SQL Inventory Manager

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DBA teams often have plenty of work on their plate and want to find ways to easily maintain and up-date their SQL Server database environment. They need to quickly identify the location of all SQL Servers in the environment, both physical and virtual, and be notified which ones are behind on patch level, need to be backed up, or are currently down and need attention.

DBAs and their managers often need to view the internal inventory by size to manage SQL Server capacity levels for chargebacks to business groups. They also need a way to track server growth for future capacity needs and reallocation of server resources for different applications or user groups.

DBA and IT Managers want peace of mind that their team can find any databases or servers that aren’t up to the latest specs and avoid any risk of data breaches due to back-level patches. They are on the hook to generate reports demonstrating that the SQL Server environment is up to date and current on licensing to avoid any unnecessary or excessive costs.

View your SQL Server inventory – know what you have where and who owns it
Auto-discover any new servers installed to better manage server sprawl
Create tags and custom fields to organize servers and databases across the enterprise
Perform health checks to monitor server operation and capacity
Collect and manage server environment details with the web-based agentless UI

Discover all SQL Servers Across the Enterprise

Scan the network to find all your SQL Servers and databases including databases on AlwaysOn Availability Groups. Scan by domain, IP address ranges, and/or import your own server lists from excel or CSV files. Flexibly schedule discoveries to locate newly added servers daily, by specific days of the week &/or at particular times of day. Create an inventory report for all managed, unmanaged, and decommissioned instances within the SQL Server environment. In addition users can discover BI services (SSRS, SSIS, SSAS) running in their environment.

Get Complete Visibility

See all those servers lurking that you may not have known existed, as well as deployed databases, whether hosted on a physical or virtual server. Users can manually add or set auto-registration to add discovered instances to SIM for monitoring and get recommendations to bring the instances up to maintenance. Capture the SQL licensing details for each instance, including core license calculations, in a consolidated report to address licensing audits.

Monitor and Manage Inventory

Go beyond Microsoft’s Assessment and Planning (MAP) toolkit for SQL Server inventory tracking. Automatic discovery and a Global Dashboard provide high-level visibility of all server inventory. Learn what you have, which servers are improperly configured and what actions might need to be taken for instances competing for memory and resources. Also compare your current SQL Server builds with the latest build from Microsoft to determine if you have the latest patches or versions and protect your environment from potential data breaches.

Establish Tags to Categorize Inventory

Create tags at the server, instance and database levels to organize by owner, location, function or other categories to suit different needs. You can even mark servers as “unmanaged” to revisit for follow-up later. A tag cloud displays on the Dashboard that groups the tags created to quickly visualize the size of those groups comparatively by prominence or importance.

Run Health Checks and Receive Availability Alerts

Perform regular health checks on monitored servers to gauge adherence to configuration best practices. Receive email alerts for key server indicators such as when servers are down, whether a database has ever been backed up or early warning when you are about to run out of space. Generate a customizable health check report to consolidate all active health check findings. Plus view the findings in a simple list with recommendations for improvement from SQL Server experts.

Deploy Quickly and Scale Out as Needed

The agentless, low impact design offers download, install, and use in under 5 minutes with no other modules or installation necessary on monitored servers. A stand-alone web application with no need for IIS provides a simple sign on to login and use remotely from anywhere. Plus it is designed to scale up as you grow, capable of monitoring and managing up to 1000 SQL instances and 40000 databases.

Inventory Management

Server and Database Views and Topology

The Dashboard View provides high-level visibility of all inventory. Filter down on individual servers and databases to get insights on what they are being used for and what resources are being utilized. Create custom inventory fields or labels at the server, instance or database level to further categorize assets such as owners to call if that server goes down. Then easily export the list to PDF, Excel, or XML format if desired. Some examples of information captured include:

Top databases by growth
Databases with the most activity (transactions)
Number of instances owned by a particular group or department
Total number of databases by data size or log size
Amount of space utilized by development vs. production
Applications running on an instance

Instance Views and Topology

See detailed information on a SQL instance such as SQL Server version, memory, number of databases, data size or log size. View configuration settings of the hosted server hardware such as OS version, hard disk size or if the server is physical or virtual. Plus, view the other instances hosted on that server to see how these instances might be competing for memory and resources.

Tags & Annotation

Create tags to organize SQL Servers by owner, location, function or other categories to suit different needs. You can also set tags at the instance and database level for further filtering and exploration. A tag cloud on the Dashboard groups the tags created to quickly visualize the size of those groups comparatively by prominence or importance.

Drill Down Into Tag Details

Drill down into any given tag to see more details on the most common groups in your environment. You can also see a list of the instances contained in a tagged group and drill down to view more information such as configuration settings, number of databases or OS versions, and more to better manage the SQL Server environment.

