Naturally, it's VERY important to know when things are going wrong with our monitored instances. What's not helpful is the dreaded "False Positive." You know the scenario I'm about to describe. It's 03:00 and you're sleeping soundly and dreaming of the yacht you'll be sailing during your retirement. Suddenly, you're awakened by an alert that your instances are unavailable! During your fight for consciousness you start to panic and begin your diagnostics efforts only to discover that the instances ARE supposed to be down due to scheduled maintenance. Good luck getting back to sleep now!
While we could debate whether the dream or your response to the alarm is accurate, I'm sure you understand the point I'm trying to make. There's no reason for me to be alerted during maintenance cycles when I know the instances are going to be unavailable.
<Insert fanfare here> Introducing, Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise's Planned Outage!
<Pauses for cheers>
WHAT:
Planned Outage is a feature within Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise that allows you to schedule when Spotlight should stop collecting data. As a result, Spotlight will not generate alarms except for a notification that the instance is in its planned outage schedule:
HOW:
1. Navigate to the Configure->Planned Outage menu:
2. Click the Add button:
3. Create your schedule:
That's it! To learn more about Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise and to download a trial, please visit the product page
