Centralized monitoring has improved risk mitigation and proactively prevents database outages
What is our primary use case?
Redgate Monitor serves as my main multi-platform database observability tool for an entire estate. I use it to optimize performance, ensure security, and mitigate potential risks with fast deep dive analysis and intelligent alerting. It enables me to monitor an entire server estate from a single pane of glass, managing SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, and MongoDB on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments.
Day-to-day, I rely on Redgate Monitor to create database observability that proactively mitigates potential risks with instant problem diagnosis and customizable alerting. It accelerates daily database maintenance by automating time-consuming manual tasks such as identifying long-running queries or tracking blocked processes, which helps to free up time to proactively improve the performance and security of our servers. Built-in tips and guidance ensure our users get the most out of the information provided, and it minimizes downtime.
What is most valuable?
Redgate Monitor offers detailed resource monitoring, instant alerts, and easy customization as its best features. Missing index, RAM usage, and CPU usage are also valuable features.
I find myself relying on the combination of these features more than any individual feature, as it truly makes a difference for us. The tool is easy to use and provides very good reporting on the SQL Servers being monitored, and these reports are used in our monthly customer reports.
Redgate Monitor has impacted our organization positively by helping us simplify day-to-day tasks and realize a feeling of security. A pre-formatted analysis graph would be beneficial. Redgate Monitor has minimized downtime of critical systems due to proactive alerts as resource usage hits critical customizable thresholds. The cost is justified by alerting IT staff to an emerging issue prior to it reaching a crash state. Preventing a single SQL outage has a tangible benefit for our SQL-reliant team.
What needs improvement?
I wish Redgate Monitor would provide a dedicated section of code for missing index, and the automation layer could be improved.
Redgate Monitor needs improvement to make it easy to install in a default mode so that I am not forced to use Tomcat. I hope to see options for ASP.NET Core self-hosting.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Redgate Monitor for five years and eight months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Redgate Monitor is very stable and reliable, and I have noticed no downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Redgate Monitor's scalability fits our organization's needs perfectly and handles growth well.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support for Redgate Monitor has been fast and responsive. I have reached out to them, and my experience has been very satisfactory.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I used Microsoft Visual Studio Team System. I switched to Redgate Monitor because it beats Microsoft Visual Studio Team System since it can access SQL Server kernel and internals very easily, and it also has very fast support responses from Redgate.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment since Redgate Monitor has reduced cost by alerting IT staff to an emerging issue prior to it reaching crash states, and it has minimized downtime of critical systems due to proactive alerts as resource usage hits critical customizable thresholds.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, I must say I don't favor the subscription model, and the price is somewhat higher. They should work on improving this aspect.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Redgate Monitor, I evaluated other options such as Dynatrace and System Center Operations Manager.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Redgate Monitor is that it is a great tool because it identifies underperforming stored procedures, and from that, we can leverage any missing index or SQL performance information caught by SQL Server easily. The subscription model is not my preference, but that is the standard approach in the industry. I would rate this product an 8 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Centralized monitoring has reduced outages and enables faster diagnosis across all database servers
What is our primary use case?
With SQL Server instances at multiple physical locations and in the cloud, my main use case for Redgate Monitor is to know immediately when there are performance issues or outages. Redgate Monitor allows for detailed monitoring with easily customized alerts and reporting thresholds. It is simple to set up and performs exactly as needed.
With mission-critical SQL Server instances at multiple physical locations and in the cloud, I can give a quick specific example of how I use Redgate Monitor in my daily work. It is critical for us to know immediately when there are performance issues or outages. Redgate Monitor provides an intuitive dashboard that allows for detailed resource monitoring. Redgate offers an indication of your server, perhaps when it is under attack and where from. A simple extension would allow further action to be drawn from this, such as looking up the IP in an IP blacklist, which could advise you to block further access from that IP address.
I also use Redgate Monitor to raise performance issues of stored procedures and resource processes. It identifies the underperforming stored procedures, and from that, I can leverage any missing index or SQL performance information caught by SQL Server. I also use Redgate Monitor for aggregating performance metrics and troubleshooting performance issues using wait statistics.
What is most valuable?
The best features Redgate Monitor offers include detailed resource monitoring, instant alerts, and easy customization. A user can quickly see how your server is performing and which queries are taking the longest.
The instant alerts and customizable options help since it is a multiple-platform database observability for the entire estate. I use this to optimize performance, ensure security, and mitigate potential risks with fast, deep-dive analysis and intelligent alerting.
I love Redgate Monitor because it helps manage an entire database estate from a single pane of glass.
Redgate Monitor has positively impacted my organization by creating database observability to proactively mitigate potential risks with instant problem diagnosis and customizable alerting. It accelerates daily database maintenance by automating time-consuming manual tasks, such as identifying long-running queries or tracking blocked processes, which frees up time to proactively improve the performance and security of servers. I have seen time savings from twenty percent to forty-five percent. It also helps to minimize downtime.
What needs improvement?
One of the areas that Redgate Monitor needs to improve includes providing a dedicated section of code for missing indexes. I do not think the custom metric alerting is as flexible as SQL Sentry.
It is a bit expensive for MSPs to use for their day-to-day monitoring.
