A quick glance behind, and ahead
So last time, we introduced the Wait Statistics module.
This time we’ll look at the Databases module, and talk about writing your own custom objects.
The Database Module
The Database module collects database information from managed servers. This gives you a record of all databases – and their database IDs, and the database size on disk – for the entire enterprise, and allows you to track databases as they come and go, grow, shrink, and change names.
What can we do with this? The biggest thing that the database module gives you is the new/retired database alert, which tells you when databases come and go. And, you have a history of database CREATE / DROP activity over time.
Objects in the Database Module
Tables
- Collector.Databases – Stores the collections of database data.
Views
- Collector.DatabasesCurrent – Provides the most recent collection of database data.
- Collector.DatabasesPrevious – Provides the next-to-most recent collection of database data.
Stored Procedures
- Alert.DbsNewRetired –This procedure alerts and reports on databases that have appeared or disappeared (as compred to the previous collection). This is scheduled by default for Gold and Silver servers.
- Report.DBNamesLatestGet – Returns a list of all database names from the current collection, for a given InstanceID.
New/Retired Databases Alert
The Databases module provides for a unique bit of functionality: an alert on new databases, and on retired (deleted) databases.
The stored procedure (Alert.DBsNewRetired) that comprises the alert, maintains a master database list in dbo.DatabaseList. This table does nothing but hold the InstanceID and DBName.  The alert compares the last run of the Databases collection with the dbo.DatabaseList table. It then sends a report based on its findings.
IMPORTANT: The first run of this alert may be quite large, because there are no rows in the DatabaseList table. So this alert should insert all of those rows for you. From then on, it will maintain the list and any alerts you receive will be much more reasonable.
There is nothing for you to do when you get this alert. It is merely informational so you’ll know when databases come and go from your systems.
Custom Objects
MinionWare encourages you to create stored procedures and views as you find you need them – not just for Database module information, but for any information collected in the repository. ME is meant to be customized. Even with the huge amount of time and experience we have dedicated to creating this management software, there is no way to anticipate every alert or query your organization will need. Feel free to create your own alerts, reports, views, and so on. You can even create your own collections to merge with the data we collect for you to fully customize your environment.
We further recommend you create your own schemas to organize these custom objects. For example, if your company name is ABC, you might create the schemas ABCAlert and ABCReport.
As long as you do not modify existing Minion Enterprise objects, there should be no ill effects. And, Minion Enterprise upgrades will not remove or modify your custom objects and schemas.
And now you know about the Database module, and whether you can write custom objects for ME (answer: yes). Write us with questions and comments any time at https://minionware.desk.com/, and get more information on our Minion Enterprise YouTube playlist.
You only have about 10-12 days left of your Minion Enterprise 30 day trial. Write to us today at MinionWareSales@MidnightDBA.com for a demo and a quote!
Next time we’ll talk about Database Properties.