Documentation forSQL Sentry

SQL Sentry SQL Server Settings

Blocking SQL

Setting Description Related Condition
Maximum Duration Threshold Sets the maximum allowed duration for the object. Blocking SQL: DurationThreshold Max

Blocking SQL Source

Setting Description Related Condition
Maximum Rows To Synchronize Sets the maximum rows of historical event data to collect from this source. N/A
Minimum Block Duration Sets the time that must elapse before a Block Condition is triggered. All Blocking SQL Conditions

Databases Source

For more information, see the Fragmentation Manager topic.

Deadlocks Source

Setting Description Related Condition
Maximum Rows To Synchronize Sets the maximum rows of historical event data to collect from this source. N/A
History Filter

The filter used for history synchronization. Only events that meet the filter criteria are written to the database. For more information, see History Filter.

Note:  The Deadlocks History Filter only impacts what displays on the Event Calendar and doesn't impact deadlock collection. For more information, see Synchronization of Performance Analysis sources section of the History filter topic.

 N/A
Collect Deadlock Events Specifies whether a deadlock statement collection is enabled. All Deadlock SQL Conditions

Index Defragmentation

For more information, see the Fragmentation Manager topic.

Maintenance Plan Source

Setting Description Related Condition
Auto-watch New Objects Specifies whether new objects are set to watched when they are discovered. All Maintenance Plan Conditions - An object must be watched in order for Conditions to be evaluated for it.
Maximum Rows To Synchronize

The maximum rows of historical data to collect for this source.

 N/A

Reporting Services Report

Setting Description Related Condition
Maximum Runtime Threshold Defines the maximum allowed runtime for the object. Reporting Services Report: Runtime Threshold Max
Maximum Runtime Threshold Percent Defines the maximum allowed runtime percent for the object. Reporting Services Report: Runtime Threshold Max
Minimum Runtime Threshold Defines the minimum allowed runtime for the object. Reporting Services Report: Runtime Threshold Min
Minimum Runtime Threshold Percent Defines the minimum allowed runtime percent for the object. Reporting Services Report: Runtime Threshold Min

Reporting Services Report Source

Setting Description Related Condition
Auto-watch New Objects Specifies whether new objects are set to watched when they are discovered. All Reporting Services Report Conditions -An object must be watched for Conditions to be evaluated for it.
Maximum Rows To Synchronize The maximum rows of historical data to collect for this source. N/A
History Filter The filter used for history synchronization. Only events that meet the filter criteria are written to the database. For more information, see History Filter. N/A

SQL Server Agent Alerts Source

Setting Description Related Condition
Auto-watch New Objects Specifies whether new objects are set to watched when they are discovered.   All SQL Server Agent Alert Conditions - An object must be watched in order for Conditions to be evaluated for it.
Maximum Rows To Synchronize The maximum rows of historical data to collect for this source. N/A
History Filter The filter used for history synchronization. Only events that meet the filter criteria are written to the database. For more information, see History Filter. N/A

SQL Server Agent Job

Setting Description Related Condition
Maximum Runtime Threshold The maximum allowed runtime for the object. SQL Server Agent Job: Runtime Threshold Max

Maximum Runtime Threshold Percent

The maximum allowed runtime percentage for the object. SQL Server Agent Job: Runtime Threshold Max
Minimum Runtime Threshold The minimum allowed runtime for the object. SQL Server Agent Job: Runtime Threshold Min
Minimum Runtime Threshold Percent The minimum allowed runtime percent for the object. SQL Server Agent Job: Runtime Threshold Min
Queue Others for up to The maximum length of time this job will queue other jobs. For more information, see Job Queuing. N/A
Auto-Start Threshold Any job whose next scheduled run time is beyond the specified threshold starts automatically upon leaving the queue. If a job's next scheduled run time is before the threshold it won't auto-start. N/A
Queue Type The behavior when this job is queued. For more information, see Job Queuing. SQL Server Agent Job: Queued
Queue For Up To The maximum length of time this job can queued. For more information, see Job Queuing. N/A
Auto-Start Type Controls the auto-start behavior for the job when it leaves the queue. Use default setting causes the queuing job's Auto-Start Threshold setting to be used. N/A

SQL Sever Agent Jobs Source

Setting Description Related Condition
Auto-watch New Objects Specifies whether new objects are set to watched when they are discovered. All SQL Server Agent Job Conditions - An object must be watched for Conditions to be evaluated for it.
Missed Run Threshold The length of time that must pass before an object run is considered to be missed. SQL Server Agent Job: Run Missed
Maximum Rows To Synchronize The maximum rows of historical data to collect for this source. N/A

SQL Server Agent Log Source

Setting Description Related Condition
Auto-watch New Objects Specifies whether new objects are set to watched when they are discovered. All SQL Server Agent Log Source Conditions - An object must be watched in order for Conditions to be evaluated for it.
Maximum Rows To Synchronize The maximum rows of historical data to collect for this source. N/A
History Filter The filter used for history synchronization. Only events that meet the filter criteria are written to the database. For more information, see History Filter. N/A

