What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Foglight for Databases is for troubleshooting. We have solved many troubleshooting and performance issues with Foglight in our Oracle production databases. When an application becomes slow, I use it to examine the database workload, resource utilizations, wait events, expensive SQL statements, and blocking sessions until the affected period. This helps narrow down whether the slowdown or performance impact is related to SQL executions, lockings, CPU pressures, or IOs. After addressing the main cause of the problem, I compare the performance before and after the change to confirm the improvement. Historical monitoring is particularly useful for investigating incidents reported after they have occurred.
I faced a problem at the end of last month, specifically from September month end, when a huge batch load was running. During this time, I faced production issues and used Foglight for Databases for the investigation and identification of the problems.
I am also planning to use Foglight for Databases for AI implementations using either an integration with APEX or an integration with any of the monitoring tools because that is where we are planning to pitch in next quarter. I use this project for routine database health check monitors, monitoring, and investigating slowdowns, which are very common in our case, and also for performance alerts. I review the resource utilizations, wait events, expensive SQL statements, and all. This is a very common investigation approach that we follow, and I am planning to integrate AI with Foglight for Databases so that all these things can be taken care of automatically rather than us pitching into the same issues again.
How has it helped my organization?
Foglight for Databases has positively impacted my organization by providing improved monitoring and quicker troubleshooting, especially during mission-critical issues. Foglight for Databases has helped us significantly in investigating and troubleshooting problems quickly, rather than following the traditional manual approach.
What is most valuable?
The best features that Foglight for Databases offers, which I value most, are the SQL workload analysis and historical performance monitoring. They help me identify the resource-intensive SQL and investigate what was happening during a reported slowdown, while wait events analysis and blocking sessions visibility also help narrow down the cause very quickly. Having this information in one console makes troubleshooting much easier and supports proactive database monitoring. Considering this as my base, I am planning to integrate this with AI either on the cloud or on-premises.
Foglight for Databases does provide real-time activity data, and we have faced scenarios in our environment where this has been beneficial. When Foglight for Databases is deployed in our Azure public cloud environments, we use it to centrally monitor database health, performance, and availability, including our Azure SQL Database for Oracle instances.
I do use Foglight for Databases's UI to proactively alert me of long-running queries, and this affects my database operations positively. It helps identify what action can be taken on those respective queries, especially at month-end when we run into performance issues. Our database runs on AWS RDS, and Foglight for Databases significantly aids in proactive monitoring during this period.
Foglight for Databases enables drill-down from database alerts into relevant performance details such as resource usage, wait events, active sessions, and SQL activity. This helps narrow down the cause and makes troubleshooting more focused. For example, when investigating a slow Oracle application response time, I check if the slowdown coincides with CPU pressure, blocking sessions, or resource-intensive SQL statements. I examine the relevant SQLs and validate their execution plans before deciding on corrective actions. This reduces manual investigations, helps identify the right team to involve, and supports quicker incident resolutions with clear evidence.
Foglight for Databases supports monitoring multiple database platforms through a central console in our environment. We use it for Oracle, Amazon RDS for Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and many more. Having a common view of database health, alerts, and performance makes daily monitoring easier and helps prioritize incidents across systems. If an application slows down, we can compare the underlying databases and investigate affected instances, which helps coordinate troubleshooting across teams and reduces the time spent switching between separate monitoring tools.
I consider rapid diagnosis one of Foglight for Databases's most valuable capabilities. Bringing alerts and performance details together helps narrow down whether an emerging issue involves an expensive SQL, blocking sessions, resource pressures, or unusual workload activities, which provides the DBA a clear starting point for corrective actions. This feature is very important for me since a slowdown in business-critical databases can quickly affect users and service commitments. Earlier detections and focused investigations help reduce troubleshooting time and prioritize issues before escalating. Foglight for Databases supports investigation, while the DBA validates the cause, applies an approved fix, and checks that performance has recovered.
I regard Foglight for Databases's broader monitoring capabilities as valuable because database performance is closely connected to the underlying infrastructures where monitoring components are configured. Visibilities into databases, operating systems, and cloud resources help put alerts into context. For example, when an Oracle database slows down, correlating its wait with CPU, memory, and disk activities helps distinguish between SQL problems and infrastructure bottlenecks, making investigations more focused and involving the right support team. The main benefit is better insights into how different layers affect each other.
