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Demand Technology Software releases an SDK for building and maintaining a SQL Server-based PDB.

New NTSMFPDB™ Software Development Kit is now available.

Naples, Fla. (02/14/2005) — Demand Technology Software announced the immediate availability of a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for building and maintaining a Microsoft SQL Server-based Performance Database (PDB). The new NTSMFPDB™ toolkit includes source code and ready-to-run, compiled versions of programs that can be used to load NTSMF data collection files into a SQL Server database.

The NTSMDPDB SDK is available free of charge to all current Performance SeNTry/NTSMF customers.

To install and run the NTSMFPDB SDK requires the following run-time environment:

• Performance SeNTry collection service version 2.4.7.1, or higher

• .NET Framework version 1.1 (runtime version is included)

• Internet Information Server version 5.0, or higher to run the optional ASP.NET applications

• Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (Enterprise Edition preferred). Note: either a local or remote copy of SQL Server can be accessed.

The core of the SDK is the NTSMF DataAccess component, which is a .NET Framework class library for processing NTSMF format data files and storing the information they contain in SQL Server Tables. The NTSMF DataAccess component automatically builds the appropriate SQL Server data Tables dynamically based on the Data Definition records that are embedded in all .smf collection files. It also automatically builds a set of Stored Procedures that can be used to migrate the data saved in SQL Server from one database to another, when necessary.

The SDK also includes the source code for several Visual Basic .NET programs that demonstrate the use of the DataAccess library routines. These include a console application called NtDACmd.exe that can be called by an NTSMF data collection Cycle End processing script to update and maintain the NTSMF PDB automatically. It also includes several sample ASP.NET and ADO.NET application programs that can be used to update the SQL Server database using point-and-click web forms. An unlicensed runtime version of the Dundas Chart utility is also in the distribution package for use in developing custom reports.

The NTSMF PDB stores machine-specific performance data in time-series in a set of keyed, normalized database tables that are dynamically generated based on the performance data being collected. Instructions for using tools like Microsoft Office applications to access and report on the performance data stored in the SQL Server PDB are also included. Any data mining tool that supports MS SQL Server 2000, including Crystal Reports and SAS, provides easy, straight-forward access to the NTSMF PDB data.

"While the NTSMFPDB SDK lacks some of the niceties of a full, standalone product release, we expect to support it like one. We do intend to use its data management foundation classes in a future commercial product," explained Mark Friedman, the CEO of Demand Technology Software. "Originally, we committed to several OEM development partners that we would make it easier for them to develop of 3rd party capacity planning tools that would work with our stuff," he said. "We wound up with something that is much more functional than that. People will find it quite flexible and easy to use. And you do not have to be a .NET programmer to make use of it. Anyone with a little knowledge of how to use Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel against SQL Server data should find it to be a remarkable, value-added feature."

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