Metrics To Optimize Security and Performance

by Jul 25, 2019

Next in our series, The Tradeoff Between Database Security and Database Performance: we explore best practices for capacity planning as well as important metrics to consider when optimizing performance and security. If you missed it, you can read last week’s blog, Database Administrator Versus Security Administrator.

Metrics To Optimize Security and Performance

As database security becomes more important over time, this brings its effects on database performance to the forefront. Security methods cannot overly impact end-users. At the same time, it is not possible to sacrifice security compliance due to the risk of data breaches and the requirements to meet regulatory guidelines.

To ensure acceptable database performance and security compliance, it is necessary to specify adequate database capacity and system resources. Therefore, it is essential to grasp the impact of security compliance via security methods on database performance to aid database design and capacity planning. A well-designed database with sufficient system resources minimizes, if not entirely removes, the need for the trade-off. That is why it is vital to measure the historical trends of critical metrics and estimate future patterns.

The impact of database security on database performance is far from clear so that the effect remains a subject for debate. Furthermore, it remains unclear how the impact of security on performance can be evaluated and used in provisioning the required system resources capable of satisfying the database performance expectations.

It is essential to evaluate the impact of database security on database performance to improve decision-making in the database design process. Established metrics for database performance exist. In contrast, database security tends to suffer from inferior metrics. Overcome inferior metrics for database security by considering indirect metrics (such as the computational cost of database security). As such, it is possible to formulate metrics that express the trade-off between database performance and database security.

It is possible to find database parameters that optimize the trade-off metrics. These parameters are optimal for the combination of both performance and security combined, but not for each separately. Accomplish that by viewing the key metrics at a high level while also being able to drill down to detailed information.

How IDERA Can Help:

SQL Management Suite is a bundle of five essential products for complete SQL Server management. It covers performance, compliance, security, backup, and index fragmentation. It includes SQL Diagnostic Manager Pro (with SQL Workload Analysis and SQL Query Tuner), SQL Compliance Manager, SQL Secure, SQL Safe Backup, and SQL Defrag Manager.