Solid and Reliable.
We use MSSQL Server along with SSIS and SSRS as it's a very competent software suite and very stable. It integrates well with other …
Starting at $1,418 Per License
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What is Microsoft SQL Server?
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database.
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| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database.
Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 9.9.
The most common users of Microsoft SQL Server are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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(1-25 of 44)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
June 26, 2021
Great Enterprise Database Platform
Microsoft SQL Server is used by our organization to store data for internal line of business and management systems. It meets these need well, is fairly easy to backup and manage.
- Relational Database Server
- Easy to stand up DB to support OEM Applications
- Backend for Custom Written Application
- COTS DB
- Cost for Enterprise Edition
- Heavy Mgmt Tools
June 19, 2021
SQL Server Review
We use MS SQL Server as our main database to store customer data. We have a monolith web application that is using a single MS SQL Server database. MS SQL is one of the best RDBMS in terms of speed and its really easy to use with a lot of pre-built functions that are really convenient for our application.
- It has quite a lot of pre-built function that helps speed up development time.
- One of the fastest SQL database engines.
- Built for enterprise use with enterprise-level of support available.
- It could be very expensive to utilize MS SQL server to its full potential due to the licensing tier limit.
- It does not have a built-in JSON type column, unlike PostgreSQL, although it has built-in functions to help to work with JSON.
- Require more space to install the database engine compared to other SQL databases.
Microsoft SQL Server is our organization's main Database Management System and is the primary back-end server for most of our critical business applications. It's a general requirement that any new application we implement has to operate on SQL Server, if it requires a database back-end. We have a great dependency upon SQL Server and it has not disappointed us.
- Easy to use to set up databases
- Reliable clustered instances
- Maintenance plan wizards
- Good UI with Management Studio
- Good BI tools out of the box with SSIS, SSAS, and SSRS
- It could use more/better templates in SQL Server Profiler
- Lacks error avoidance tools when working in different environments (DEV/TEST/PROD). That is, preventing some code execution against PROD, for example.
May 13, 2021
Microsoft SQL Server- Excellent Platform
Microsoft SQL Server houses our databases for our CRM application. The CRM application is the core system that contains all of our company's information to function as a Distributor of safety products. The CRM application has many functions that would not perform properly without the use of the Microsoft SQL server.
- Mircosoft SQL Server allows mutliple database to be set up for business purposes.
- Microsoft SQL Server allows jobs to be scheduled after hours, when no one is in the office.
- Microsoft SQL Server allows queries to be run to gather specific information needed.
- Microsoft SQL Server allows security settings that will only allow specified users access. Easy disable employees no longer with the company.
- Microsoft SQL Server has an activity monitor that will show any errors.
- I have been using Microsoft SQL Server for 12 years and I have no complaints.
We use Microsoft SQL Server as the DB option for the commercial back-office modules of our MLFF (Multi-Lane - Free Flow) Tolling solution. All the commercial back-office (from Customer registration to involvement and payment handling) relies on Microsoft SQL Server databases. Other vital components of the entire solution, like Security and Vehicle Management, and the Reporting environment also utilize Microsoft SQL Server.
- Microsoft SQL Server is simple to install and configure.
- Many advanced options like Compression and Partitioning are available with no extra cost, thus reducing the overall TCO.
- Partitioning does not provide as many options as Oracle (like Foreign Key partitioning, list partitions, hash partitioning and sub partitions)
- The default READ COMMITED isolation level block readers, so it is important to use the READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT option, that should be default right now...
May 05, 2021
Microsoft SQL Server
Our business's in house desktop and web applications run off a SQL Server database. We have used it (and abused it) for 12 or so years now. I don't personally have experience with other databases (a little MySQL) but so far I haven't come across a scenario where SQL Server has been lacking, and that is coming from someone who advocates putting the business logic in SP's (OK, let's not start down that path...).
- Stored procedures, efficient and so much easier to update business logic when under pressure!
- High availability always on groups (since 2012), is pretty easy to set up and just works - has been an absolute savior on 2 server failures.
- Fairly straightforward to administer out the box as it were (but this can be enhanced see below).
- So widely used that someone somewhere has probably faced the same challenges that you have so [to] find a guide, solution, suggested path is relatively easy (not strictly a SQL server thing but makes a massive difference knowing that you have access to huge resource with a well supported well adopted piece of software).
- Very well supported in terms of third party software to enhance administration (backups, performance, etc.).
- Enterprise is unbelievably expensive.
- Not tolerant of bad practices and poor query writing, really shows up when you do it badly!