What needs improvement?
As everyone is slowly shifting towards AI, the most important feature that we are planning is integrating with the current ongoing processes, along with addressing some repetitive issues. We are also planning to integrate AI with the repeated problems to come up with some solutions, but we have not found any solution for that yet. If we can integrate AI, that is my only suggestion; the rest are all good. So far, it is good. I do not have any additional improvements required beyond the AI, which I have already mentioned.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Foglight for Databases for the last 10 plus years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Foglight for Databases is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability is good, and we are happy with it. As demand increases, it helps us with auto-scaling features as well.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support for Foglight for Databases is very quick, and we are very satisfied with it. They resolve issues efficiently and also provide proper explanations for problems along with permanent solutions. I would rate customer support as nine out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Foglight for Databases, we used Oracle Enterprise Manager for monitoring in conjunction with SQL scripts and manual database checks. The reason for adopting Foglight for Databases was to achieve more centralized visibility across database platforms and simplify performance investigations. We still use Oracle Enterprise Manager, but we find Foglight for Databases to be much better since Oracle Enterprise Manager is useful only for Oracle-specific administrations while Foglight for Databases provides a common monitoring view for wider environments.
What was our ROI?
Foglight for Databases has helped us a lot in monitoring and performance, but I have not measured a formal financial return. I cannot provide verified figures for money saved or reduced staffing. The operational value I emphasize is more focused troubleshooting and less manual work collecting performance information from separate sources. To quantify the value, I would track average incident diagnosis times, mean time to resolutions, and hours spent on routine monitoring before and after adoption, describing the staffing benefit as freeing DBA time to other priorities rather than claiming fewer employees are needed.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We purchased Foglight for Databases from the Azure Marketplace. Regarding the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Foglight for Databases, we implemented a project called Project Latte. My involvement was mainly in database operations rather than purchasing, so I cannot provide exact pricing or licensing figures. From an operational perspective, setting up efforts include configuring monitoring connections, permissions, and agents where required. I assess the overall value against database coverage we need, ongoing administration efforts, and the troubleshooting time saved. Clear license terms and visibilities into the cost of expanding coverage are quite important for us, although I do not deep dive personally as a DBA.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have not evaluated other options because we are very specific to Foglight for Databases.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Foglight for Databases as ten out of ten. I choose ten out of ten because it has helped us save a lot of time in doing manual investigations and initial troubleshooting, which has been efficiently handled by Foglight for Databases. Considering the time, it has really helped a lot, along with the reports and the way it works, which is really appreciable.
Regarding Foglight for Databases's AI capabilities, I am cautiously positive about its governance and security from a DBA perspective. Quest documents show that encrypted communications and authenticated access are not used to train AI models, which are reassuring controls when working with database diagnostics. However, I would verify exactly what SQL text schemas and monitoring data leave our environment. Processing takes place in the US Azure regions, with AWS retention exceptions, optional feedback, and use detections in place. Data residencies and sensitive information are crucial, and I would use these AI insights to support DBA operations, following change approval procedures before production changes. Clear visibilities into data sharing, retentions, and administrative controls strengthen my confidence.
I see Foglight for Databases's AI output as a useful starting point for investigating database issues, although its value depends on whether the explanation matches the monitoring evidence and context of the problem. For Oracle troubleshooting, I validate its conclusions against the wait events, SQL execution plans, session activities, and relevant AWR or ASH data. Complex issues involving RAC, application behavior, or multiple simultaneous bottlenecks still require a DBA's judgment, and my confidence increases when the output clearly shows supporting matrices, explains its reasoning, and acknowledges uncertainty. I review and test any tuning recommendations before applying them in production.
We use Foglight for Databases to monitor the databases hosted on AWS, including Amazon RDS for Oracle. Foglight for Databases itself is deployed across all our different areas; we use it on AWS, Azure, and on-premises servers. It actually depends on the project and environment. We predominantly use Azure and very rarely use AWS.
My advice to others looking into using Foglight for Databases is to start with a proof of concept using representative databases, and I do recommend them to use Foglight for Databases. I have given Foglight for Databases an overall review rating of ten out of ten.