The Sybase Database Performance Monitoring Tool

Ignite for Sybase  is the one Sybase ASE database performance monitoring, analysis and tuning solution designed specifically to solve and prevent the toughest performance problems. It's not a general purpose monitor - server health tools do that.  Ignite goes where conventional tools cannot.

In just four clicks, Ignite users drill down to find the most important performance problem in the database. With easy to understand graphical displays, and automatically emailed graphic reports, Ignite is the one tool that all DBAs, Developers and DBA Managers can use to collaborate. From real-time to historical trends, Ignite specializes in saving DBA and developer time and helping them measurably improve Sybase service. 

Response Time Analysis

Ignite for Sybase performance monitoring applies Response Time analysis, measuring the time for query response, rather than focusing only on server health metrics. Ignite measures time associated with each tiny operation - or wait event - and uses it to expose delays in end user service. This is the most important indicator, since it shows applications waiting on Sybase to respond.

But Ignite does not stop there. It gathers real time session data, server resource levels, and query information from Sybase, even inside stored procedures. It also analyzes historical trends of response time over multiple dimensions - such as wait event, program, explain plan or object. Then Ignite correlates the data to lead the DBA through the most important problems and solutions.

To learn more about how Ignite can pinpoint database performance issues, click here to view a demo.

New Features for Sybase Performance Monitoring

Ignite 8.3 for the enterprise is targeted at database professionals who work with large deployments of Ignite.  The enhancements in this release are designed for Sybase professionals faced with distributed environments, enterprise authentication, security and compliance, and proactive monitoring of large numbers of instances around the world. 

Ignite Central

Ignite Central provides a unified view of both database performance and alert status across all of your database servers managed by Ignite.

Ignite Central works across the datacenter or across the world

The Ignite Central dashboard focuses your attention on top problems by providing a summary of monitored Sybase performance instances in alarm.    In addition, you can perform a custom search across all monitored instances, both local and remote, then drill into any instance’s Ignite server for detailed performance analysis with a single click. 

Identify the top problem database instances across your entire enterprise

Ignite Central provides a platform that is ideally suited for large scale and/or geographically distributed database deployments, delivering many key benefits including:

• Scalability to tens of thousands of monitored instances.  This high level enterprise view lets you see you entire operation from an interconnected Ignite environment.
• Exception-based management focuses on the top problems without the information overload that can mask critical problems. 
• Global monitoring around the world and around the clock
• Access to all monitored database instances gives your entire team the knowledge to make informed decisions

Ignite Central’s distributed architecture communicates over HTTPS using a low-overhead protocol ( REST ) to minimize bandwidth.  Unlike federated IT architectures, Ignite Central functions without the duplication or synchronization of data, and adds only a negligible amount of network traffic.  This offers optimal efficiency, even over WANs.  Industry standard SSL encryption can be used to maintain the security for all data passed between Ignite Servers.

Active Directory Authentication

Numerous companies have embraced Windows Server Active Directory to manage domain users and security settings. Ignite 8.3 integrates with Active Directory (2003 and higher) to allow domain users to login and use Ignite. This eliminates the need to maintain separate logins, while ensuring that the password strength and expiration policies specified in Active Directory are fully enforced.

Domain credentials and "single sign on" simplify authentication

Once you have configured Ignite to point at your Active Directory server, you can add groups from your domain into Ignite and assign permissions to them.  To add groups, go to Options then the Administration tab User Administration. Here you will find the Add Active Directory Group button.   The Search group function shown below makes it easy to find specific groups within the domain.

Quickly configure domain access using Active Directory security groups

To get started using Active Directory in Ignite refer to this Knowledge Base article.

Sybase Performance Monitoring Alert Groups

Maintaining consistent alerting across multiple database instances can be difficult, even with as few as two monitored instances.  An alert group provides a mechanism for simplifying the maintenance of alerts, while ensuring consistent alerting across multiple database instances. To create an alert group just click on the Alert link at the top right of Ignite then the Alert Group tab. 

Alert groups standardize alerting across database instances

Once an alert group is created, Ignite runs each of the selected alerts on the entire list of selected database instances, drastically simplifying alert setup and maintenance. Alert groups with a heterogeneous collection of databases (Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, or DB2) are supported.  Ignite applies the selected alerts to only the appropriate databases automatically, allowing a single alert group to be used across multiple databases types.

When setting up Sybase performance monitoring, Ignite 8.3 reminds you to add alert groups, making sure that no database goes without alerting. This is done using a new page that automatically appears in the database instance registration wizard, prompting you to select the alert groups to use for the newly added database instance.

New Preconfigured Alerts

In 8.3 Confio introduces new additions to its family of preconfigured alerts. 

Ignite allows you to easily select from a lists preconfigured alerts

In addition you can create custom alerts and custom metrics, adapting Ignite to meet your specific requirements.

Configurable Password Encryption

Ignite 8.3 provides the ability to select a password encryption to match your requirements.  In addition to Ignite’s default encryption, you now have the ability to choose from industry standard AES 128-bit or AES 256-bit encryption. 

AES is a form of password-based encryption (PBE), utilizing a passphrase to generate the encryption key.  One  advantage of AES encryption is that it produces a different encryption string every time it encrypts the same value, improving security.

Choose an encryption algorithm to match specific security policies

Ignite Management Options for Sybase Performance Monitoring

This new interface exposes many Ignite features that were previously hidden, helping you better leverage the power of Ignite.   After detailed analysis, our user experience experts have organized the controls into 3 tabs: Monitor Setup, Administration, and Support.  

