Introduction to Database Dynamic Applications

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This section defines Database Dynamic Applications and explains what you can monitor with Database Dynamic Applications.

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Prerequisites

This section does not describe elements of Dynamic Application development that are common to all Dynamic Application types. Before reading this manual, you should be familiar with the common elements and concepts of Dynamic Applications. For details on the common elements of Dynamic Applications, see the general section on Dynamic Application Development.

You should be familiar with the query language used by your database before developing a database Dynamic Application. You must also be familiar with the database schema and the data you want to monitor before developing a database Dynamic Application. For help with these tasks, see your database administrator.

What is a Database Dynamic Application?

Dynamic Applications come in two broad categories, called archetypes:

  • Dynamic Applications of archetype Performance. These Dynamic Applications retrieve trendable (that is, data that can be graphed) performance data from devices or applications. Only this archetype includes the Presentations tab for defining custom reports. After data has been collected, these reports can be displayed in the Device Management > Performance tab.
  • Dynamic Applications of archetype Configuration. These Dynamic Applications retrieve configuration data from devices or applications. Data from this archetype can be automatically linked to fields in asset records and can also be displayed in Hardware Profile reports and the Software Found page. SL1 can automatically monitor one or more data points from this archetype for changes. If the value of the data point changes, SL1 can automatically trigger an event.

NOTE: SL1 also includes Dynamic Applications of archetype Journal. The Journal archetype is available only when using the Snippet protocol. These Dynamic Applications use custom-written Python code to retrieve data from devices or applications. SL1 will display the collected data in log format. Each log entry can contain multiple collected values and can change over time.

These archetypes contain the following types of Dynamic Applications for databases:

  • Database Configuration. The Dynamic Application retrieves configuration data from a database on a managed device. The Dynamic Application includes SQL queries to retrieve data. SL1 executes these queries against a database on each subscriber device. SL1 displays the returned data in configuration tables for each subscriber devices. 
  • Database Performance. The Dynamic Application retrieves trendable performance data from a database on a managed device. The Dynamic Application includes SQL queries to retrieve data. SL1 executes these queries against a database on each subscriber device. SL1 displays the returned data in graphs in the Performance tab for each subscriber device.

SL1 also includes Dynamic Applications for the following protocols: SNMP, SOAP, Snippet (Python), WMI, XML, and XSLT. For an overview of all types of Dynamic Applications see the general section on Dynamic Application Development. For details on each protocol, see the manual on that specific protocol (for example, for SNMP, see the the section on SNMP Dynamic Application Development).

How Do I Allow SL1 to Access the Database?

For SL1 to successfully send queries to an external database:

  • SL1 must have permission to connect to the device that is hosting the database. You might have to perform some configuration tasks on the device or on your firewalls to allow SL1 access.
  • If you want SL1 to query an external database, you must configure the appropriate security parameters on the database to give SL1 access to the database.
  • SL1 must use a valid database username and database password to query the database. To meet this requirement, SL1 uses credentials.

Credentials are access profiles (username and password, plus additional information) for external systems. These profiles allow SL1 to access external systems while maintaining the security of the access accounts. Users who need SL1 to retrieve data from these external systems see only the name of the credential, not the username, password, and network information.

For more details on credentials, see the section on Credentials.

What Can I Monitor with a Database Dynamic Application?

With a Database Dynamic Application, you can monitor any value that can be retrieved with a database query.

However, many Database Dynamic Applications of type Performance query only performance data, like number of reads, number of writes, write time, read time, processor usage, memory usage, number of threads, and buffer cache hits.

Many Database Dynamic Applications of type Configuration query only configuration data, like buffer size, heap size, locks, and number of active users.

Can I Create My Own Database Dynamic Applications?

You can create your own Dynamic Applications to suit your environment and your needs. To create your own Dynamic Applications, you must:

  • Determine the data you want to retrieve and monitor.
  • Determine the queries you will use to retrieve that data. To write these queries, you must be familiar with the query syntax that is supported by your database, and you must be familiar with the location of data in your database.

Elements of a Dynamic Application for a Database

Database Dynamic Applications have the following elements in common with other Dynamic Application types:

  • Archetypes. Defines what type of data is being collected and how it will be displayed in SL1. Database Dynamic Applications can be either the Performance or Configuration archetypes.
  • Properties. Allows for version control, release notes, collection, and retention settings.
  • Collection Objects. Define the individual data-points that will be retrieved by the Dynamic Application. These data points are called collection objects. Collection objects define what type of data is being collected (gauge, counter, etc.) and how it is grouped. Collection objects for database Dynamic Applications differ from collection objects in other types of Dynamic Applications. For details on collection objects for database Dynamic Applications, see the section on Collection Objects.
  • Presentations. For Performance Dynamic Applications, defines how collected values will be displayed by SL1.
  • Thresholds. Can be used to define a default threshold value that can be included in alerts. The threshold also appears in the Device Threshold page for each device the Dynamic Application is aligned with.
  • Alerts. Alerts allow you to trigger an event based on the values retrieved by the Dynamic Application. If the collected data meets the conditions defined in the alert, the alert can insert a message into device logs and trigger events.
  • Credentials. Access profiles that define how Dynamic Applications will authenticate on each aligned device and application. Database Dynamic Applications use database credentials. There are multiple ways to align a credential with a Dynamic Application (during discovery, as secondary credentials for a device, or manually in the Collections page for a device). For details on how SL1 aligns credentials during discovery and how to manually edit and add new credentials to a device, see the section on Discovery and Credentials.
  • Relationships. Dynamic Applications can be configured to automatically create relationships between devices. For example, the Dynamic Applications in the VMware vSphere and NetApp PowerPacks are configured to create relationships between VMware Datastore component devices and their associated NetApp Volume component devices. Relationships created by Dynamic Applications are used and visualized by the platform in the same manner as relationships created by topology collection, Dynamic Component Mapping, and manually in the user interface. The settings for configuring the creation of relationships in a configuration Database Dynamic Application are the same as the relationship settings for other Dynamic Application protocols.