Spotlight® on SQL Server
Version 5.9
Release Notes
March 2009
Spotlight on SQL Server is a powerful database diagnostic and resolution tool. Its unique user interface provides you with an intuitive, visual representation of the activity on a SQL server. Graphical flows illustrate the rate at which data is moving between server components. Icons display the value of key statistics and metrics. Alarms inform you of bottlenecks and other potential problems. Drilldowns show detailed information on all parts of your SQL Server.
Spotlight integrates data from various sources into a single display. It seamlessly combines data from SQL Server system tables, SQL commands, performance monitor counters, and the Windows registry. Spotlight diagnoses not just your SQL Server, but also the Windows machine that SQL Server is running on.
Spotlight on Windows is now packaged and integrated with Spotlight on SQL Server. The purchase of Spotlight on SQL Server on each licensed server includes Spotlight on Windows for free.
New features in Spotlight on SQL Server 5.9:
The following is a list of issues addressed in this release of Spotlight on SQL Server.
|
Category |
Resolved Issue |
Defect ID |
General |
| Ignore Backup feature does not work for databases with spaces in the name | CR#0232315 | Monitoring Windows Vista networking users is displaying over 4,000,000,000 users | CR#0232676 |
| Total RAM on Windows Server 2008 64-bit not accurate above 4GB | CR#0233667 |
The following is a list of issues known to exist at the time of this Spotlight on SQL Server release.
|
Category |
Known Issue |
General |
| Excluding databases from the Recent Backups alarm. If you exclude a database from the Recent Backups alarm, and then delete that database, the database name cannot be removed from the exclusion list. If, in the future, you create a database with the same name as the deleted database, it will automatically be excluded from the Recent Backups alarm. | |
| Spotlight on Analysis Services. To restore the default settings in the Configuration drilldown of Spotlight on Analysis Services, close the drilldown and then reopen it. | |
|
Windows 2000 and disk performance counters. Spotlight cannot display some disk information properly unless the machine being diagnosed has disk performance counters enabled. This will affect the Disk Activity icon on the main screen, the various I/O charts on the SQL I/O Activity and Windows Activity drilldowns, and the disk graph on the Disks tab of the Databases drilldown. The Disk Counters Disabled alarm will be raised until the problem is resolved. To enable collection of disk data:
These disk performance counters are always available on Windows XP and later. |
|
| Use of ATI Rage Video card. If you are using an ATI Rage video card or chipset (such as the ones used in Dell laptops) you may encounter display problems when using Spotlight. | |
| Support email. On Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, using the Contact Support option (either from the Help menu or from an error dialog) raises an error if your email application is not started. To send an email from within Spotlight, start your MAPI compliant email application first. | |
| Installation | Uninstalling Spotlight on SQL Server. When uninstalling Spotlight on SQL Server, if Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise is installed on the same machine, the Desktop shortcut and Start menu item for Spotlight on SQL Server may not be removed. |
| Upgrading Spotlight on SQL Server on Vista. When upgrading on Vista or Windows Server 2008, the installation executable must be run as an Administrator. To do this, right-click the executable and select Run as Administrator. | |
| Upgrading from Spotlight on SQL Server 5.8 to 5.9. If you receive an error when upgrading from Spotlight on SQL Server 5.8 to 5.9, uninstall Spotlight on SQL Server 5.8 and then install 5.9. | |
| Spotlight install location. Installing Spotlight to a path named C:\Program Files\Quest Software\Spotlight Enterprise is not supported. | |
| Install/uninstall. When Spotlight on Windows is used in conjunction with another Spotlight product that has a separate installer, both products will need to be uninstalled if one is to be removed. The wanted Spotlight program can then be reinstalled. |
Templates |
|
Saved templates and saved connections (upgrading). It is recommended that any connection profiles based on saved templates, or saved connections, created using earlier versions of Spotlight on SQL Server are deleted and then re-created in Spotlight on SQL Server 5.9. If connections from a previous version of Spotlight are saved before upgrading to Spotlight on SQL Server 5.9, some components on the Spotlight home page may either display incorrect data, or no data at all. |
|
|
Connections |
Spotlight work database missing stored procedures. If the Spotlight work database is missing stored procedures, drop the current work database and then recreate it. For information on creating the work database, see the online help. |
| Connection Lost options. Selecting the Connection Lost options (View | Options |Spotlight on SQL Server | Connection Lost) may result in errors when Spotlight reconnects after a connection has been lost. | |
| Data Export Wizard and clustered SQL Servers. The Data Export Wizard does not properly recognize Spotlight on Windows connections for clustered SQL Servers. In this situation, the wizard is unable to collect complete information about the host machine. | |
| Inability to connect to a database with 'non-standard' name. Spotlight cannot create a connection to a database whose name contains a single-quote ['] or semi-colon [;] character; neither character is supported under the ADO interface. In this situation, you will encounter an error when Spotlight attempts to create the work database associated with the supplied connection profile. | |
| Error creating Spotlight work database. When installing or updating the Spotlight work database, the work database must have the same compatibility level as the SQL Server version it resides on. | |
| Work database. When connecting to a SQL Server instance using Spotlight on SQL Server, we recommend that you specify a work database other than tempdb, and that all Spotlight users specify the same work database. This has the advantage of keeping all Spotlight objects separate from other applications, and speeds subsequent connection attempts by eliminating the need for Spotlight to re-create its database objects after SQL Server has been restarted (as is the case if you use tempdb as the work database). It will also improve performance by allowing Spotlight to share some of the data collection work between different users. You can either create this database manually, or use Spotlight to do it for you by selecting <New Database> in the Work Database field during the connection process. | |
| Server permissions and NetBIOS. Spotlight retrieves some of its data from Windows performance counters and the Windows registry of the machine being diagnosed. Spotlight cannot connect to a server unless it can access this information. This means you need to have the appropriate permissions on the server, and that the data must be retrievable over your network. Spotlight requires more than just a port 1433 TCP/IP connection to a SQL Server instance to do this. It uses NetBIOS traffic to retrieve PerfMon and registry information, so any firewalls between the Spotlight client and the machine being diagnosed must allow this traffic to pass through. | |
| SQL Server and CPU Usage on the SQL Activity Drilldown are not in sync. These values are not collected at the same time, and at some point the SQL Server CPU Usage may be greater than the Total CPU Usage. | |
|
Remote Registry service. The Spotlight machine and the machine being diagnosed must have the Remote Registry service running. If you attempt to connect to a machine that has the Remote Registry service stopped, Spotlight will return the following error message: No Windows server called <machine name> could be found on the network. If the address is valid then the Remote Registry service may not be running on the remote server. Make sure the Remote Registry service is running on the Spotlight machine and the machine you are connecting to. |
|
| Shutdown problem with multiple SQL Server connections. An attempt to shut down Spotlight while two or more SQL Server connections to the same server are open may cause the application to crash. To avoid this, close multiple SQL Server connections separately before closing the application. | |
| History Browser |
History Browser and Playback mode.
The following drilldowns, grids and homepage elements do not contribute data to
history and are therefore unavailable when viewing Spotlight in Playback mode:
|
| Log File |
The log file for the Spotlight work database keeps growing. This can
occur if you have detailed logging enabled on your server. The problem can be
largely avoided by disabling Global Trace. To do
this:
|
If you have any licensed version of Spotlight on SQL Server already installed, your existing license key is transferred across.
If you have a trial copy of a previous version that has expired, or if this is your first installed version of Spotlight on SQL Server, then you will get a 30-day trial license.
Before installing Spotlight on SQL Server, ensure your system meets the following minimum hardware and software requirements:
| Platform | Pentium-based PC. |
| Memory | 256 megabytes of RAM (minimum). 512 megabytes of RAM or above will provide optimal performance. 256 megabytes is generally adequate unless there are many other applications running. 512 megabytes of RAM or above will provide optimal performance. |
| Hard Disk Space | 60 MB This space should exist of a local disk drive rather than a network drive. |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Note: Installing Spotlight on SQL Server on 64-bit Windows is not supported. |
| Supported SQL Server versions | Spotlight can diagnose SQL Server instances of the
following versions:
Spotlight on SQL Server also supports MSDE (2000) and SQL Express (2005). Spotlight cannot diagnose earlier versions of SQL Server (version 7.x and earlier). Spotlight supports all SQL Server sort orders, including the Case-Sensitive and Binary sort orders. Note: On each monitored instance, Spotlight requires the network setting "File and Print Sharing" to be enabled and any firewall to be configured to:
|
| Additional Software |
Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) is required. MDAC includes the ODBC and other components that enables a connection to be established to a Microsoft SQL Server database. The database can be local or remote. Your client machine must have MDAC 2.7 (or later) installed. MDAC is available from the Microsoft web site: http://www.microsoft.com/data/download.htm Note: |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. | |
| Other requirements |
CD-ROM drive or Internet connection (required for installation only). Sound card and speakers (optional) for receiving audible alerts. |
This section contains information about installing and operating this product in non-English configurations, such as those needed by customers outside of North America. This section does not replace the materials about supported platforms and configurations found elsewhere in the product documentation.
This release is Unicode-enabled and supports any character set. In this release, all product components should be configured to use the same or compatible character encodings and should be installed to use the same locale and regional options. This release is targeted to support operations in the following regions: North America, Western Europe and Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Far-East Asia, Japan.
This release has the following known capabilities or limitations: No localization this release
The Spotlight on SQL Server release package contains the following products:
Refer to the Spotlight on SQL Server Getting Started Guide for installation instructions.
| info@quest.com | |
| Quest Software, Inc. World Headquarters 5 Polaris Way Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 USA |
|
| Web |
Refer to our web site for regional and international office information.
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From SupportLink, you can do the following:
View the Global Support Guide for a detailed explanation of support programs, online services, contact information, and policy and procedures.
The guide is available at: http://support.quest.com/pdfs/Global%20Support%20Guide.pdf.
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