Azure SQL Managed Instance Test

Azure SQL Managed Instance is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) that has near 100% compatibility with the latest Enterprise Edition SQL Server database engine. It provides a native virtual network (VNet) implementation that addresses common security concerns, and a business model favorable to existing SQL Server customers. SQL Managed Instance allows existing SQL Server customers to lift and shift their on-premises applications to the cloud with minimal application and database changes.

Insufficient CPU or memory resources can lead to slower query performance, higher response times, and increased latency in database operations in Azure SQL Managed Instance. This test helps administrators to figure out the performance issues such as high CPU usage or I/O bottlenecks allowing the administrators to address those issues before they impact users. By analyzing storage performance metrics, administrators can monitor the storage resources to better align with the workload requirements, ensuring efficient performance.

Target of the Test : A Microsoft Azure Subscription

Agent deploying the test: A remote agent

Output of the test: One set of results for every Azure SQL Managed instance being monitored in target subscription.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

Subscription ID

Specify the GUID which uniquely identifies the Microsoft Azure Subscription to be monitored. To know the ID that maps to the target subscription, do the following:

  1. Login to the Microsoft Azure Portal.

  2. When the portal opens, click on the Subscriptions option (as indicated by Figure 1).

    Figure 1 : Clicking on the Subscriptions option

  3. Figure 2 that appears next will list all the subscriptions that have been configured for the target Azure AD tenant. Locate the subscription that is being monitored in the list, and check the value displayed for that subscription in the Subscription ID column.

    Figure 2 : Determining the Subscription ID

  4. Copy the Subscription ID in Figure 2 to the text box corresponding to the SUBSCRIPTION ID parameter in the test configuration page.

Tenant ID

Specify the Directory ID of the Azure AD tenant to which the target subscription belongs. To know how to determine the Directory ID, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft Azure Subscription Using Azure ARM REST API.

Client ID, Client Password, and Confirm Password

To connect to the target subscription, the eG agent requires an Access token in the form of an Application ID and the client secret value. For this purpose, you should register a new application with the Azure AD tenant. To know how to create such an application and determine its Application ID and client secret, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft Azure Subscription Using Azure ARM REST API. Specify the Application ID of the created Application in the Client ID text box and the client secret value in the Client Password text box. Confirm the Client Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

Proxy Host and Proxy Port

In some environments, all communication with the Azure cloud be routed through a proxy server. In such environments, you should make sure that the eG agent connects to the cloud via the proxy server and collects metrics. To enable metrics collection via a proxy, specify the IP address of the proxy server and the port at which the server listens against the Proxy Host and Proxy Port parameters. By default, these parameters are set to none, indicating that the eG agent is not configured to communicate via a proxy, by default.

Proxy Username, Proxy Password and Confirm Password

If the proxy server requires authentication, then, specify a valid proxy user name and password in the Proxy Username and Proxy Password parameters, respectively. Then, confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

DD Frequency

Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD frequency.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measures made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Instance status

Indicates the current status of this instance.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Ready 1
Disabled 2
Dropping 3

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current status of this instance. The graph of this measure however, represents the status of a server using the numeric equivalents only i.e., 1 to 3.

Use the detailed disgnosis of this measure to find the Location, Fully qualified domain name, Collation, Identity type, Sku name, Sku tier, Sku family, Sku capacity, Tags team, and Tags owner for the Azure Managed Instance.

Provisioning status

Indicates the current provisioning state of this instance.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Accepted 1
Created 2
Creating 3
Running 4
Deleted 5
Deleting 6
Updating 7
Succeeded 8
Registering 9
NotSpecified 10
Canceled 11
Unrecognized 12
Unknown 13
TimedOut 14
Failed 15

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current provisioning state of this instance. The graph of this measure however, represents the status of instance using the numeric equivalents only i.e., 1 to 15.

CPU utilization

Indicates the percentage of CPU used by this instance.

Percent

 

IO bytes read

Indicates the amount of data read from disk by this instance.

MB

 

IO bytes written

Indicates the amount of data written to disk by this instance.

MB

 

IO requests count

Indicates number of IO requests performed by this instance.

Number

The IO requests count provides insight into how many I/O operations are being performed. High counts indicate a heavy workload or high data access demands, which can affect performance.

Storage space reserved

Indicates amount of storage space reserved for this instance.

MB

 

Storage used

Indicates the amount of storage space used by this instance.

MB

 

Virtual core count

Indicates number of virtual cores allocated to this instance.

Number

Each virtual core represents a virtual CPU which determines the computational power available to handle the database workloads.

A high value of this measure is required since more virtual cores can handle more concurrent queries and transactions, which is essential for high-traffic applications or databases with a large number of simultaneous users.

Storage free

Indicates the amount of free storage space in this instance.

MB

 

Storage utilization

Indicates the percentage of storage space used by this instance.

Percent

 

Total storage

Indicates the amount of total storage space available in this instance.

MB