Default SQL Options control sampling behavior used by Mini DBA when it queries monitored database servers. These settings affect monitoring overhead, freshness of data, and retry behavior.
Fields
- Sample Query Timeout (Seconds): how long a monitoring query can run before timing out.
- Sample Interval (Seconds): how often the engine samples database metrics.
- Retry Connection After (Minutes): how long the engine waits before retrying a failed connection.
- Default ExEvent Slow Threshold (Ms): default slow-event threshold for extended-event style capture where supported.
Choosing Values
Shorter sample intervals provide fresher data but increase monitoring work. Longer query timeouts can help in slow environments but may leave collection tasks waiting longer. Start conservatively, then tune based on the size of the estate and the cost of the monitoring queries.
Workflow
- Open Settings.
- Select Default SQL Options.
- Adjust the timing values.
- Save.
- Watch platform pages such as SQL Server activity and SQL Server queries to confirm data freshness.
Sampling Guidance
Default SQL Options affect the balance between freshness and overhead. Short sampling intervals make dashboards feel more current but increase the amount of monitoring work performed by the engine and monitored databases. Longer intervals reduce overhead but may miss short incidents or make troubleshooting feel stale.
Start with conservative values for large estates or slow networks. If users need more current activity data, reduce intervals gradually and watch Service Log for timeouts or collection pressure. If monitoring queries time out, increasing the timeout may help, but it can also leave collection tasks waiting longer during a database incident.
Different platforms may tolerate different sampling patterns. SQL Server, Azure SQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, and Oracle expose different views and costs, so tune defaults in line with the most constrained systems in the estate.
Default SQL Options FAQ
Will shorter intervals improve performance?
No. Shorter intervals improve monitoring freshness but can increase monitoring overhead.
Should I raise query timeouts when a database is slow?
Only if missing data is more harmful than waiting longer. Timeouts can also protect the engine during incidents.
What should I check after changing values?
Check data freshness, service logs, monitored server load, and whether collection errors increase.