Orion DB access from 3rd party tools

Question

I wanted to see if anyone else is doing this or know if it can be done.  We want to be able to use a 3rd party tool access (read-only) our Orion SQL Database so that it can pull data out for other reporting.  Again..it's read-only access and the data will be used for other things Orion can't do today like correlation, etc.

I've read there may be issues with DB lock if you did this but I figure with read-only access a lock would not take place.

Anyone?

BB

BryanBecker · Answer

Dan...thanks for the info.  Since I'm not DB person this does make some sense to me.  I'll take this information and send it to the 3rd party folks and see if they can tell use what they use and we can make a call one way or the other.  So if I read this right then Read Uncommitted would be the safest way to go?

It's good to know some other customers are doing this too.  Do you have contacts that use a product called "Netuitive"?  That's what we are looking at.

Thanks.

BB

FYI...we can take this offline if needed....just email me.

Dan.Wendeln · Answer

Bryan,

Both answers in essence are corect. What it really boils down to is the type of READ that the third party app utilizes. There are several types of READs that can be done based on the isolation level used. It is the isolation level that will determine how restrive the READ is and the effect it may have on other processes accessing the same information. Here is a breakdown of the possible READs;

READ UNCOMMITTED - No locks will be issued but you could get uncommited data. Also called a 'Dirty Read'

READ COMMITTED - Shared locks are used to help ensure only commited data is returned. This is the default type of READ.

REPEATABLE READ - Locks will be used in this type of READ.

SERIALIZABLE - Locks will be used. This is the most restrictive type of READ for other processes that may be attempting to access the same data..

I realize this may not be the definiteve answer you are looking for, but there are other variables here that keep us from saying 'yes it will' or 'no it wont'. What I can say is that we do have a number of customers that mine data out of their Orion DB's on a regular basis without issue.

Cheers,

BryanBecker · Answer

I opened a support ticket and here is what they said :

"Bryan

what third party tool are you refereing to.If it is read only access then it should not lock the database"

Now I collegue of mine opened a ticket last week I think on this and got this answer :

"Thank you for contacting SolarWinds. We have never tested against this software, so we cannot say how it will interact with our product. If it is using SQL connections to view the data in the database, then it is possible that it can cause locks in the database, which would lead to loss of data, gaps in charts, and services stopping as they cannot connect to the database. At that point, there would be nothing we could do except have you remove that software."

So I've got 2 different answers from support.  I can't fork over money for this new product unless I get a pretty concrete answer one way or the other.  Does anyone at SW know what do to do here?

Thanks.

BB