Most teams running Instana hit the same wall eventually. A trace points at the database, and the query text is right there along with the duration. But nobody can figure out why it ran slow or how to fix the problem, and that’s where the troubleshooting stalls out.

DBmarlin exists to answer that question.

What You’ll Learn

• How Instana and DBmarlin divide responsibilities across the observability stack
• The bi-directional integration that shipped with Instana release 285
• Real performance gains from a healthcare software company using both tools
• Which database platforms DBmarlin supports
• How to get started with a free license

Where Instana Stops and DBmarlin Picks Up

Picture a five-second database call showing up in a trace. Instana flags it and shows which query caused the slowdown. Your team can see the impact on end users. Now what?

The query might have been waiting on a lock held by another session. Maybe the execution plan shifted after a deployment. Could be the database server ran out of resources. Instana won’t tell you which one. That’s not what it’s built for.

DBmarlin fills that gap. The tool grabs SQL statement text and wait states together, so teams can see exactly where execution time went. When a MySQL locking problem drags down performance, DBmarlin shows both the blocked query and the one holding the lock. Root cause, not just symptoms.

Jordy Mevissen, Worldwide Sales Leader for IBM Instana, put it this way: DBmarlin takes database monitoring to the next level by showing why databases are performing poorly.

Tracking Changes Inside the Database

Slowdowns usually trace back to something that changed. Schema updates. Parameter tweaks. Execution plans that shifted when statistics got refreshed.

DBmarlin catches these automatically. When degraded performance lines up with a schema modification or parameter change, teams spot that connection without digging through deployment logs.

Teams can also register events like code releases. Deploy on Tuesday, notice slower queries on Wednesday, and DBmarlin helps connect those dots.

How the Integration Works

Bi-directional linking between the two tools shipped with Instana release 285 in November 2024.

Setting up DBmarlin to link to Instana

• Open Settings, then Integrations
• Enter the Instana host address and API key
• Performance issues in DBmarlin now include links to corresponding Instana data

Setting up Instana to link to DBmarlin

• Navigate to Settings, Team Settings, Integrations, Database, then DBmarlin
• Enter the DBmarlin server URL
• Slow SQL queries in traces now show a “Find SQL in DBmarlin” button

Click-through runs both directions. Looking at a locking issue in DBmarlin? One click pulls up the affected applications and services in Instana. Staring at a slow trace in Instana? One click lands in DBmarlin’s query analysis screen.

Supported Databases

DBmarlin works with:

• MySQL
• MariaDB
• PostgreSQL
• Oracle
• SQL Server
• IBM Db2
• CockroachDB
• Informix
• SAP HANA
• SAP ASE
• MongoDB

Cloud-managed offerings are covered too, including Amazon RDS, Azure SQL, and Google Cloud SQL. The interface stays consistent regardless of which database platform teams are running.

Who Gets Value From This

Developers catch bad queries before production. The interface doesn’t assume DBA expertise, so engineers can diagnose their own performance problems.

SREs trace from alert to application to database internals without waiting for a specialist to get involved. DevOps engineers wire database performance into CI/CD workflows. DBmarlin plugs into Jenkins, Liquibase, and other pipeline tools.

DBAs spend less time on routine firefighting. When other teams handle straightforward issues, DBAs can focus on architecture and capacity planning.

Mirko Novakovic, founder of Instana and Dash0, described DBmarlin as a natural extension that helps customers optimise database performance.

Business Case

Running both tools together pays off in a few ways:

• Incidents close faster when diagnostic data is already there
• Development cycles shrink because performance problems get caught earlier
• Infrastructure costs go down when queries stop wasting resources
• Users stay happier, which keeps renewals up and support tickets down

Getting Started

Instana customers get one free premium DBmarlin license for any database. The tool is also available through IBM Passport Advantage (offering ID 5900-BS3). Setup takes minutes.

Capabilities comparison

FAQs

Does DBmarlin replace Instana for database monitoring?

No. Instana monitors the application layer and shows when database calls are slow. DBmarlin goes inside the database to show why those calls are slow. The two tools work together rather than overlap.

Which Instana release added native DBmarlin integration?

Release 285, which shipped in November 2024. Earlier versions required a browser plugin for the Instana-to-DBmarlin link; that’s now built in.

What databases does DBmarlin support?

MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, IBM Db2, CockroachDB, Informix, SAP HANA, and SAP ASE. Both self-hosted instances and cloud-managed services like Amazon RDS, Azure SQL, and Google Cloud SQL work.

Is there a free version?

Instana customers get one free premium license for any database. Outside of that promotion, DBmarlin offers a freemium model with free monitoring for the first database.

Want to try it out?

👉 Want to see how DBmarlin can help your organisation? Start your free trial today.