Microsoft Risk and Health Assessment Program for SQL Server

Help to reduce business risks associated with downtime, performance bottlenecks, and the complexities of deploying and managing an enterprise-level, data management solution
SQLRAP Version 4.6

Todays IT department is challenged to deliver an enterprise data management platform that meets many needs. It must respond and scale to enhance application performance, directly support business objectives, minimize service downtime, and address security concerns. The Risk and Health Assessment Program for SQL Server (SQLRAP) can help ensure that your SQL Server environment is correctly configured and managed to meet needs. The assessment process compares existing environment and operational plans with Microsoft best practices for SQL Server. At the end of the process, you should have a clear understanding of potential risks that affect the implementation and ongoing support of your SQL Server solution. In addition, the assessment includes recommendations that provide a clear roadmap for remediating the risks so you can make informed decisions to support immediate and future business needs.

Maximize Your Microsoft Investment

Improved Cluster Networking Rules Performance Improvements for Index Test Case Improved Data Grids Experience Improved Security Check

The Risk and Health Assessment Program for SQL Server uses the Microsoft IT organizations knowledge and experience from across thousands of customers. By sharing our internal expertise, we can help you reach your ideal SQL Server performance goals. You will receive operations, configuration, and architectural recommendations aimed at improving the operational efficiency, availability, and security of your SQL Servers.

Reduce Support Costs

The Risk and Health Assessment Program for SQL Server helps expose vulnerabilities in your SQL Server infrastructure and operational processes. Diagnostics reveal the causes of problems, not just symptoms, and help you to take a proactive approach in reducing problems. Diagnostics provide help toward identifying methods for optimizing productivity before unidentified issues affect users and increase support costs.

Now includes the Risk Assessment and Diagnostic Tool (RADT) license for 18 months Deliverables Include

Key Focus Areas

This provides you with skills and techniques for implementing processes and best practices within your production and pre-production environments. The Risk and Health Assessment Program is designed around the following key focus areas:
Environmental Dependencies Replication Site Topology Hardware OS Configuration Protocols Performance OS Performance SQL Performance SQL Operations Maintenance State SQL Configuration Configuration Settings File Placement Clustering OS/Networking SQL Clustering Event Analysis SQL Error Log Event Log Security Accounts Operational Excellence Policies Roles Security Security Updates SQL Configuration SQL Architecture Database Design TSQL Coding (Cursors, Hints, Logical Expressions, Naming Conventions, Not Logic, XML) Server Properties Operational Excellence Business Continuity Change Configuration, Release Management Service Level Management Service Monitoring and Control Virtualization Hyper-V Host and Guest Configuration and Performance

Executive Summary Report Technical Findings Report Remediation Plan Report Action Planning Worksheet RADT License for 18 Months Technical Reference Document

Supported products

Microsoft SQL Server Standard and Enterprise Editions 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2008 R2

Practical Recommendations
Solutions for each risk are identified and articulated in the Key Findings report. By covering operations, configuration, and architecture, effective remediation improves efficiency in your SQL Server environment. In addition, a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation and a Microsoft Office Excel report are included to help communicate the findings and the steps for remediation.

Risk Assessment and Diagnostic Tool for SQL Server Stays With You
As part of the engagement, our engineers will teach your staff to use the Risk Assessment and Diagnostic Tool for SQL Server. This tool can be used for up to 18 months on the same instances analyzed during the original engagement and enables you to easily read, understand, and filter the data relative to the analyzed component. Documentation is also included with the accompanying technical reference and help files.

Engagement Sizing for SQL Server

The Risk and Health Assessment Program for SQL Server is sized based on how many SQL instances are assessed, and on the following criteria:
Tier Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Number of SQL Instances 1 23 45 6+ Assessment Time Onsite 3 days 4 days 5 days Custom Remediation Planning Time Onsite 1 day 1 day 1 day 1 or 2 days

The Risk and Health Assessment Program includes a detailed issues inventory with reported history and resolution status related to your SQL Server components. There is also a comprehensive dashboard with statistics from your environment and rankings against the average set of customers.

Sizing and requirements can be automatically checked and validated using the SQLRAP Scoping Tool available at http://www.microsoft.com/
downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=7edc8686-89f6-4076-bff4dba53c7639e7.
All analyzed SQL Server instances must be within the same forest and must be online and accessible during the assessment to ensure accurate results.

Assessment and Remediation Planning

New with this release is an additional onsite day for Remediation Planning. This results in a detailed remediation plan aligned to business drivers and priorities. The planning session includes your key business decision makers, our technical resource, and your Technical Account Manager (TAM), to review the results and make recommendations to resolve issues and mitigate risks.

Engagement Without Business Interference

The tools and processes in the Risk and Health Assessment Program for SQL Server are designed to minimize any impact on your business. To support an effective engagement, the following is required:

High-end workstation or server-class computer Full administrative-level access to all assessed SQL Server instances High-end workstation or server-class computer Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 Full RPC access to all in-scope SQL servers English version of the operating system English locale in the regional settings Conference room with a projector

For more information Please visit the Premier Support Web site at www.microsoft.com/ premier or contact your Microsoft Services representative.

www.facebook.com/MicrosoftRAPs

The Risk Assessment and Diagnostic Tool for SQL Server provides valuable information about the services Microsoft can provide to assist with resolving complex risks and issues discovered during the assessment phase of your engagement.

This datasheet was last updated February, 2012. To ensure you have the latest version of this datasheet check here:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/C/1/1C15BA51-840E-498D86C6-4BD35D33C79E/Datasheet_SQLRAP.pdf

2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This data sheet is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, SQL Server, Windows, PowerPoint, Excel, Visio, and Visual Studio are registered trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.