From SolarWinds DPA to Obsfly

• DPA's UX is from the early 2010s; modern operators bounce.
• Per-instance pricing climbs fast, especially for SQL Server fleets.
• Anomaly detection is threshold-based; no learned forecast bands.
• No SaaS option that meets modern compliance requirements.

Fairness signal — useful in renewal conversations.

• Wait-time analysis on SQL Server is genuinely deep.
• On-prem deployment is mature and battle-tested.

1. Step 1

   Map DPA monitor inventory

   Export your monitored instance list and the alert rules attached to each.

2. Step 2

   Install Obsfly agent or use polling mode

   For on-prem SQL Server, the agent runs locally; for managed RDS / Cloud SQL, polling works.

3. Step 3

   Translate alerts

   Threshold rules map 1:1. Wait-event spikes become forecast-violation rules with no tuning.

4. Step 4

   Decommission DPA

   Disable the DPA collector role on each instance after two weeks of overlap.

• DPA stores history locally; export anything you want to keep before turning it off.
• Validate Always-On AG visibility before cutover.

Does Obsfly cover SQL Server depth like DPA?

Yes — Query Store, DMVs, AlwaysOn AG, plan regression all surfaced. Plus modern UX and forecast-band alerting DPA doesn't have.