Exclude SQL Server databases from backup metrics and backup alerts

DPA includes metrics and Administrative alerts for SQL Server instances to help you ensure that critical data is being backed up on schedule. However, some databases in a SQL Server instance might not need to be backed up on a regular basis (for example, databases used only for testing).

If a database has never been backed up, DPA automatically excludes that database when it calculates metric and alert values. To avoid displaying misleading metric values or triggering unnecessary alerts, you can exclude other databases that do not need to be tracked:

• Metrics: To specify which databases DPA tracks when it calculates backup metric values, set the advanced option TRACK_BACKUPS_FOR_DBS, as described below.

• Alerts: To specify which databases DPA tracks when it evaluates backup alerts, you can define a list within the alert definition or choose to use the advanced option TRACK_BACKUPS_FOR_DBS.

To set the advanced option TRACK_BACKUPS_FOR_DBS:

1. Open the Advanced Options page.
2. Click DB Instance Options, and select a SQL Server database instance.

3. Click TRACK_BACKUPS_FOR_DBS to open the Edit Option dialog.

   The default value is ALL, which tracks backups for all databases that were previously backed up.

4. To change the value, enter one of the following keywords followed by a comma-separated list of database names enclosed in parentheses:

   • INCLUDE, followed by a list of all databases in the instance whose backups DPA should track. For example:

     INCLUDE: (DB1, DB2, DB3)

   • EXCLUDE, followed by a list of all databases in the instance whose backups DPA should not track. For example:

     EXCLUDE: (DB4, DB5)

5. Click Update.