Azure SQL Table Growth Test

Periodic monitoring of the usage of the database is essential to ensure that the database is always adequately sized to handle current and future loads. It is also essential to monitor the size of the tables within a database too. If the growth of any table is uncontrollable, then, other tables in the database may be deprived of space to store critical data. The Azure SQL Table Growth test helps administrators in figuring out the exact tables that have been growing beyond a pre-configured size. Using this test administrators can isolate the tables that have been growing uncontrollably and analyze if those tables need to be resized.

This test monitors the tables on the target Azure SQL database and reports the count of tables that have been growing beyond a pre-configured size. This test also reveals the maximum size up to which the tables can grow.

Target of the test : A Microsoft Azure SQL database

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Azure SQL database that is configured for monitoring

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
Port	The port at which the specified Host listens.
Database Name	Specify the name of the Azure SQL database that is to be monitored.
User Name and Password	Against the User Name and Password parameters, specify the credentials of the user who is vested with DBOWNER rights to the configured Database Name.
Confirm Password	Confirm the specified Password by retyping it here.
SSL	If the Azure SQL database service being monitored is SSL-enabled, then set the SSL flag to Yes. If not, then set the SSL flag to No.
Domain	By default, none is displayed in this text box. If the ‘SQL server and Windows’ authentication has been enabled for the Azure SQL database being monitored, then the Domain parameter can continue to be none. On the other hand, if ‘Windows only’ authentication has been enabled, then, in the Domain text box, specify the Windows domain in which the monitored database exists. Also, in such a case, the User Name and Password that you provide should be that of a 'domain user' with DBOWNER rights to the configured Database Name.
IS NTLMv2	In some Windows networks, NTLM (NT LAN Manager) may be enabled. NTLM is a suite of Microsoft security protocols that provides authentication, integrity, and confidentiality to users. NTLM version 2 (“NTLMv2”) was concocted to address the security issues present in NTLM. By default, this flag is set to No, indicating that NTLMv2 is not enabled by default for the target Microsoft Azure SQL database. Set this flag to Yes if NTLMv2 is enabled for the target database.
Table Size GB	Specify the size limit (in GB) for the tables against this text box beyond which the tables are termed as large tables. The default value is set to 1. This means that, by default, the test will consider all tables that are above 1 GB in size as large tables, and will report the count of such tables as the value of the Large tables count measure.
DD Row Count	By default, the detailed diagnosis of this test, if enabled, will report only the top-10 records. This is why, this parameter is set to 10 by default. If you want to include more or less records in detailed diagnosis, then change the value of this parameter accordingly.
Azure AD Authentication	This parameter indicates whether Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication should be used to connect to the Azure SQL Database. If this parameter is set to Yes, the agent will authenticate to the Azure SQL Database using an Azure AD user / domain-based credentials. In this case, the Truststore File Name and Truststore Password parameters must also be configured. If this parameter is set to No, standard SQL authentication will be used. By default, this parameter is set to No.
Truststore File Name	This parameter is applicable only when Azure AD authentication is set to Yes. If not, set this parameter to none. When Azure AD authentication is used, the server certificate presented by the Azure SQL database during TLS connection establishment must be trusted. For this purpose, the agent must have access to the truststore that contains the CA certificates required to authenticate the Azure SQL server. In this text box, specify the name of the truststore file that contains these trusted CA certificate entries. For example: combinedTrustStore.jks. By default, none is displayed against this text box. To know more, refer to How Does eG Enterprise Monitor a Microsoft Azure SQL Database?.
Truststore Password	This parameter is applicable only when Azure AD authentication is set to Yes. If not, set this parameter to none. If a truststore file is provided in the Truststore File Name text box, then specify the password that is required to access the certificate entries stored in that truststore file. This password is used by the agent to open the truststore and retrieve the certificates for validating the Azure SQL server during authentication. By default, this parameter is set to none.
Detailed Diagnosis	To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option. The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled: The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Large tables count	Indicates the total number of tables that have grown beyond the limit specified against the TABLE GROWTH SIZEparameter.	Number
Max table growth size	Indicates the maximum size up to which the tables continued to grow during the last measurement period.	MB	The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the tables that continued to grow and the size of the tables.
Max table growth	Indicates the maximum growth of a table in terms of percentage.	Percent	Use the detailed diagnosis to figure out the tables that recorded the maximum growth.