Getting Started: SQL Sentry Platform on AWS

Download: The SQL Sentry platform solution is available on the AWS Marketplace.

Note: For information about Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Monitoring Through SQL Sentry, see the AWS EC2 article.

Support

Note: Support is available during the free trial period. Please contact us should you need any assistance with the installation and onboarding, or have any other questions during your SQL Sentry evaluation.

Licensing

For information on licensing, annual maintenance, and subscription costs of the SQL Sentry platform software, please visit our Perpetual License & Subscription Options page. We offer the option to bring your own license (BYOL) or request a trial inside the application when it starts up in your installation.

See the License Management article for a license overview, instructions on applying a new license, solutions to common licensing errors, and tips on hosting the SQL Sentry database on an availability group.

Costs

Total costs for deploying and running the SQL Sentry platform solution on AWS will depend on a number of factors such as the size of the required EC2 VM and configured data storage, as well as the bandwidth of accessing the targets and SQL Sentry components.

The SQL Sentry database server recommended specifications section of the Installation Recommendations article provides guidance for required storage space with the SQL Sentry platform solution. See the Data Capacity Planning article for additional information.

See the Amazon EBS Pricing topic from AWS documentation for information and calculators EBS Volumes Pricing. See EC2 Pricing from AWS documentation for more information on the VM costs.

Total bandwidth and costs are dependent on how many targets are being watched and which regions the targets reside. If you have the SQL Sentry monitoring service running EC2 instances or RDS for SQL Server in other regions there will be bandwidth costs for egress from the other regions. Due to egress costs, SolarWinds recommends placing a SQL Sentry database in each region.

See the Licensing section above for additional SQL Sentry costs.

Additional Services

SolarWinds offers professional services as an option. If you have any interest in this, please contact us.

Architecture

See the SQL Sentry Components and Architecture article for more information on the SQL Sentry solution.

Note: All collected customer data is stored in the SQL Sentry database on the EC machine in which the marketplace installed. The SQL Sentry database encrypts and stores supplied credentials for the connection strings for all watched targets.

Sizing

See the recommended and example EC2 Classes for the SQL Sentry database on the Installation Recommendations article and select the appropriate Amazon EC2 Instance Type for your environment and usage needs.
See the AWS Service Limits topic in AWS documentation for the default limits in an AWS account.
The SQL Sentry platform solution on AWS does not have any managed AWS services (e.g. RDS, DynamoDB, RedShift).

System Requirements & Prerequisites

An AWS account is required in order to deploy the image into your subscription.
It is not necessary to have access to the AWS Account's root credentials.
You should be familiar with creating virtual machines in EC2 and handling networking and security groups before getting started.
See the System Requirements article for SQL Sentry requirements.
You should be familiar with SQL Sentry software to begin using it in your environment. Please see our documentation or free training courses to get started.
Any Amazon RDS for SQL Server instances that will be monitored must be associated with a security group that allows access from the EC2 instance running SQL Sentry. This can be completed via direct IP addresses configuration, or the full VPC that will contain the EC2 instance running SQL Sentry. For more information see the Amazon AWS documentation regarding Security Group Considerations.

Deployment

How long should I expect the deployment to take?

The deployment process should not take longer than ten minutes to complete.

What does the deployment include?

After the solution is deployed in Amazon AWS, you will have an EC2 instance with SQL Server Standard installed, along with the SQL Sentry Platform software, which currently includes:

Specific products based on the license entered
Plan Explorer

Note: Only an EC2 instance is deployed as part of this solution.

Does deployment involve more than a single element (e.g. launching an EC2 node with a partner AMI)?

No, this does not apply to our solution.

Which AWS products integrate with SQL Sentry?

SQL Sentry monitors AWS RDS for SQL Server.
SQL Sentry uses EC2 instances and EBS volumes as part of the AWS solution.

Launching SQL Sentry and Onboarding

RDP to the EC2 instance that contains the SQL Sentry image you have created.
- See Connecting to Your Windows Instance from Amazon for additional RDP instructions.
Launch the SQL Sentry client from the Desktop icon.
The Onboarding process begins when the client launches.
- Onboarding allows you to apply your license, set up alerts, enable your email server, configure notifications for Advisory Conditions, and set up the SQL Sentry Portal.
- Follow all instructions on the screen.
- Visit the Onboarding article for additional information on the steps.
You must apply a license or retrieve an evaluation license through the on-demand license feature.
Once Onboarding completes, you are ready to add new targets and instances to watch, including your AWS RDS targets.
Select where to add your target.
- We’ll use Amazon RDS for SQL Server as the target type and Default Site in the Navigator for this example.
- See the Adding an AWS RDS for SQL Server Target topic for step-by-step instructions and a visual guide.
Right-click Default Site > Add > Amazon RDS for SQL Server as the target type.
Enter your AWS RDS target information to connect via the Add Target screen.
Your target will now appear on the SQL Sentry Navigator node.
You may install the client on additional machines (with proper access to your environment) without the need for additional licenses.
View the Getting Started section for SQL Sentry to learn more about using the SQL Sentry platform.

Note: Each RDS for SQL Server Instance counts as an instance of SQL Server and consumes one SQL Sentry license.

Additional Installation Items

Depending on your environment, you may need additional SQL Sentry monitoring services or wish to install the SQL Sentry client on additional machines. See the Installation Recommendations article for guidance on the suggested number of monitoring services as well as machine sizing and selection.

Note: The SQL Sentry installation file is available on the image in the following location:

C:\SentryOneInstall\SentryOneSetup-x64.exe

Copy the executable to the EC2 instances where you will install additional SQL Sentry monitoring services or clients.

Review the Installation article for instructions on installing additional SQL Sentry monitoring services or the SQL Sentry client on additional machines.

Refer to the AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) article for step-by-step instructions on setting up a new machine for the SQL Sentry monitoring service or client.

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