Documentation forDatabase Performance Analyzer

DPA license requirements and license types

License requirements depend on the type of DPA deployment:

  • If you deploy DPA on a self-managed server or in the Azure Marketplace, you must have an individual license for each monitored database instance.

  • If you deploy DPA in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, the AWS Marketplace Metering Service is used to calculate DPA charges.

See the following sections for details:

Individual licenses

You can monitor database instances without allocating licenses during the 14-day trial period. After the trial period, you must allocate an individual license for each database instance that you want to monitor.

Individual licenses can be subscription or perpetual:

  • Subscription licenses have an expiration date. When the subscription is current, users have access to all DPA functionality and they are entitled to technical support and upgrades.

    If a subscription license allocated to a database instance is not renewed before it expires, historical data is available for the instance but DPA does not continue to collect new data.

    Some DPA features are available only for subscription licenses.

  • Perpetual licenses can be used to monitor database instances indefinitely. Perpetual licenses do not expire, but annual maintenance fees are required. When maintenance is current, users are entitled to technical support and upgrades.

You can allocate the following types of individual licenses to monitored database instances:

Database coverage by individual license type

Database type or environment DBSH DBSHDS Category 1 Category 2 Azure SQL Database VM
Oracle Enterprise Edition        
Oracle Standard, Free, and Express Editions      
SQL Server, all editions      
MySQL, all editions      
Percona, all editions      
MariaDB, all editions      
PostgreSQL, all editions      
EDB Postgres, all editions      
IBM Db2, all editions        
IBM Db2 Express Edition      
SAP ASE (Sybase), all editions        
SAP ASE (Sybase) Express Edition      
Azure SQL Database, all editions including databases in elastic pools  
VM metrics        

Database Self-Hosted and Database Self-Hosted DBaaS licenses

Database Self-Hosted (DBSH) and Database Self-Hosted DBaaS (DBSHDS) license keys are available with DPA 2024.4 and later. They are subscription only.

  • DBSH licenses can monitor any edition of any supported database type.

    If a database instance runs on a virtual machine (VM), the DBSH license also collects performance metrics from the VM and the physical host on which the database instance runs. (An additional VM license is not required.) This information is displayed in the Virtualization view.

  • DBSHDS licenses can monitor supported database targets running in a DBaaS environment, such as Azure SQL Database.

These licenses can be used with either DPA or SolarWinds SQL Sentry, giving you flexibility. You can use licenses from the same license key across both products. For example, if you purchase a license key with 10 licenses, you can use 5 of the licenses to monitor instances with DPA, and use the other 5 to monitor instances with SQL Sentry.

Category 1, Category 2, Azure SQL Database, and VM licenses

Category 1 and Category 2 licenses can be either perpetual or subscription. However, in DPA 2024.4 and later, subscription Category 1 and Category 2 licenses will be migrated.

The license category specifies what database editions the license is authorized to monitor. The following section, Database coverage by individual license type, indicates which database instances each DPA license type can monitor. Some database types require a Category 1 license, while others can be monitored with either a Category 1 or Category 2 license. For example, an IBM Db2 Express Edition instance can be monitored with either a Category 1 or Category 2 license. But any higher level Db2 edition requires a Category 1 license.

In addition, you can purchase VM licenses to monitor the virtual infrastructure hosting a database instance.

No additional functionality is provided by a Category 1 or Category 2 license. The only difference between Category 1 and Category 2 licenses is the types of databases they can monitor.

Monitoring VMs with VM Option licenses

If a database instance runs on a VM, you can apply an optional VM license in addition to the Category 1 or Category 2 license. When you apply a VM license, DPA collects performance metrics from the VM and the physical host on which the database instance runs. This information is displayed in the Virtualization view.

Migration from legacy subscription licenses to DBSH and DBSHDS licenses

In DPA 2024.4 and later, subscription Category 1, Category 2, VM, and Azure SQL Database licenses will be migrated to DBSH and DBSHDS licenses:

  • DBSH licenses replace subscription Category 1, Category 2, and VM licenses.
  • DBSHDS licenses replace subscription Azure SQL Database licenses.

When a user with subscription legacy licenses renews their subscription, DBSH and DBSHDS licenses are issued instead of the legacy license types. If there are enough DBSH and DBSHDS licenses to replace all previously allocated legacy licenses, the new licenses are allocated automatically. Otherwise, the new licenses must be manually allocated. For more information, see Automatic allocation of DBSH and DBSHDS licenses during a migration from legacy subscription license types.

All individual licenses are floating

You can register more instances than you have licenses for. On the license allocation page, assign the licenses to the instances you want to monitor.

DPA does not collect data from registered database instances that are not licensed. However, you can view previously collected data on those database instances.

Clustered environments

For information about registering SQL Server AGs and Oracle RACs, see Registration and licensing options for clustered environments.

If you are monitoring a database instance that runs in a virtual machine (VM) cluster, a user with at least read-only permissions is required on the hosts and VMs that will be monitored.

AWS Marketplace Metering Service

When you deploy a DPA server from the AWS Marketplace, DPA uses the AWS Marketplace Metering Service to calculate charges. You can register database instances and immediately begin monitoring them without purchasing or allocating DPA licenses. DPA charges are based on the number of database instances you monitor each hour, and the charges are billed through Amazon. See the AWS Marketplace for details and pricing.

With the AWS Marketplace Metering Service, you can monitor any supported database type (like the Category 1 individual license). However, you cannot access the VM-related information that is available with a VM Option license.

If you want to use individual DPA licenses in the Amazon cloud, you can deploy an EC2 instance, install DPA, and apply your licenses. You cannot use both individual DPA licenses and the AWS Marketplace Metering Service on a single DPA server.

Learn more

For more information about purchasing and allocating individual licenses, see: