Do you know where your databases are?

© 2016 IDERA, Inc. All rights reserved.
Proprietary and conﬁdential.
© 2019 IDERA, Inc. All rights reserved.
DO YOU KNOW WHERE
YOUR DATABASES ARE?
Cautionary Tales and Solutions
Scott Stone, Product Manager

2© 2016 IDERA, Inc. All rights reserved. Proprietary and conﬁdential. 2© 2019 IDERA, Inc. All rights reserved.
THE HARD QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
How many SQL
Servers do we have,
and what’s our
ongoing cost?
We have a MS License
Audit next week; can
you give an estimate of
the # of licenses we
should have vs. how
many we have?
I need a new database /
instance - where can we
put it?
We need to restore our
database due to
system failure. Where
can we get a backup?
What are all the
reporting
services we
have?
MS just released a
critical system patch.
How many systems do
we need to patch and
what are they? Who
are the impacted users
to be notified?

ADMINISTRATIVE & STRATEGIC QUESTIONS FOR THE DBA
• Do I know all the SQL Servers in my environment? Or do I discover them only
when someone calls with a problem?
• Do I know who to contact if a SQL Server goes down and if a DBA needs to do
maintenance on the SQL Server?
• Can I access all relevant inventory information when I need it?
Discovery /
Inventory
Management
• Do I know how many servers I have and how they should be counted for MS
SQL Licensing purposes?Licensing
• When I find a rogue server, do I know what state it is in?
• Can I tell, across my environment, which servers are the most problematic and
why?
Environment
State

“
4© 2019 IDERA, Inc. All rights reserved.
‘‘It is not your fault, but it is your problem.”
COMMON MORAL

CAUTIONARY TALE #1 – UNMANAGED SPRAWL
Large distributed company with enterprise database group
1. DBAs managed all enterprise applications and databases.
2. CIO stumbles on “shadow IT” implementations in a business unit.
3. CIO resolves to bring all applications under central management.
4. CIO orders audit/inventory of all applications and databases in use.
• About 50 applications are voluntarily reported by business units.
5. The DBA group uses a discovery tool to detect any and all databases running.
• Oracle – Zero unreported databases
• SQL Server – Over 300 unreported databases detected (unpatched,
unmonitored, unmanaged for network usage)
“It is not your fault, but it is your problem.” - CIO

CAUTIONARY TALE #2 – SQL SLAMMER
Large software development company with distributed development
1. One day, system response time slows, then grinds to a halt. External and
internal websites were affected (Production and Sales halt).
2. CEO blasts angry message to all employees demanding answers. (Yes, ALL.)
3. CIO answers, copying all as well, taking ownership to investigate.
4. Hours later, CIO reports SQL Slammer virus as the culprit.
5. CEO wants to know how this virus went undetected by IT.
6. Days later, CIO triumphantly reports the virus did not come from any
databases that IT manages. It originated in development deployments.
7. CEO is unimpressed and declares IT responsible to keep unmanaged
environments isolated or manage them.
“It is not your fault, but it is your problem.” - CEO

CAUTIONARY TALE #3 – LICENSE COMPLIANCE
Software development company with MSDN distribution
1. MSDN permits unlimited usage “for development purposes.”
2. R&D individual teams fail to rigidly enforce license deﬁnition.
3. Microsoft ﬁnds out when someone opens a support ticket on
MSDN-licensed instance being used for a small production
application.
“It is your fault, and it is your problem.” - Microsoft

SQL SERVER INVENTORY VULNERABILITY
▪ Spur of data growth and groups spinning up their own applications/
servers could lead to SQL Server sprawl.
▪ MS SQL license changes and additional “unknown” servers could
result in costlier licensing audits.
▪ Lack of DBA insights into these servers could result in servers
running without critical patches, leading to production interruptions.
▪ You can’t manage what you aren’t aware of!

BEST PRACTICES IN DATABASE INVENTORY
▪ A discovery tool can locate any databases or instances that you may
not be aware of, so that you don’t get surprised later.
▪ To manage your environment, you need to stay on top of which SQL
Servers are down, need a patch or backup, or are short on space.
▪ Track server growth for future capacity needs and reallocation of
server resources for different applications or user groups.
▪ Generate reports to demonstrate that the SQL Server environment is
up to date and current on licensing to avoid any unnecessary or
excessive costs.

OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME
▪ Security Ofﬁcer doesn’t like scanning
• Scanning is not inherently insecure, but it may trigger security IDS
• Schedule scans periodically and coordinate
▪ Business Unit Shadow IT objects to being managed
• Explain the vulnerability they create for all
• Ask them to help support funding additional support for their
applications
▪ Corporate IT doesn’t have funding for inventory control
• Pay me now or pay me later (explain the risks)
• Inventory Management saves money in more efﬁcient resource
usage

SQL INVENTORY MANAGER

PRODUCT FUNCTIONALITY MAP
Discovery
Inventory
Health Checks
Alerting
Light Monitoring
Deep Monitoring
Enterprise Functionality
SQL
Diagnostic
Manager
SQL
Admin
Toolset
SQL
Defrag
SQL
Check
Breadthof
Functionality
Depth of Functionality
SQL Doctor
SQL Inventory
Manager

SQL INVENTORY MANAGER
Discover and Track SQL Server Inventory
▪ View your SQL Server inventory – know what you have where and who owns it
▪ Auto-discover any new servers installed, to better manage server sprawl
▪ Set tags to better organize servers and databases across the enterprise
▪ Quickly deploy and access from anywhere via web-based and agentless UI
▪ Get alerts when a server goes down, or space is running low

SQL INVENTORY MANAGER ARCHITECTURE
Discovered
SQL
Instances
• Nothing installed on the monitored SQL instance
• No agents, stored procedures, etc.
• Monitor physical and virtual databases

▪ Discover SQL instances
▪ Discover BI services
▪ Manage enterprise SQL sprawl
▪ Flexible discovery options
▪ Tag, group, and organize instances
▪ Efﬁcient SQL license reporting
▪ SQL Server health awareness
▪ Patch analysis and reporting
▪ Graphical easy to use web interface
SQL SERVER DISCOVERY, LICENSING, AND HEALTH

SQL INVENTORY MANAGER:
REPORTS
■ MS SQL Server Reporting Services
(SSRS):
○ Inventory Report
○ Health Check Report
○ Chargeback Report
○ SQL Server Licensing Report
■ Use IDERA Report Utility to deploy the
reports.

DATABASE USER ACCESS VIEWS
■ Security proﬁle information for Role
and Users at the instance and
database levels
■ Easily see the users of newly
discovered or rogue SQL servers
■ Reach out to users regarding on-going
maintenance
■ Get more information about what
database principals are being used

HOST SERVER VIEW
■ Host server information
for instances and virtual
machines
■ Topology of servers,
virtual machines and
instances
■ Host Server information
for MS SQL Licensing

LICENSING UPDATES
■ Microsoft no longer uses
core factor starting with
SQL Server 2016 and
above
■ MS SQL Licensing view in
SQL Inventory Manager
updated
■ Core Factor column will have an ‘N/A’ for
SQL Server 2016 and above

COMING IN SIM 2.6 – EXPANDED CLOUD SUPPORT
▪ Discovery of cloud instances
and databases on both Amazon
and Azure
▪ DBaaS support - Azure DB and
Azure RDS
▪ Health checks and information
for IaaS - Azure VM and
Amazon EC2

IDERA SQL SOLUTIONS OVERVIEW
21
Most Comprehensive SQL Server Monitoring Portfolio
Performance & Monitoring Security & Compliance Backup & Administration
SQL Diagnostic Manager
SQL BI Manager
SQL Defrag Manager
SQL Inventory Manager
SQL Doctor
Ensure application and
server availability and
performance
SQL Compliance Manager
SQL Secure
SQL Safe Backup
SQL Enterprise Job
Manager
SQL Virtual Database
SQL Admin Toolset
SQL Comparison Toolset
SQL Suite = SQL DM + SQL Defrag + SQL CM + SQL Secure + SQL Safe Backup
Audit activity and
permissions to direct
compliance
Safeguard business
critical data and
automate administrative
tasks

ADDRESS YOUR INVENTORY ISSUES
▪ You need to know what you don’t know about the databases
deployed in your organization
▪ Get the details to manage your entire SQL Server environment
with IDERA SQL Inventory Manager
Auto Discovery
Find and View SQL Server Inventory
Wherever It Resides
Inventory Management
Get Relevant Information for
Deployed Servers and Databases
Licensing
Track all Current MS SQL
Licensing Information
Environment State
Perform Basic Health Checks for
SQL Servers and Databases
Tagging
Group Different Servers
for Better Organization
Automated Alerting
Conﬁgure and Receive
Proactive Notiﬁcations and Alerts

THANKS!
Any questions?
Learn more and download your free trial at:
www.idera.com

Do you know where your databases are?

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