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Microsoft SQL Server monitoring

ClusterEye monitors SQL Server instances through an agent on the host. It connects with an account that never needs sysadmin (VIEW SERVER STATE plus VIEW ANY DEFINITION) and collects query performance, wait statistics, deadlocks and Always On availability group health from DMVs and Query Store. Both SQL Server and Windows authentication are supported. Versions: 2014 — 2022.

Agent-basedDefault port: 1433Versions: 2014 — 2022
Microsoft SQL Server — ClusterEye Performance Analyzer

What we read

sys.dm_exec_* — running requests, sessions, query stats and the plan cache
Query Store views — query and plan history, plan regression, plan comparison
sys.dm_os_wait_stats and dm_os_* — wait statistics, memory and scheduler pressure
sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats and the missing index DMVs — index usage and advice
sys.dm_hadr_* — Always On availability group state, synchronisation and failover readiness
Extended Events (dm_xe_*, .xel files) — deadlock graphs and event capture
msdb — backup history and SQL Agent job state (read-only)
sys.dm_io_virtual_file_stats — per-file read and write latency

What it does specifically for SQL Server

Deadlock & Blocking Center

Deadlock graphs are captured via Extended Events, grouped by fingerprint so recurring patterns stand out. Blocking chains are resolved to the root session, with impact duration and victim count measured.

Query Store and plan comparison

Different plans for the same query are compared side by side and regressed plans identified. Plan forcing is offered as an approval-gated action.

Index Advisor

The missing index DMVs are not surfaced raw — they become an explainable priority and confidence score, overlapping suggestions are merged, and unused indexes are flagged separately.

Database activity monitoring (DAM)

Traffic to SQL Server is captured at the network level on the database host: every statement is recorded together with who ran it, from which machine and with which application. The agent does not connect to the database for this, and creates no Extended Events session and no server-side trace — so the audit leaves no measurable load or footprint on SQL Server. It requires Windows Server 2019 or newer (Packet Monitor); on older releases an administrator-installed Npcap driver is used. Passwords and tokens are masked before anything leaves the host, and SQL text can be dropped entirely in favour of a fingerprint. The records are investigated on the same screen as Oracle Unified Auditing.

T-SQL anti-pattern scanning

Query text is scanned against a rule set: SELECT *, non-sargable predicates, implicit conversions and similar patterns are reported in the query detail view.

Minimum privileges required

The baseline is read-only and safe to grant in production.

sql
USE master;
CREATE LOGIN [clustereye] WITH PASSWORD = '<strong-password>', CHECK_POLICY = ON;
GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE   TO [clustereye];   -- dm_exec_*, dm_os_*, dm_io_*, dm_hadr_*, dm_xe_*
GRANT VIEW ANY DEFINITION TO [clustereye];   -- sys catalog, logins, AG objects, sp_configure read
GRANT VIEW ANY DATABASE   TO [clustereye];

-- msdb: backup history + SQL Agent jobs (read-only)
USE msdb;
CREATE USER [clustereye] FOR LOGIN [clustereye];
ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER [clustereye];

-- every monitored user database
USE [<db>];
CREATE USER [clustereye] FOR LOGIN [clustereye];
GRANT VIEW DATABASE STATE TO [clustereye];   -- index usage, missing index DMVs, Query Store
GRANT SHOWPLAN            TO [clustereye];   -- estimated plans

Prerequisites

·Query Store must be enabled per database for query intelligence and Compare Plans: ALTER DATABASE [<db>] SET QUERY_STORE = ON
·Dynamic port or SQL Browser (1434/udp) access if a named instance is used
·The agent never runs DBCC, never writes sp_configure, never calls xp_cmdshell (it only reads its enabled state)
Install and privilege details →

Frequently asked questions

No. VIEW SERVER STATE, VIEW ANY DEFINITION and VIEW ANY DATABASE at server scope, plus VIEW DATABASE STATE and SHOWPLAN in each monitored database. Add db_datareader in msdb for backup history. Sysadmin is only needed for xp_readerrorlog-based error log metrics, and that collector can be skipped.

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