Q: Which driver should I use to monitor MS SQL servers?
A: MS SQL database monitor runs SQL queries against Microsoft SQL Server. To do that, IPHost Network Monitor can use one of the following drivers:
- SQLOLEDB (deprecated) – Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server,
or - MSOLEDBSQL – Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server
- MSOLEDBSQL – Microsoft OLE DB Driver 19 for SQL Server
The former is MS Windows built-in driver, it can be used by IPHost Network Monitor right away. However, this driver has been marked as deprecated by Microsoft.
Microsoft currently recommends to use MSOLEDBSQL; however, that driver should be explicitly downloaded and installed by user. MSOLEDBSQL19 supports some additional encryption options and can be installed/used side by side with the MSOLEDBSQL driver.
To choose which driver to use, change “Driver” drop-down in MS SQL database monitor parameters accordingly:
If IPHost is installed on older MS Windows version (without latest updates applied), or if you have to monitor older versions of MS SQL Server, the newer driver (MSOLEDBSQL or MSOLEDBSQL19) may not work for you. In such a case, use SQLOLEDB (deprecated) driver.
To monitor modern MS SQL Server versions and for more secure options use MSOLEDBSQL or MSOLEDBSQL19 driver because SQLOLEDB supports only resticted set of TLS v1.1/v1.2 features.
If monitor reports “Cannot open database: Driver is not installed” or “Cannot open database: Class not registered” when polled, it means selected driver has not yet been installed, and you are required to download it from
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/connect/oledb/download-oledb-driver-for-sql-server
and install.
Note: you can choose MSOLEDBSQL driver starting from IPHost v5.2 and MSOLEDBSQL19 starting from v5.4. Earlier IPHost versions are always using SQLOLEDB (deprecated) driver.
Please contact technical support in case you still have problems configuring the MS SQL database monitor.