- Deep insight into what is happening with query performance is not especially great (but as mentioned in the "Pros", software support from third parties does cover this).
May 01, 2021
Microsoft SQL Server Review
We are using Microsoft SQL Server Express edition for teaching RDBMS to the students its really a nice tool to use. In personal I have also used the developer edition for application development. The best part of this software is it is robust. You can use it for both [...] website application[s] or [...] web application development. This database tool support[s] Microsoft visual studio so if you are using that IDE for development this is one of the most compatible and reliable [databases] software. Very efficiently handle the CRUD operations.
- Easy to use is of course the foremost reason [for] its extensive use in almost every industry
- Less expensive than Oracle tools
- Multiple user support in [a] single set up
- Excellent user support and documentation
- Visualization is not available for that you have to use [the] different tool this is one of the feature[s] I think they should include
- In MS Access you can design the query but here you have to write it in SQL
- Enterprises edition is really expensive
April 13, 2021
Good tool for data analysts
Microsoft SQL Server is used in our organization to store data, run analyses, and produce reports using data from our web-based application. It is mostly being used in the data analytics department and it allows the team to work on projects together and integrate with other software used in the organization.
- UI is user-friendly, making integration easy for all members of the team.
- It is easy to set up and teach to new members.
- Good support with third-party software.
- Cost can be expensive.
- Some learning curves for users transitioning from other services.
April 08, 2021
Good robust software for handling complex datasets
We use Microsoft SQL Server to store various databases that are used within both the whole company and also within certain departments. Data from these databases have front-end interfaces for easy editing by certain users and data also feeds into other systems and is merged with other data sources. It allows us to have a common silo for storing our data that helps developers and admin staff easily access the data for further use.
- Good range of data types helps us store lots of diverse data
- Easy administration helps us control who has access and what they can do with the data
- Backup and restore processes are easy to manage and provide good security
- Data can be easily replicated from Server to Server for use in other countries
- The import/export process can be tricky to follow with lots of steps and could be better for importing flat files
- Obtaining help from Microsoft is cumbersome and often other internet sources are better and quicker
- The documentation is not great and again it's generally better to obtain help elsewhere if needed
Our company uses MS SQL Server to run jobs, store data and generates reports. Our team is supporting two separate companies and both use MS SQL Server. One is for storing data and running SSIS jobs for app and reporting purposes. These are company-owned servers and we are hosting other companies to provide service, application and hardware support for them.
Our company maintains these servers and they are being used by different departments, also internal company-wide. Business problems that we commonly encountered are mostly connection issues. These are basically a between network, database and applications connecting to MS SQL Server. The MS SQL Server support is easy to get in touch with when we are having issues with the application itself.
Our company maintains these servers and they are being used by different departments, also internal company-wide. Business problems that we commonly encountered are mostly connection issues. These are basically a between network, database and applications connecting to MS SQL Server. The MS SQL Server support is easy to get in touch with when we are having issues with the application itself.
- Maintenance, SQL server is easy to maintain.
- User Friendly, Easy to use and understand.
- Access, user access, and administration are very straightforward.
- Application, it is easy to setup and provide service.
- Can be used in small and enterprise sized clients.
- Support cost, need to pay for support.
- Compatibility with other new technologies.
- Reporting capabilities.
- Licensing, it is a lot of work to get licenses renewal
September 17, 2020
Excellent tool for enterprise data management
My department uses SQL Server (and Azure Data Studio, increasingly, but still primarily SQL Server) for database management and analysis. Other departments use it as well, including our QA team, to verify the expected output of data manipulation or the functionality of changes to the code base. It's a pretty standard tool at this point.
- Query analysis and execution plan details - You can see indexes you may be missing that would (if used) possibly improve performance of your stored procedures and queries.
- Data storage - It's easy to restore and back up entire databases and to set up automatic jobs to do this.
- Scheduled tasks - You can plan health checks or updates to data, or reports, from the Jobs tool.
- Unlike Visual Studio, there isn't a built-in or out-of-the-box way to format your SQL scripts/queries. You can easily install plugins and extensions to do this (paid or free) but it would be a nice-to-have.
- Occasionally it's not obvious from a query execution plan what piece is causing the most bottleneck, and even then, side-effects of implementing the suggested index(es) aren't always obvious.
March 02, 2020
Microsoft SQL from a happy database user
I consult for system and data integration projects. Many of my customers use SQL as their data management and storage system. During integration projects, I will also use SQL to store information that I need later in the integration process or for reporting purposes or auditing.
