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Monitoring DatabasesLocate this document in the navigation structure

Context

To recognize problems early and avoid disruptions to your production system, we recommend that you continuously monitor your database.

Procedure

  • Automatic Problem Notification

    To receive automatic notifications of critical database states, you can use database events.

    More information: Glossary, Event

  • Monitoring Free Space in the Data Area

    If the data area is full, the database system stops all running transactions. This means that the database is unavailable for users. To avoid this, regularly check whether there is sufficient free space in the data area.

    More information:

  • Monitoring Free Space in the Log Area

    If the log area is full, the database system cannot write any further redo log entries to the log area and stops all running transactions. This means that the database is unavailable for users. To avoid this, regularly check whether there is sufficient free space in the log area.

    More information:

  • Monitoring the Hit Rate for Access to the Caches

    The hit rate is calculated as the following ratio:

    The performance of the database system is best if the database system can retrieve as much information as possible from the caches (high hit rate), since access to the hard discs is considerably slower than access to the working memory.

    More information:

  • Monitoring Backups

    Backups can fail for various reasons.

    Example

    When you created the backup template, you specified the directory the backup file is to be written to. At the time of the backup, though, that directory no longer exists and the backup therefore fails.

    The backup history displays which backups have been carried out and whether they were successful. Check the backup history regularly, in particular if you use the automatic log backup function or have automated the backup process using scripts.

    Regularly check whether your backups are intact.

    More information:

  • Monitoring Database Activities

    Monitor the following database activities:

    • I/O activity

    • Locking activity

    • Logging activity

    More information:

  • Monitoring the Number of Database Sessions

    If the maximum number of database sessions has been reached, no further users can log on to the database. For this reason, monitor the number of database sessions.

    More information:

  • Monitoring Security-Relevant Activities

    More information:

    SAP MaxDB Security Guide, Checking Log Files for Failed Logon Attempts

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