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Automated blocking and query alerts for Amazon RDS for SQL Server

Database Blog

This article demonstrates how to build a serverless monitoring solution using AWS Lambda, CloudWatch, and SES to automatically detect and alert on blocking and long-running queries in Amazon RDS for SQL Server.

  • Uses Lambda triggered by EventBridge every 60 seconds to query SQL Server DMVs for blocking and long-running sessions
  • Employs recursive CTEs to trace blocking chains back to root blocker and filters long-running queries to exclude system processes
  • Publishes custom CloudWatch metrics and sends HTML-formatted email alerts via SES with session details and wait times
  • Requires dedicated monitoring user with VIEW SERVER STATE and VIEW ANY DEFINITION permissions for security
  • Stores RDS credentials securely in AWS Secrets Manager and deploys Lambda with pytds library in same VPC as RDS
  • Includes step-by-step setup, test scenarios for blocking and long-running queries, and cost estimate of ~$2.57/month

The solution provides automated, cost-effective monitoring for SQL Server performance issues without manual checks or third-party tools.

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