Graphical Inventory Explorer

The graphical Explorer displays the different server and database groups from the tags created into a visual pie chart. Compare, filter and navigate across different groups to better understand your whole environment. Slice and dice the filters to get a better sense of the inventory you have, who owns the servers or databases and where they reside. Some examples of information to see from these filters include:

Locations with the largest number of servers or databases
Servers with the most business critical databases
Server or database groups with the most activity in transactions

SQL Server License Tracking

View a list of SQL Servers Builds, Versions and Editions to ensure adherence to Microsoft licensing compliance. See all SQL Servers, which versions they are running, the number of instances they host and how many CPUs and cores they contain. You can also export this list or create a report, and give the information to your internal licensing team to take action for upgrade or consolidation as needed. An additional view of SQL Server Licensing by Physical Server gives organizations with Software Assurance from Microsoft a way to view license count by the physical servers.

Server & Database Decommissioning

Mark any instances and databases taken offline to a Decommissioned list to prevent erroneous alerting. Those servers will preserve asset and tagging information to view the data and in the event you need to re-commission later.

Discovery & Monitoring

Server Discovery Methods

Specify the discovery methods you wish to use to scan the network for servers and SQL instances via domains, IP address ranges, both standard and custom TCP ports &/or imported server lists from Excel or CSV files. Discovery collection criteria are like that of Microsoft’s Assessment and Planning (MAP) toolkit including SQL Server Resolution Service, WMI, TCP Probe, Service Control Manager and Windows Registry.

Monitor Everything

Monitor and manage up to 1000 SQL instances and 40000 monitored databases across the spectrum of SQL editions including SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008, 2008R2, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, and SQL Express. You can also monitor database instances on AlwaysOn Availability Groups and add instances on cloud virtual machines (such as Microsoft Azure VM and AWS EC2).

Schedule Auto-scans

Run recurring automatic scans to find newly added servers which you did not know about. Flexible scheduling options are available for both browser service and computer scans which can be set to recur daily or on particular days of the week including time of day. Set defaults to automatically register all newly added instances discovered for immediate monitoring or set filters for particular SQL Server editions.

Expedite Discovery

Specify a series of alternate login credentials with appropriate privileges to use during the discovery process in case the original credentials are not valid to expedite the discovery process and remove limitations of domain admin credential only.

Alerting & Healty Checks

Top Alerts

Alert notifications are generated automatically in-product and can be sent via email covering a variety of server indicators as needed. Indicator notifications include:

SQL Server instance down
SQL Server instance slow to respond
Database down
Drive at risk of becoming full
Database at risk of becoming full

Health Checks

View daily health checks of the server environment to gauge adherence to best practices. If a SQL Server is operating with poor configuration practices, see a list of detailed results with actionable recommendations for improvement from SQL Server experts in easy to understand language. Some examples of misconfigurations and poor practices might include:

Databases not being backed up
Integrity checks not being run regularly
Database autoshrink enabled
Insecure xp-cmd-shell functionality enabled

Users can set threshold values at risk warning alerts for databases volume, Data, and Data logs.

Help Tips

Built-in Tips are provided, which are context sensitive, to assist in interpreting the information exposed and remove any guesswork. Explanations provided are straightforward and free of “jargon” so users don’t have to be an expert to interpret what to do next to speed up server management tasks.

Enterprise Manangement

Web-based, Agentless, Low Impact Design

Download, install and use SQL Inventory Manager in under 5 minutes. As a stand-alone web application, there is no need for IIS and users can sign on and use it remotely from anywhere. Discover servers automatically with no other modules, plug-ins or professional services needed to get started. SQL Inventory Manager is agentless so there is no need to install anything on monitored servers.

Scalable for Future Growth

SQL Inventory Manager is designed to support the entire SQL environment with thousands of monitored databases. Users can discover and manage Development, QA, Production and even SQL Express instances and manually add or remove instances and databases on the fly as needed. There is no need to know exactly how many SQL Servers you have, simply buy by groups of servers and move up to the next band group as your environment grows.

Integration with IDERA Dashboard

Access a consolidated dashboard console to quickly view and navigate between SQL Inventory Manager and the other products you may use from IDERA. SQL Inventory Manager will show key indicators in the dashboard view including:

Top Databases by Size
Top Databases by Activity
Tags cloud
SQL Server Licensing Info

Reporting

Utilize a pre-defined set of server inventory reports grouped and sorted for different purposes, such as OS patch version or application usage. View inventory reports grouped by server attributes and annotations and export and print as needed. Generate customizable reports to compile information about the SQL Server environment, including SQL licensing, inventory summary, chargebacks, and health checks.

