Neither DB Optimizer nor Lab 128 are enterprise monitors. Lab 128 will monitor multiple databases ( at least 10 maybe many more) and store the data in flat file that AFAIK, only readable by Lab128.

DB Optimizer only monitors 1 database at a time. It too will store the data but in an Oracle database of your choice. To monitor multiple databases you’d have to start up multiple copies of DB Optimizer. My plans at Embarcadero were to make it monitor multiple databases but I wasn’t given the resources to do this.

So, as I said above, for enterprise database monitoring, Confio seems to be the best, cheapest and most sincere company.
For a super cool fast light weight desktop tool that can monitor a dozen or more databases at once, Lab128 is awesome
If you want to do some serious performance tuning drill downs into one database and do SQL tuning, DB Optimizer is the way to go. Of the tools DB Optimizer is the only one to have power SQL tuning features. It’s the only tool in the industry with the Visual SQL Tuning (VST) diagrams.

- Kyle

nice collection here!

I have a question, after some investigation, I found that Foglight offers a lot, but it seems too expensive with its “per host * cores” licensing model, and also the comment by Sean McCown about Foglight not crossing the finish line makes no good feelings about this tool.

I like the approach of Lab128 better, to pay one license and have a multi-database (real-time-only?) monitor. It seems that Lab128 doesn’t store the performance data.

How is it with DB Optimizer? AFAIU, it stores the data in the database itself, it is able to help with Tuning as well. Is this also a multi-database solution, so I would need 1 license for me and I am able to monitor all my databases (like 50 or 100 Oracle instances)? Unfortunately, the sales office in Germany was not able to answer this simple question ;)

Regards,
Gerrit

For Performance tools:
Free AshViewer, ASHmon/SASH
For pay for tools cross database platform tuning (Ora,SQLS, DB2, Syb) : DB Optimizer
For low end Oracle multi-database performance monitoring, and it’s fast: LAB128
For enterprise monitoring there is Confio and Quest
(or OEM for Oracle only and yes I know they “have” a SQL Server plugin)

For admin tools (with minimal performance monitoring)
Free Mumbai, MyOra, SQL Developer, tora
Pay for : Toad

I’d love to hear what others have experienced.

If not, I would implement the same with Oracle Grid Control :)

– Kirill

– Kirill Loifman, dadbm.com

Some of these tools are in the list some are not. For these tools could you give any feedback on why they are good, different or what you like in them?
MoreVRP has some good visualizations but lacks an overarching performance approach as in OEM, DB Optimizer or Performance Analyzer from Quest. You mention Perf Anal from Quest and it is already in the list. It’s a neat tool with the main drawback being it requires binaries for the target databases, and Quest seems to have taken much of the info off the web. Maybe they have rolled Perf Anal into Foglight? For Insider from fourthelephant it’s also already on the page above, but frankly I don’t see it as adding anything in the market place. It seems to be a Quest Spotlight rip off and the Spotlight approach, though good 10 years ago, is now outdated and the efficient approach is more visualization of system load as in OEM 10g, and as Quest has done in Perf Anal. DB Artisan from Embarcadero is a DBA tool. The Embarcadero performance tool is DB Optimizer which is already on the list above.
Autofocus looks interesting but didn’t see enough on their web site to see what differentiators it may have. For Teamquest I couldn’t get enough info form the web site either. Any info you have would be appreciated.
Thanks for adding to the list!