SQL Server Agent Alerts

Brent's brilliant and FREE sp_Blitz script and Windows App are useful tools to point out any weaknesses in our SQL Server instances.

http://www.brentozar.com/blitz/

Brent's sp_Blitz script or his nifty Windows App will not only point out these weaknesses in configuration but also suggest how to remedy them too.

SQL Server Alerts:

Part of the sp_Blitz script will check to see if we have any SQL Server Alerts set up. In order to strengthen our DBA armoury as Brent Ozar quite rightly advises is to set up some free SQL Server Agent Alerts:

Set-up:

1. Create an Operator using SQL Server Management Studio http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms175962(v=sql.105).aspx
2. Run Brent's SQL Server Alerts Scripts http://www.brentozar.com/blitz/configure-sql-server-alerts/

You can also add your own alerts to the script if they exist below severity level 16. The following script shows you a list of messages that can also be included in the script. For example you could use the 'message_id' 833 to alert you of I/O latency occurrences which have a severity of 10.

SELECT message_id, severity, text
 FROM sys.messages
 WHERE language_id = 1033;
(assumes US English)