Using SQL Nexus

 

You will be prompted for connection information when SQL Nexus starts.  Select a server and SQL Server instance that you would like to monitor as well as one with the capacity to store SQL Nexus’ Diagnostic Data Warehouse.  The amount of space you will need for this warehouse varies widely and depends on the activity level on your system and how long diagnostic data is retained in the warehouse.

 

The default database for the SQL Nexus Diagnostic Data Warehouse is “sqlnexus.”  You can change this by clicking the Options button in the connection dialog.  SQL Nexus will create this database for you when it starts if it does not already exist. 

 

Once you have specified connection info, SQL Nexus will ask whether you would like to start real-time data collection.  Real-time data collection allows SQL Nexus to monitor your system as events occur rather than after the fact.  Choosing Yes will cause SQL Nexus to start SQL Server’s SQLDiag diagnostics collector and begin logging diagnostics data in the data warehouse.  It will also enable auto-update for the current report as you use SQL Nexus.  Auto-update means that SQL Nexus will periodically update whichever report you are currently viewing in order to take into account new data being added to the Diagnostic Data Warehouse by SQLDiag.

 

Choosing No will put SQL Nexus in “postmortem mode.”  Postmortem mode instructs SQL Nexus to treat the data in its warehouse as static and collected after the fact.  The reports you would use in postmortem mode might differ from those you would use when monitoring a live server.  For example, you might use the Profiler analysis reports in postmortem mode because they involve examining Profiler traces collected by either SQL Profiler or SQLDiag.  Wait stats analysis, on the other hand, is more meaningful when examined live.

 

To view a report in SQL Nexus, simply click it in the navigation pane on the left.  Clicking a report causes it to be rendered in the report viewer pane in the center of the main SQL Nexus screen.  If the report contains links to other reports, click them in the report viewer pane to view them.  Hold down the Control key when clicking to open the child report in a separate window.

 

SQL Nexus renders as much of a report as it can asynchronously.  This means that you can safely click a different report while one is being rendered or perform other activities elsewhere in SQL Nexus.

 

Once a report is rendered in the report viewer pane, use the buttons on the Report toolbar to set the zoom level, the current page, and so forth, as you view it.

 

You can also export a report in a variety of formats including Microsoft Excel, PDF, and several image types.  Export a report by clicking the Export button on the Report toolbar.

 

It’s sometimes useful to email reports to other people.  SQL Nexus provides built-in support for attaching the reports and charts it produces to an outbound email.  Click the Email button on the Report toolbar to create a new email and attach either the current report or all open reports to it.  Reports attached to emails are rendered as Microsoft Excel files.