Management Options provide easy access to all settings

Ignite 8.2 extends Confio's mission to deliver tools that identify, pinpoint, and resolve the biggest issues impacting database performance. Ignite gives you unparalleled visibility on not only the amount of wait time, but specific details that make resolving these issues easier than ever before. 

Sybase Performance Monitoring Dashboard

Utilizing Confio's proprietary response time analysis, Ignite focuses your attention on wait time, providing the fastest route to eliminating performance bottlenecks.

Ignite 8.2 provides a wealth of targeted information focused on the issues that have the greatest impact on performance. Sybases instances, plus Oracle, SQL Server, and DB2, are all displayed within one web browser based dashboard. When issues arise, the root cause of the problem can be identified in four clicks or less. 

Sybase Statistics

Ignite 8.2 has been enhanced to collect statistics for queries running inside Sybase stored procedures, making plan details more accessible.

With the addition of these statistics, the following Ignite features are now available for Sybase:

• Reports 
• • Average Waits for top SQL
• • Average Waits for single SQL 
• Alerts 
• • Average Wait Time for a Single SQL 
• Current page 
• • Long Running (Average) tab 
  • Most Executed tab

 Custom Metrics

In addition to expert determined metrics, Ignite 8.2 contains a new user interface that enables custom metrics to be easily added. This limitless extensibility provides you the ability to monitor any metric accessible from any database instance through an SQL Query.

Agentless Sybase Performance Monitoring

Ignite for Sybase monitors Sybase ASE databases without installing any software on the production systems. Ignite is built on a three tier architecture, with software installed only in the middle tier. DBAs, developers and managers access the solution from their browser. Ignite is installed on any Windows, UNIX, or Linux server. The repository database is configured in an Oracle or SQL Server instance, often a test or development system. Ignite's agentless probes reach across the network to the monitored databases - Sybase as well as other vendors - and pull performance statistics back to the repository for analysis and reporting.

No Load on Production Systems

Using the agentless architecture, Ignite, for Sybase performance monitoring, places less than 1% load on the monitored servers. For production use in the most sensitive environments, Ignite captures data continuously without impacting the target system. When it is time to upgrade Ignite to access new features, all the change takes place on the Ignite server, with nothing to change on Clients or Monitored servers. For detailed system requirements, see Specs and Install.

Ignite System Requirements

A single Ignite installation can simultaneously monitor multiple Sybase ASE instances on different types of platforms, as well as SQL Server, Oracle, and DB2. There are two choices for download, depending on the type of server that Ignite will be installed on: Windows or UNIX/Linux. For each, a single download and packaged installation sets everything up, so you are running in minutes. 

Server Running Ignite Software

• The Ignite software can be installed on almost any Windows, Unix or Linux server, either physical or virtual. It only needs an operating system that can support Java JRE 1.5 or higher. Repository hardware and configuration must meet minimum requirements as shown below.

* For over 250 monitored instance enable Ignite Central.

Ignite Repository Server:

• An Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server instance is utilized by Ignite to collect and process data from monitored servers.  A dedicated instance is not required, but it cannot be the "monitored" instance. The data collection server is defined as the Ignite Repository server, and the requirements are listed below.
• Ignite Repository requires either:
  • Oracle 8.1.7 or higher (8i, 9i, 10g, 11g)
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2000 SP3 or higher (2000, 2005, 2008, 2012)
• "Express" editions of both Oracle and SQL Server can hold a repository but will likely run out of space due to the 4GB limitations.
• Do not put the repository into an instance that will be monitored. Doing so will affect the performance of that instance.
• Installation requires access to a DBA (Oracle) or Sysadmin (MSSQL) user for the install which will hold the repository.
• Repository hardware and configuration must meet minimum requirements as shown below.

Note: if Ignite software and repository server are co-located the numbers are additive.

Ignite Repository Storage:

Free Disk Space in Repository Instance: varies with number of monitored database instances and level of activity on each:

Client Browser

• Internet Explorer 8 and higher
• Firefox 3.6 and higher
• Chrome (latest stable)

Monitored Database Instances

These requirements apply to monitored database instances, hosted on either physical or virtual servers. 

Sybase ASE Monitored Databases:

• Ignite for Sybase supports monitoring of ASE 12.5.0.3 and higher.
• SA_ROLE privileges are required to setup Ignite
• The server holding the Ignite software must be able to connect to the monitored Sybase server.

Oracle Monitored Database Instances:

• Ignite for Oracle supports monitoring of Oracle 8.1.7 and higher (8i, 9i, 10g,11g) 
• • SYS user privileges are required for initial setup
• The server holding the Ignite software must be able to connect to the monitored Oracle server

SQL Server Monitored Database Instances:

• Ignite for SQL Server supports monitoring of SQL Server 2000 SP3 and higher ( 2000, 2005, 2008, 2012)
• SYSADMIN privileges are required to setup Ignite
• The server holding the Ignite software must be able to connect to the monitored MSSQL server.

DB2 Monitored Databases:

• Ignite for IBM DB2 LUW supports monitoring of DB2 LUW 8.1 FixPack 13 and higher (8.2.2,...) 
• SYSADM privileges are required to setup Ignite
• The server holding the Ignite software must be able to connect to the monitored DB2 server.

VMware Monitoring

These requirements apply to monitoring of the vCenter server for use with IgniteVM.  

VMware vCenter Servers:

Confio supports connections to ESX/ESXi and/or vCenter.  vCenter is not required, but highly recommended.

• VMware ESX/ESXi 4.0 and higher
• VMware vCenter 4.0 and higher 
• Ignite VM installs on any Windows, Linux, or UNIX server with Java JRE 1.5 or higher
• One time entry of a read-only VMware password will be required. Password is not visible to IgniteVM users.

Learn more about Oracle on VMware monitoring.