alerts
Top SQLs: This report shows the top five SQL statements ranked by total
Wait Time across a user selected interval. The user has the option to
display the top ten or select specific SQL statements from the SQL
Statements tab on the Report Properties dialog. The report will show a
descriptive name for the SQL if it has been defined previously by the user.
Top SQLs for Single Wait: This report is similar to Top Waits for single SQL
except it shows Wait Time for a single specific database Wait only.
Top Programs: This reports the total accumulated Wait Time for Programs. It
shows the top five programs by default and allows the user to display up to
ten or select specific programs of interest from the Programs tab on the
Report Properties dialog.
Top Files: This report displays the top five busiest files ranked by total I/O
Wait Time. Database Performance Analyzer calculates the total Wait Time
for all I/O operations on each file for selected intervals. The user has the
option to display up to the top ten or select specific files from the Database
Files tab on the Report Properties dialog.
Typical Day of Wait for single SQL: This report displays a stacked graph
showing average hourly Wait Time for the top five Wait-Events contributing
to the total Wait Time for an individual SQL statement. The uppermost
portion of the bar is the summation of all other Wait-Events. You have the
option to display the top ten or select specific Wait Times/Events to display
from the Wait Times/Events tab. This report is useful for identifying the peak
loads during a business day based on long-term observation of the system.
Typical Day of Wait: This report displays a bar graph showing the average
hourly Wait Time for a specific database. It displays the distribution of
average Wait Time versus time-of-day.
Alerts
Database Performance Analyzer Alerts give you proactive control of the
database, notifying you of issues before they become problems for database
customers. By setting thresholds on key Wait Time statistics or on standard
administration indicators, the DBA group gets an early warning of potential
problems, and can take steps to solve the underlying issue before users are
affected. The result is improved customer service, fewer trouble tickets, and
increased compliance with database SLAs.
63
Alerts, like Trend Reports, are designed to provide instant use out-of-the-box and
allow a high degree of customization to give you a tool tailored to your specific
needs. Database Performance Analyzer is preconfigured with three types of
alerts:
Wait Time Alerts
Wait time alerts are based on the amount of time users or applications waited on
the database. For example, the Average SQL Wait Time alert fires when a SQL
statement causes more wait time for the user than is acceptable. These alerts are
critical because they ensure that you are only alerted when users and
applications are being affected.
Database Administration Alerts
DB Admin alerts are typical alerts surrounding the health of the database system.
For example, the Database Parameter Changes alert notifies you when any
database parameter has changed. The Database Availability alert notifies you
64
Custom Alerts
when the database instance is no longer accessible (e.g., crashed or the network
has gone down).
Custom Alerts
Custom Alerts are user-specified queries that are run against the monitored
database or the Database Performance Analyzer Repository. The query returns a
number (or set of numbers) that may trigger an alert depending on user-defined
threshold settings.
For example, you could enter a query to detect the number of canceled orders in
the last ten minutes.
select count(*) from orderswhere status=CANCELLED and date > sysdate
10/1440;
You can write a SQL query to set alerts on SQL Server health metrics.
You might also want to see which type of orders have high cancellation rates.
select order_type, count(*) from orders where status=CANCELLED and
date > sysdate 10/1440 group by order_type;
Finally, you may want complex logic to determine if an order has truly been
canceled. In this case, you could write a function or procedure on the monitored
database instance and call it.
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Oracle: select mycustomfunction(parm1) from dual
SQL Server: select mycustomfunction(parm1)
Sybase: mycustomprocedure(parm1)
DB2: select dbo.mycustomfunction(parm1) from SYSIBM.SYSDUMMY1
These functions or procedures are written in the native database programming

language such as PL/SQL for Oracle, T-SQL for MSSQL, T-SQL for Sybase, and
IBM SQL for DB2.
65

Alert Attributes
When creating an alert, you need to specify the following attributes:

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Active: Indicates the alert will be automatically executed by Database