The automation layer could also be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Redgate Monitor for the past eight years, even in my previous organizations.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
According to my experience, Redgate Monitor is stable. I have not experienced lagging or downtime. It is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Redgate Monitor is highly scalable. It can be used by any size of organization, and it can handle the needs of an organization.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is very proactive, supportive, and available twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used SQL Sentry Performance Advisor.
I switched from SQL Sentry Performance Advisor to Redgate Monitor because Redgate Monitor offers flexibility in the custom metric monitoring compared to SQL Sentry Performance Advisor.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment because it has enabled our clients to review all their estate in one place, far easier and better than what SCOM was providing them with. It has been a great tool because it helps our team. It allows us to proactively fix issues before they happen. It allows us to quickly react to issues without having to wait for someone else to notice. It cuts down on the amount of time spent doing daily checks.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The experience with pricing and licensing is that the licensing cost per license is affordable. The cost could be a little bit lower, especially for small and medium enterprises to use this tool.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Redgate Monitor, I evaluated other options such as Dell Spotlight.
What other advice do I have?
Redgate Monitor is a great tool for getting a feel of the general health across all instances and for aggregating performance metrics to trend over time. It is not the best tool when you are trying to drill into specific performance issues or for specific performance tuning. I would rate this review nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Reliable Server Monitoring with User-Friendly Interface
What do you like best about the product?
I find Redgate Monitor easy to use, which makes managing our production servers and SSIS smoother. The alerts are reliable, providing a trustworthy way to stay informed about any issues. The user interface is straightforward, allowing for an intuitive experience. Managing alerts is very easy, which adds to the overall usability of the software.
What do you dislike about the product?
The only thing is the email alert for when an alert is cleared could be better - it’s not immediately obvious that it’s a clear event rather than a new alert.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Redgate Monitor to monitor production servers and SSIS, helping me understand issues like locks and performance bottlenecks. It's great for tracking SQL job failures and slow runs.
Intuitive UI, Keeps Our Platform Running Smoothly
What do you like best about the product?
I like the overall intuitive UI of Redgate Monitor and the way I can drag and drop the sliders to a specific time, then get the completed deals running back into history. It works great for us.
What do you dislike about the product?
nothing
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Redgate Monitor to identify waiting, slow-running queries, and system performance issues on my SQL servers, helping keep my SaaS platform healthy and running smoothly.
Customizable Monitoring with Easy Setup and Excellent Training Materials
What do you like best about the product?
I really appreciate the ability to customize monitoring, along with how easy the installation process is. The training materials are excellent, and the help system is clear and genuinely useful when I need support.
What do you dislike about the product?
One issue is that it isn’t easy to automate system updates. Over the last few versions, we’ve also experienced some instability. That said, the current version has been stable so far.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
This product gives us early warning of database issues such as deadlocks, problematic queries, and SQL job overruns, which provides valuable feedback for our development team as we work on system improvements. It also helps us catch more serious SQL system issues early, before they escalate.
Instant Environment Visibility with Helpful System Issue Suggestions
What do you like best about the product?
It provides an instant view of our environment and offers suggestions on what to check whenever there are system issues.
What do you dislike about the product?
I’m still running into a few issues during setup. The forum answers help somewhat, but clearer step-by-step guides would be more helpful and make the process easier to get through.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Instant access to live data, with the ability to monitor traffic flow in real time.
Turned Our Database Ops from a Black Box into Clear Daily Monitoring
What do you like best about the product?
It has turned our database operations from a blackbox into a well known overview of everything impacting our customers. It used to be that we only review issues on customer complaint, now we have a daily monitoring team using the product. It has also helped us prioritize what to optimize so that we can deliver more customer value.
What do you dislike about the product?
Some infrequent and minor bugs that while reported were not able to be resolved.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It lets us find issues before our customers do. It lets us proactively improve our products, refine our operations procedures, and more quickly resolve outages.
Does what i says on the tin
What do you like best about the product?
easy to use
Support are quick to respond
What do you dislike about the product?
GUI is a bit old looking
documentation not that easy to read.
There are things in the web site that don't appear to have been thought through. Like not being able to see if there is a new version when the web sever is not connected to the Internet.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Monitor allows us to see the state of databases.
It does that
Effortless SQL Monitoring, Improved Custom Scripts
What do you like best about the product?
I really like how easy it is to use and set up Redgate Monitor. It's great to have a single pane of glass across our whole estate, which makes it easy to see long-running queries and database sizes as well as many other metrics. I also appreciate the ability to run custom sql to enhance our monitoring how we need it.
What do you dislike about the product?
Nothing comes to mind
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Redgate Monitor provides a single pane of glass for monitoring SQL Clusters, helping us identify long-running queries and database sizes, and allows us to run custom monitoring scripts easily.
User-Friendly Dashboard for Spotting Slow Queries and Production Patterns
What do you like best about the product?
The dashboard that monitors heavy queries/deadlocks/long running queries, server stats etc. We use it on a big tv in our IT room, so we can constantly monitor our production server. Not only helpfull to monitor problems, but also makes it so you can easier recognise patterns/problems. Also delving deeper into why queries are slow, or the suggestions we get from Redgate monitor is very welcome. The interface is very user-friendly.
What do you dislike about the product?
Not much, customisation could be better, but that goes for every bit of software out there.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Production server statistics monitoring and gaining more insight into patterns/problems. Insight into slow or not optimised queries and solutions to improve queries. Automated alerts via mail and other options.
