SQL SERVER Tools I Use and Recommend (Updated: January 2020)

One of the most popular questions I often receive during Comprehensive Database Performance Health Check is which are the third-party tools I use in my daily routine and I recommend them. Here is the updated list for January 2020 of all the tools which I recommend.

Tools I Use January 2020

Here are the different tools and their download links along with it.

• Database Performance Analyzer (Download 1, Download 2) 
• SQLGrease (Download)
• SpotLight Cloud (Download)
• Foglight (Download)
• RedGate (Download)
• Melissa (Download)

Database Performance Analyzer for Performance

Database management software built for SQL query performance monitoring, analysis, and tuning. I have been using the Database Performance Analyzer (DPA) for many years. I am always delighted when I find this tool installed at my client’s place as that makes my life much easier while helping them optimize their SQL Server Performance.

Here are some of the key feature of the tool:

• Intuitive performance analysis
• Blocking analysis
• Database, index, and query tuning advisors
• Real-time and historic monitoring
• Multi-vendor relational database support
• Integration with other SolarWinds products

Call to Action Download DPA or Alternative Link for FREE.

SQLGrease for Simplicity

Using query level performance analysis, SQLGrease gets to the root cause of problems within minutes. Not everyone likes to pay upfront a large amount to own a performance optimization tool. SQLGrease is preferred by many clients who prefer subscription-based tools just for SQL Server.

Below is a brief summary of the type of information SQLGrease collects:

• Execution times
• Wait events
• Execution plans
• Execution plan profiles
• IO statistics
• Deadlock analysis
• Tempdb fills
• Session snapshots

Call to Action Download SQLGrease

Foglight for Cross-Platform

With the foglight, you can proactively manage and monitor database environments, diagnose and tune real-time and historical performance, predict and troubleshoot issues, increase the health of your database environment. I often use it to optimize the server configuration, performance, and utilization of your cloud, hypervisors, VMs and storage, and gain end-to-everything visibility across your hybrid infrastructure.

Here are the important things you can do with Foglight

• Proactively manage and monitor database environments
• Diagnose and tune real-time and historical performance
• Predict and troubleshoot issues
• Increase the health of your database environment

Call to Action Download Foglight

RedGate for Monitoring

In the industry, there’s a need to ensure that the operations teams have full visibility of your estate, not just your production servers. If your engineering teams have access to secure development and testing servers, deployment issues are caught before they reach production. I strongly encourage you to read this whitepaper which discusses:

• Maintaining availability and security at all stages of the development process.
• Keeping visibility and communication flowing between DBA and development teams.
• Removing bottlenecks.
• Identifying and responding to deployment-related performance issues.
• Keeping customers happy and their data secure.

Call to Action Download RedGate Whitepaper

Melissa for SQL Server Data Quality

 The most common data quality issue I see in the industry is about inaccurate data, outdated contacts, incomplete records, and duplicates. Without clean and accurate data, it’s hard to find new customers, better understand existing customers’ needs, and increase the lifetime value of every customer – today and tomorrow. Melissa’s Data Quality Components for SSIS is a unique set of global data quality tools for Microsoft’s integration and ETL (extract-transform-load) solution.

Here is what we can achieve easily with this tool:

• Achieve better insight with clean, accurate customer data
• Easily onboard, apply standards, enforce rules, cleanse, and enrich Big Data
• Run data quality on-premise and in the Cloud

Call to Action Download Melissa

I strongly encourage you to check out the tool which I use for a variety of tasks. Do let me know if you use any of the above tools and share your experience with all of us. The list is updated as of January 2020. You can always follow me on twitter.

Reference: Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)