Set Your Application Names Before You Wish You Had.

This article by Brent Ozar explains the importance of setting application names in SQL Server connection strings for effective monitoring and troubleshooting. It highlights how tools like sp_BlitzWho and sp_WhoIsActive display program names, and without custom names, you get generic identifiers like 'Core .Net SqlClient Data Provider', making it hard to identify which app is running queries. The author provides a simple T-SQL example to add 'Application Name' to connection strings, enabling grouping by application in monitoring tools. It also addresses common questions about tracking query origins, noting that SQL Server doesn't store app/user info in plan cache or Query Store, and recommends using Extended Events or periodic sampling for long-running queries. The post includes community comments supporting the practice and mentions that PostgreSQL can set values per query.