Additionally, view a list of SQL Servers to meet Microsoft licensing compliance. See a list of all SQL Servers, which versions they are running, the number of instances they host, and core license calculations. You can also export this list and give it to your internal licensing team to take action for upgrade or consolidation as needed.

Role-based Security

Specify different levels of user access including administrator, modify only and read-only. View a list of users and security profiles at the database and instance levels to determine the types of users that have privileges. Plus establish a series of either domain-only permissions or a list of alternate login credentials with appropriate privileges to use during the discovery process to limit exposure to unauthorized users.

System Requirements

Services

Windows OS:
- Windows 8, Windows 10
- Windows 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016
Linux OS:
- Red Hat Enterprise 7.3 or higher
- SUSE Enterprise v12 SP2 or higher
- Ubuntu 16.04LTS and 16.10 or higher
Microsoft .Net Framework: 4.6.2 recommended, 4.5 minimum
MDAC 6.0 or later

Repository

SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2014, SQL Server 2016
SQL Server 2017-Windows (with IDERA Dashboard v3.8+)

Monitored SQL Servers

SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005 SP1+, SQL Server 2008 SP1, SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2014, SQL Server 2016
SQL Server 2017 on Windows and Linux

Cloud

Monitor and manage Microsoft SQL Server instances on cloud virtual machines (such as Microsoft Azure VM and AWS EC2).

Browser Requirements

Internet Explorer IE 11.x+, Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari

Version History

Version 2.5

Ability to install SQL Inventory Manager Repository on SQL Server 2017 for Windows
Ability to monitor SQL Server 2017 on Windows and Linux
Provides additional views to see an organization’s SQL Server inventory through Host (physical, virtual, cloud) topology
- Organizations that have Physical Host Licensing with Software
- Assurances can now see core license counts by physical host servers
- Explorer view provides host information for all registered SQL Servers whether they are located on a physical or virtual host or the cloud
MS SQL Licensing View and Licensing View by Hosts have been updated to reflect the latest Microsoft Core License Calculations for SQL Server 2016 and above
Enhanced security standards with support for TLS 1.2
Bug fixes and enhancements

Version 2.4

Customized Reporting – Generate customizable reports to compile information about the SQL Server environment, including SQL licensing, inventory summary, chargeback, and health checks.
Profile Visibility – View a list of users and security profiles at the database and instance levels to determine the types of users that have privileges.
Repository Failover – Install, configure, and failover the repository to an Availability Group.
Performance and usability improvements.

Version 2.3

Discovery of BI Services – Discover SQL BI services (SSRS, SSIS, SSAS) that are not running on DB Engine.
Support for AlwaysOn Availability Groups – Discover and monitor database instances on AlwaysOn Availability Groups.
Patch and Version List – Ability to compare builds for servers that are in your inventory vs what is the latest patch from MS for that version.
Enhancements to Discovery – Add new Discovery options such as Include/Exclude Domains and Organizational Unit.
Configure Health Checks – Set threshold values at risk warning alerts for the database Volume, Data and Data Logs.
Improved Import Capability – Ability to import additional data such as locations, owners, database tags for database instances that user wants to monitor.
Enhancements with IDERA Dashboard – Ability to promote tags to IDERA Dashboard to be used by other IDERA products.
Bug fixes and enhancements

Version 2.2

Number of cores and core factor information added to MS licensing view
Ability to configure default values of health check settings
Support for SQL Server 2016
Performance improvements to optimize for larger environments

Version 2.0

Product name changed from SQL Elements to SQL Inventory Manager
Enhancements to Discovery
- Expands discovery collection criteria to those which Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) toolkit uses for SQL Servers.
- Specify a listing of alternate credentials with admin privileges to use during the discovery process in case the original credentials are not valid.
Enhancements to Inventory Management
- Database Level Tagging – set tags and comment on databases distinctly from the server instances they reside upon.
- Custom Inventory Fields – create custom inventory fields or labels at the server, instance &/or database level to further categorize assets.
- Server & Database Decommissioning – mark any instances and databases taken offline to prevent erroneous alerting. Those servers will preserve asset and tagging information in the event you need to re-commission later.
- View Application Information – see the applications running on an instance to understand how the server is being utilized and how often the applications are used.
- Improved Scalability – monitor and manage thousands of databases.
- Expanded Search – search by text string for specific instances or databases across the managed inventory.
Role-based Security Enhancements
- Specify different levels of user access including administrator, modify only and read-only.
Integration with Idera Dashboard
- Access a consolidated dashboard console to quickly view and navigate between the different products you use from Idera. SQL Inventory Manager will show key indicators in the dashboard view including:
  - Top Databases by Size
  - Top Databases by Activity
  - Tags cloud
  - SQL Server Licensing Info
Additional Platform Support
- Monitor and manage IaaS for Amazon RDS, SQL Azure and SQL Server 2000.

