Azure Database Server Details Test

An Azure SQL database is a managed database in Microsoft Azure that is created within an Azure resource group with a defined set of compute and storage resources for different workloads. An Azure SQL database is associated with an Azure SQL Database logical server, which is created within a specific Azure region. A logical server acts as a central administrative point for multiple databases, including SQL elastic pools logins, firewall rules, auditing rules, threat detection policies, and failover groups. A logical server can be in a different region than its resource group. The logical server must exist before you can create the Azure SQL database. All databases on a server are created within the same region as the logical server.

A logical server is a parent resource for databases, elastic pools, and data warehouses. It also provides the scope for database quota and DTU quota for the resources it contains (such as 45,000 DTU) and therefore is a high-order element of the identity of databases, elastic pools, and data warehouses for Azure resource management purposes. If the Azure logical server is not ready, then the Azure databases associated with the logical server and the resource group may not be accessible causing inconvenience to the users accessing the resources from such resource groups. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically monitor the state of the Azure logical server. The Azure Database Server Details test helps you in this regard!

For each Azure SQL Database logical server being monitored, this test reports the current state of the server and the number of Azure SQL databases associated with the logical server. In addition, this test reports the number of Database Transaction Units allocated to the SQL databases associated with the logical server and the maximum number of DTUs that can be allocated to the SQL databases.

Target of the Test: A Microsoft Azure Subscription

Agent deploying the test: A remote agent

Output of the test: One set of results for each Resource Group: Azure SQL Database logical server of the target Microsoft Azure subscription being monitored

Descriptor: Azure SQL Database logical server

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.

Subscription ID

Specify the GUID which uniquely identifies the Microsoft Azure Subscription to be monitored. To know the ID that maps to the target subscription, do the following:

  1. Login to the Microsoft Azure Portal.

  2. When the portal opens, click on the Subscriptions option (as indicated by Figure 1).

    Figure 1 : Clicking on the Subscriptions option

  3. Figure 2 that appears next will list all the subscriptions that have been configured for the target Azure AD tenant. Locate the subscription that is being monitored in the list, and check the value displayed for that subscription in the Subscription ID column.

    Figure 2 : Determining the Subscription ID

  4. Copy the Subscription ID in Figure 2 to the text box corresponding to the SUBSCRIPTION ID parameter in the test configuration page.

Tenant ID

Specify the Directory ID of the Azure AD tenant to which the target subscription belongs. To know how to determine the Directory ID, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft Azure Subscription Using Azure ARM REST API.

Client ID, Client Password, and Confirm Password

To connect to the target subscription, the eG agent requires an Access token in the form of an Application ID and the client secret value. For this purpose, you should register a new application with the Azure AD tenant. To know how to create such an application and determine its Application ID and client secret, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft Azure Subscription Using Azure ARM REST API. Specify the Application ID of the created Application in the Client ID text box and the client secret value in the Client Password text box. Confirm the Client Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

Proxy Host and Proxy Port

In some environments, all communication with the Azure cloud be routed through a proxy server. In such environments, you should make sure that the eG agent connects to the cloud via the proxy server and collects metrics. To enable metrics collection via a proxy, specify the IP address of the proxy server and the port at which the server listens against the Proxy Host and Proxy Port parameters. By default, these parameters are set to none, indicating that the eG agent is not configured to communicate via a proxy, by default.

Proxy Username, Proxy Password and Confirm Password

If the proxy server requires authentication, then, specify a valid proxy user name and password in the Proxy Username and Proxy Password parameters, respectively. Then, confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

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.
Measures made by the test:
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

State

Indicates the current status of this Azure SQL Database logical server.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Unknown 0
Ready 1

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current status of this database instance. The graph of this measure however, represents the status of a server using the numeric equivalents only - 0 or 1.

The detailed diagnosis of this measure if enabled, lists the location of the database instance, the version of the SQL installed and the Fully Qualified Domain Name of the server.

Number of databases

Indicates the number of databases instances associated with this Azure SQL Database logical server.

Number

The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the name of the database instances created on the database server.

Current DTUs

Indicates the number of Database Transaction Units allocated to the database instances associated with this Azure SQL Database logical server.

Number

For a single Azure SQL database at a specific performance level within a service tier, Microsoft guarantees a certain level of resources for that database (independent of any other database in the Azure cloud) and providing a predictable level of performance. This amount of resources is calculated as a number of Database Transaction Units or DTUs, and is a blended measure of CPU, memory, I/O (data and transaction log I/O).

Maximum DTUs

Indicates the maximum number of Database Transactions Units that can be allocated to the database instances associated with this Azure SQL Database logical server.

Number

 

The detailed diagnosis of the State measure if enabled, lists the location of the database instance, the version of the SQL installed and the Fully Qualified Domain Name of the server.

Figure 3 : The detailed diagnosis of the State measure reported by the Azure Database Server Details test

The detailed diagnosis of the Number of databases measure lists the name of the database instances created on the database server.

Figure 4 : The detailed diagnosis of the Number of databases measure