Performance Analyzer. Uncheck this box if you would like to temporarily
disable an alert but do not want to delete it.
Execution Interval: Indicates how often the alert is run. It has a minimum of
ten minutes to ensure that the alert doesnt put too much load on the
monitored database instance.
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Alert Attributes
For Wait Time alerts, this value also indicates the time period that Database
Performance Analyzer uses to examine data, looking backwards from the time the
alert runs. For example, if the execution interval/explain is 10 minutes, Database
Performance Analyzer will execute the alert every 10 minutes and also query the
last 10 minutes of Database Performance Analyzer performance data as alert
input.
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Notification Text: This text will be sent with the notification email or page. It
should include an explanation of the alert as well as the suggested
resolution steps.
Database Instance to Monitor: Specifies which database instances will be
monitored with this alert. Some alert types allow multiple database
instances to be specified.
Alert Levels and Recipients: Specifies the ranges of values that will trigger
an alert notification. For example, a particular SQL has an SLA to execute in
under 4 seconds, but typically executes in less than 2 seconds. A Low alert
threshold could be set at the 2 second mark to send you an email. Another
High alert threshold could be set to the 4 second mark.
Notification Group or Contact: Alerts can be sent to an individual, a group, or
to an enterprise management console such as SolarWinds Server &
Application Monitor using SNMP traps. It is important to note that when Alert
Levels are reached the appropriate notification group/contact is notified only
once. As Alert Levels change (i.e., go higher or lower), a group will not be
notified again if it has already been notified once. This will continue until the
Alert Level goes back to Normal.
SNMP Alerting: Database Performance Analyzer alerts can be configured to
send SNMPv2c Traps to a SNMP-enabled Network Management Station
(NMS) when an alert level or threshold is reached. The trap will contain the
name of the monitored database, alert name, alert level, and response
instructions. The NMS that will receive the trap is represented as a contact
(SNMP Contact) in Database Performance Analyzer.
SNMP Contacts: SNMP Contacts represent an NMS that will receive traps
from Database Performance Analyzer Alerts.
An SNMP Contact is created and modified through the Database Performance

Analyzer Contact Management screen.
67
To create an SNMP Contact, from the Management Option screen, click the
Administration tab. Under Users & Contacts, click Contacts and Contact Groups.
68

Database Performance Analyzer can be set up to not monitor during certain
periods. To create a blackout schedule, go to the Options page and select
Database Monitor Blackout Periods.
Enabling SNMP Monitoring in SCOM

You can set up Database Performance Analyzer to use SNMP to monitor SCOM.
1. From the main menu, go to Options > Contacts and Contact Groups >
Create SNMP Contact.
2. Enter the Trap Receiver information with the SCOM HOST IP and Port
(usually 162).
3. Enter the Community string that was set up on the SNMP Service on the
SCOM Host.
4. On the Database Performance Analyzer application server, ensure the
SNMP service is running and the Community string is set matches the string
you entered in the SNMP Contact window.
Note: This string is case sensitive.
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Contents

Copyright 1999-2015 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved

SolarWinds Documentation Library

Database Performance Analyzer Server

Database Performance Analyzer Repository Database

Monitored Database Instances

Monitored Virtualization Environment

Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up Database Performance Analyzer

Database Performance Analyzer Server Requirements

System Requirements for a Self-Managed DPA Server

System Requirements for an Amazon EC2 DPA Server

Database Repository Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

Ensure Adequate Disk Space for the Repository

Administrator Credentials Are Required

Database Versions You Can Monitor

Database Performance Analyzer

Starting the Installer

Installing on UNIX and Linux

Installing on Amazon AWS

Differences Between Amazon AWS and Self-Managed Servers

Launching a SolarWinds DPA Instance

Logging on to the SolarWinds DPA Server

Configuring DPA Central Server Mode

Setting Up a DPA Central Server

Adding Remote DPA Servers

Viewing DPA Central Server Mode

Thread Pool Settings

General Central Settings

Client Factory Cache

Upgrading the Database Performance Analyzer Server Software

Upgrading on UNIX and Linux

Upgrading on an Amazon AMI Instance

Resizing to More Powerful Amazon AWS Instance Types

Database Instance Licenses

Viewing Purchased Licenses

If You Do Not See Your License

Activating Your Licenses

Activating Licenses if You Have Direct Internet Connectivity

Activating Licenses Offline if You Do Not Have Direct Internet Connectivity

Allocating Licenses to Database Instances

Opening the License Allocation Page

Viewing the Current License Allocations

Allocating Licenses to Database Instances

Allocating VM Licenses to VM Database Instances

Troubleshooting Over-Allocated Licenses

Adding Users and Controlling Access

Enabling Active Directory User Authentication

Enabling LDAP User Authentication

Enabling Single Sign On (SSO)

Creating a User or AD/LDAP Group

Chapter 3: Getting Started

Step 1: Identify the Top 3 Query Problems

Step 2: Correlate Response Time with System Resources

Step 3: Determine Specific Wait Bottlenecks Slowing Response Time

Step 4: Diagnose the Situation Right Now

Step 5: Set Up Proactive Management

Database Performance Analyzer

Performing Advanced Analysis

Trend Reports Use Summarized Data

Minimum Data to Generate a Report

Wait Time Alerts

Database Administration Alerts

Monitoring Blackout Periods