Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise has a great feature titled “Custom Counters” that allows you to incorporate your own custom data collections into the Spotlight Enterprise framework for data collection, diagnostics, and reporting.  This post will serve as a getting started guide to assist in adding custom counters to your Spotlight deployment.

First off, a disclaimer.  Due to the “open” nature of custom counters, Quest Software makes no guarantees as to the overhead or accuracy of any custom counter.  Custom Counters should be fully tested and validated in a customer’s environment prior to loading onto a production system.

For documentation on the counter used in this screencast as well as other possible counters, head to the Articles -> Documentation -> Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise section of this site, or click on the link below:

http://sqlserver.quest.com/kbcategory.jspa?categoryID=372

If you have any questions, please post them to the forum.