dbWatch vs Quest Spotlight

dbWatch Control Center monitors, manages, reports on and maintains database environments from one interface. It includes more than 100 monitoring jobs and provides real-time and historical performance information. Teams can automate maintenance routines and schedule customizable reports. Supported database instances listed for licensing include Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Sybase ASE and MongoDB. The product also supports query profiling, wait and lock analysis, and execution plans. Deployment is hybrid: supported environments include on-premises and off-premises systems, AWS RDS, Azure and other clouds. It runs on Windows or Linux 64-bit servers, with Windows clients for its graphical interface. The maker lists SMTP and ServiceNow alerts, webhooks, scripts and CSV, JSON and XML exports. Security features include two-factor authentication, encrypted communications and DBA controls. The company says development, support and compliance processes are managed in Norway, aligned with GDPR and European privacy standards; it is headquartered in Oslo and was founded in 2001. The product is paid, with subscription pricing on request, and offers a free trial but no free plan. Licenses are per instance; a two-node failover cluster requires two licenses.

Quest Spotlight is a self-hosted database monitoring and diagnostics product for professionals managing SQL Server environments. Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise uses agentless monitoring from a centralized diagnostic server and raises alarms for performance deviations. Its tools include incident playback, health checks, workload analysis, deadlock detection, root cause analysis, query profiling, wait and lock analysis, and execution plans. SQL Optimizer integration identifies long-running queries and suboptimal code for further tuning. Users can define thresholds, create counters, and configure rule-based actions to run once or repeatedly. One screen can monitor SQL Server, Windows, and virtualization infrastructure. Supported databases listed are Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, Oracle Database, and IBM DB2; SQL Azure is specifically supported by Spotlight on SQL Server. The Diagnostic Server requires a SQL Server account with the sysadmin role, while Windows performance counters use WMI queries. Windows is a listed platform, deployment is self-hosted, and pricing is available on request. Quest offers an on-premises trial, but no duration is stated. Spotlight Cloud reached end of life on December 31, 2024.