SQL Server Instance

Setting Description Related Condition
Auto-enable SQL Server Agent Tokens On SQL Server 2005 and above, SQL Agent Tokens are disabled as a security measure. They must be enabled to allow SQL Sentry to watch Alerts. All SQL Server Agent Alert Conditions
Auto-recycle large SQL Server Agent Logs

Specifies whether to automatically recycle large Agent Log files. SQL Sentry polls the Agent Log for history synchronization. If an Agent Log file becomes too large, this polling causes timeout problems. To prevent this, SQL Sentry stops polling and issues a Client Alert if the Agent Log file exceeds one MB.

Note:  This problem often manifests when informational level logging is enabled.

 N/A
Maximum Queue Length

The maximum number of objects that can be queued at one time.

Note:  This setting always applies to the instance level.

 SQL Server Agent Job: Queued
Max User Databases to Synchronize (largest first) The maximum number of user databases to synchronize, ordered by total size. This includes system databases. N/A
Max User Database Files to Synchronize (most active & largest first) The maximum number of user database files to synchronize, ordered by most active and total size. N/A
Maintenance Window

Used to set a schedule for the Maintenance Window. Only Log Actions are triggered for Failsafe conditions inside the Maintenance Window. Maintenance Window settings allow a time frame to be specified while daily maintenance activities take place on that instance.

For more information, see the Schedules and Windows topic.

 Failsafe Conditions

Top SQL

Setting Description Related Condition
Maximum Runtime Threshold The maximum allowed runtime for the object. This default value is one hour. Top SQL: Runtime Threshold Max

Top SQL Source

Setting Description Related Condition
Maximum Rows to Synchronize The maximum rows of historical data to collect for this source. N/A
Minimum Duration Determines the required duration for a Top SQL event to be collected. The default setting is five seconds. For safety reasons, it can't be reduced below 100ms unless one of the CPU, Reads, or Writes filters is  > zero. All Top SQL Conditions
Minimum CPU The minimum required CPU for a statement to be logged. All Top SQL Conditions
Minimum Reads The minimum required reads for a statement to be logged. All Top SQL Conditions
Minimum Writes The minimum required writes for a statement to be logged. All Top SQL Conditions
Collect Trace Events Specifies whether  to collect Trace Events. If Collect Trace Events is disabled, SQL Sentry won't start a trace or collect any Top SQL events from a monitored target. N/A
Collect Statement Events

Specifies whether to collect Statement Events. If Collect Statement Events is disabled, statement-level information won't be available in the Plan Explorer Statements Tree when viewing a query plan.

Warning:  On systems with very high transaction volumes that make extensive use of scalar functions, enabling Collect Statement Events can cause a negative impact on performance of the monitored target, regardless of the effective Top SQL filter settings or the number of events actually collected. 

Additional Information: For more information, see the MSDN article Unintended Consequences of Scalar-Valued User Defined Functions.

 N/A
Collect Execution Plans

Specifies whether to collect Execution Plans. If Collect Execution Plans is disabled, Top SQL event collection occurs as normal; however, query plan information won't be automatically collected for those events.

Note:  Plan information can still be collected on demand from within a Plan Explorer session.

 N/A
Max Plan Size to Collect (MB) Specifies the max plan size to collect in MB. Default value is three. N/A
Running Events Polling Interval Specifies how often the service checks for running events. N/A
Collect Query Stats Specifies whether Query Stats collection is enabled. This setting must be set to True for Procedure Stats and Query Stats to function. N/A
Query Stats Sample Interval Specifies how often to sample query stats. N/A
Filter Time Span Specifies the base length of time over which the collection filters are applied to Query Stats. N/A
Filter Factor Calculated by dividing the Query Stats Sample Interval by the Filter Time Span. The collection filters such as Minimum Duration are multiplied by this value when applied to Query Stats collection. N/A
Note:  Top SQL Source:


There is an And relationship that exists between the Minimum Duration, Minimum CPU,Minimum Reads, and the Minimum Writes collection settings. This means, that to be collected as Top SQL, the event needs to satisfy each individual collection setting. For example, if you set the Minimum Duration at 10 seconds and the Minimum Reads at 25, an event needs to meet both a Minimum Duration of 10 seconds And a Minimum Read of 25 to be captured in Top SQL.

Minimum Duration can't be set below 100ms unless Minimum CPU, Minimum Reads, or Minimum Writes is greater than zero. This lower limit is enforced because setting this thresholds below 100ms for an extended period of time could dramatically increase the volume of data collected and stored by SQL Sentry, and have a negative impact on the monitored server. SQL SentryQuickTrace functionality is better suited to analyze extremely short duration events.