DPA registration and licensing options for clustered environments

To get the maximum value from DPA, SolarWinds recommends the following options for registering and licensing SQL Server Availability Groups (AGs) and Oracle Real Application Clusters (RACs).

Every environment is different, so talk with your SolarWinds representative for other possibilities.

SQL Server AGs

You can register SQL Server availability groups (AGs) using either of the following options:

DPA does not support monitoring distributed AGs (DAGs). DPA can monitor the SQL Server instances that participate in a distributed AG, but the AG monitoring features are not enabled for distributed AGs.

Register each SQL Server instance in the cluster

If there are multiple AGs in the cluster, this option is recommended because it ensures that DPA does not monitor the same instance more than once. DPA monitors all activity on each instance, including primary and secondary AG activity.

With this option, DPA does not follow AGs when they fail over. Monitoring all instances in the cluster ensures that you see all activity when AG failovers occur.

If you register each instance in the cluster, the following combination of AG connection settings is not supported:

Connections in primary role: Allow read/write connections
Readable secondary: Read-intent only

To connect to an instance with Read-intent only selected, you must specify a connection property. The combination of settings listed above results in DPA being unable to connect to the instance part of the time:

If the property is set, DPA can connect to the instance only when the instance is in secondary role.
If the property is not set, DPA can connect to the instance only when it is in primary role.

Register the AG listener

Use this option if you want to monitor activity on the instance that contains the primary replica of an AG. When the AG fails over, DPA follows the listener and begins monitoring the SQL Server instance that now acts as the AG's primary replica.

SolarWinds recommends registering only one listener per cluster unless you can ensure that no instance in the cluster will act as the primary replica for multiple AGs. If you register multiple listeners and the same instance acts as the primary replica for more than one of the AGs, DPA monitors that instance multiple times. Duplicate monitoring is not recommended.

SQL Server logins are not automatically replicated. To enable DPA to continue monitoring after a failover, you must manually create the DPA login on all instances in the cluster that can act as the primary replica for the AG.

If Read-intent only is selected, you must register each instance instead of registering the listener.

Oracle RACs

For Oracle RAC (Real Application Clusters), register every instance in the cluster. Do not register the virtual IP that distributes load across the RAC instances.

For Oracle RAC with Data Guard, register both environments but monitor only the primary one. If a failover occurs, simply reassign the licenses to the instances in the secondary RAC environment.

When you register a RAC instance, listener configuration changes might be needed if you are not listening on the physical IP address. SolarWinds recommends:

If you are registering pluggable databases (PDBs) on a RAC instance, register with the physical IP address of the host.

For an Oracle multitenant container database (CDB), register each PDB contained in the CDB. With DPA 2024.4 and later, you can also register the CDB.

DPA automatically creates a group that includes all registered PDBs in the same CDB, as well as the CDB (if registered). For more information, see About monitoring Oracle multitenant databases (CDBs).
If you are registering a non-PDB RAC instance, register with the SID.
If you are using the Service Name, use the physical IP address of the host. Do not use the virtual IP address (VIP) or the Oracle Single Client Access Name (SCAN) IP address.

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