SQL Inventory Manager Datasheet

Everything you need you need to know, all in one downloadable PDF.

DOWNLOAD THE DATASHEET

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Compare SQL Inventory Tools

IDERA relentlessly delivers the industry’s most complete solution for 24×7 SQL Server performance monitoring, alerting, and diagnostics and tirelessly supports the SQL community with 100% free tools and expert advice.

Compare, side by side, the features and functionalities of some of the best SQL Server inventory tools the market has to offer. Download a free trial today!

(SQL Query Tuner is an add-on to SQL Diagnostic Manager.)

	Quest Discovery Wizard	Microsoft Assessment & Planning Toolkit
Discover all SQL Server Versions on the Network
Discover SQL BI Services
Manage Inventory using Centralized Management Dashboard
Create Users using Role-Based Security
View SQL Server Inventory with Graphical Explorer
Run Server Health Checks and learn about potential maintenance issues
Access anytime, anywhere via web-based UI
Discover and find information about databases on AlwaysOn Availability Groups
Organize Server & Database Decommissioning
Organize and Group Inventory with Tags and Custom Fields
Manage Microsoft updates to ensure servers are current and supported	Only Versions and Service Packs	Only Versions and Service Packs
Schedule Auto-Discovery of New Servers
Setup and Receive Email Alerts for Health Checks

Discover why IDERA is the Best SQL Inventory Tool

Comprehensive yet simple discovery and tracking of your SQL Server environment is essential as your organization grows. SQL Inventory Manager provides unrivaled tools to help you keep track of and manage your database environment from one web-based dashboard without having to be an expert in Microsoft SQL Server.

Basic SQL Server discovery capabilities are provided by some solutions, but with IDERA you get much more. SQL Inventory Manager provides a broad enterprise-wide view of all your SQL Servers through automated discovery as well as simple, actionable information about the state of your environment.

Unlike Quest Discovery Wizard, IDERA SQL Inventory Manager is able to discover database instances on AlwaysOn Availability Groups and SQL Server BI services as well as create tags at the server, instance and database levels to organize by owner, location, function or other categories to suit different needs.

Perform health checks on monitored servers and get a simple list with recommendations for improvement from SQL Server experts. Plus, receive automatic alerts for key server indicators such as server unavailable or server running out of space. Microsoft Assessment & Planning toolkit does not provide this level of vital information.

Download a free, full-function 14-day trial of IDERA SQL Inventory Manager and discover for yourself how it can make your life simpler, save your company time and money, and help make you a rock star DBA in your organization.

SQL Inventory Manager Product Tour

SQL Inventory Manager Dashboard : For any SQL Server deployment, it’s important to inventory your entire environment and determine which SQL Servers need oversight and maintenance. SQL Inventory Manager provides a simple, efficient way to discover, document, and maintain your SQL Server environment as the organization grows.

View summary information across the environment for health checks and recommendations, database instance details, and server and environment information. Drill down to see health checks and details for specific instances, including connected applications and custom inventory fields. Drill down even further to view key details for specific databases.

View Database Instances : SQL Inventory Manager captures key information on your databases, such as where they reside and how they are configured, so you can better manage the server inventory as the organization grows. See a list of servers that are currently managed or decommissioned, and which have been recently discovered. Organize servers by owner, location, or custom categories to suit your needs.

Manage Discovery Settings : SQL Inventory Manager helps you discover all the SQL Servers in your environment. Customize discovery settings, including the use of multiple credentials and extra validation for discovered instances. Add custom inventory fields at the database, instance, or server level. Automate discovery with scheduled scans to track future server additions.

View SQL Server Patches : Maintaining your SQL Servers with the latest patches requires a coordinated effort. Easily view the status of what patches need to be deployed to all instances of your servers and databases. Compare builds for servers that are in your inventory against the latest patch from Microsoft for that version, to determine if you have the latest patches or versions.

Explorer View : Use the Explorer View to create reportable views to see top databases by size, growth, transaction activity, etc. with drill-downs for further details as needed. Generate customizable reports to compile key information about the SQL Server environment, including SQL licensing, inventory summary, chargeback, and health checks.

Discover, Track and Manage Your SQL Server Inventory

Download SQL Inventory Manager Today!

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Overview

View your SQL Server inventory – know what you have where and who owns it
Auto-discover any new servers installed to better manage server sprawl
Create tags and custom fields to organize servers and databases across the enterprise
Perform health checks to monitor server operation and capacity
Collect and manage server environment details with the web-based agentless UI