What Is the CPU Wait in Datadog SQL Server Monitoring? How Does It Compare to Waiting on CPU?

I use Datadog on a regular basis, and I’m a pretty huge fan. The monitoring pack for SQL Server (and its PAAS variants) is still pretty rudimentary, but it evolves regularly. That’s NOT what I’m a fan of, though.

What makes me a raving fan is the flexibility of Datadog’s notebooks and dashboards, combined with the ability to create all sorts of custom metrics and monitors. There are always things in SQL Server monitoring packs that I have strong opinions about. Datadog lets me take what I want, build what I need that isn’t contained in that, and ignore the rest. For a team that has the budget to afford Datadog paired with dedicated database staff with the time and resources to do this work, this can be a great fit.

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What To Do When They Are Sure It Was The Database... All The Time

It can be tiring to have the database constantly be the Prime Suspect for performance problems.

I’ve had many variations of this conversation over the years:

“Something happened, and we’re pretty sure it was the database. Again.”

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ChatGPT Says SSMS Is the Best SQL Server Monitoring Tool

One thing I enjoy about AI chatbots is that they can help me recognize when I’ve missed something obvious.

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Find Query Execution Timeouts with Query Store

During a discussion of troubleshooting query timeouts in Azure SQL Database recently, I wondered: can you find queries that timed out in Query Store?

You can.

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The 2019 State of SQL Server Monitoring Survey Is Open: Here's What's in It for You

Calling all Database Administrators, Developers, Analysts, Consultants, and Managers: Redgate has a survey open asking how you monitor your SQL Servers.

Take the survey before April 5, 2019.

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Setting up Free Blocking Alerts and Deadlock Monitoring (Dear SQL DBA Episode 17)

What tools in SQL Server will notify you about blocking and help track the queries behind your toughest blocking and deadlocking problems?

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3 Things I Wish I Learned Earlier as a SQL Server DBA

Hindsight is everything. I was lucky to be trained by a great team of DBAs back when I first started with SQL Server. But it’s hard to know exactly what you really need to know, particularly as new tools are becoming available.

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