- Storing data in a de facto standard relational database.
- Industry proven connectors to the data.
- Options for hosted (Azure) to on-premise.
- Options for scalability from SQL Express to SQL clustering.
- Developers have their change list, however, it does what I need.
February 22, 2020
SQL Server -- Enterprise Data and Analytics in a Box
SQL Server is our go-to database for both on-prem and cloud database needs. We are running on-prem for 3rd party, custom applications, and the enterprise data warehouse. The Cloud is great for custom applications, as well as beginning to migrate to a data lake structure with Azure SQL DW. Other than embedded databases in a few apps, it is the only RDBMS technology we leverage, although we do run several different versions and editions (Azure SQL DB, Azure SQL DW, SQL Server 2016, 2017).
- It's easier to manage than other RDBMS.
- Good, mature, in-the-box interface for both development and administration.
- It has a fully extending feature set for managing Azure SQL DB to SSMS and/or Azure Data Studio.
- It's simplifying security/access setup for Azure SQL DB.
January 20, 2020
Easy to use and set up, robust and reliable DBMS
In our database department, we use Microsoft SQL Server for storing data, data aggregation, and manipulation. We use Reporting services tools for creating, managing and deploying reports for our clients. For creating a report definition I personally used Report Builder which makes defining data source connections, queries used to retrieve data, expressions, parameters and others extremely easy to perform. We also try to improve the performance of stored procedures, user-defined functions, and triggers by learning the execution plan in detail. One of our clients has a web app for an insurance company and they have a large amount of data stored in the Microsoft SQL Server database. Our goal is to improve performance from queries that are used in that web app, so we try controlling execution plans with hints or adding indexes. In cases when we meet a new client who already has some database storage then we use replication technology for copying and distributing data and objects from one database to another. Besides that, we also help our clients to build parameterized queries in order to defend from SQL injection which is one of the most common web hacking techniques.
- It offers a lot of functionalities, such as Reporting Services, Integration Services, Job Scheduler, Resource Manager, Query Analyzer and Profiler, etc.
- You can connect it to Active Directory if you so desire.
- The price of the enterprise version could be a little lower and also licensing should be more understandable.
- There can be problems when connecting with software that is not owned by Microsoft.
December 09, 2019
SQL Server Serves Data Well
We currently use SQL Server in Azure which makes management easier, though I have used on-premises SQL Server for many years, many versions. I am Microsoft certified in SQL Server 2012 and 2014. As a software developer I like the way SQL Server is easy to program against -- especially when using Entity framework or Entity Framework Core as the middle ware. As a database administrator I like the fact that SQL Server is truly relational, which makes it much easier to model business objects as data tables and to manage Referential integrity, locking and consistency. I like its ability to help with performance scaling via pre-compiled queries, stored procedures and triggers. I like its ability to help with scaling via sharing and replication. But above all I love SSMS (SQL Server Management System) which brings together all the tools in one place with easy access to query plan tools and analysis tools as well as SSIS / SSRS allowing integration of data with other systems and generation of reports.
It has matured over the years into a tool that makes life easy for those architecting or writing systems.
It has matured over the years into a tool that makes life easy for those architecting or writing systems.
- Modeling and Schema creation
- Query optimization tools
- Integration with coding tools via Entity Framework etc.
- Analysis, integration and reporting tools
- Better handling of blobs so that they do not slow down queries (lazy loading by default perhaps)
- Automatic Migrations -- migrations are complex right now, tools that make it easier would be useful
- Cheaper!!! It is too expensive, forcing many people to go to datalakes/s3/NOSQL databases when they do not really want to
December 06, 2019
Hardcore Database For Hardcore Analytics
We are a Business Intelligence shop utilizing the entire Microsoft Data Stack. We use SQL Server versions 2012, 2014, 2017. We are also currently evaluating 2019. Our entire organization also uses SQL Server. In our department, it is used to ETL data in (via SSIS), store it into a Kimball Data Warehouse, do reporting off of it via SSRS, and then provide self serve analytics to our business users via SSAS. The best thing is that SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS are all included with SQL Server!
- Great integration tools via SSIS.
- Great reporting tools via SSRS.
- Great analytics tools via SSAS.
- Latest versions (2019) really push the envelope forward on automatic query optimization.
- Need to be careful on licensing and features. While they have done a great job in 2019 to make features available in standard edition, a lot of use cases may require the more expensive enterprise edition.
- SSIS and SSAS doesn't play well with source control.
- There is no "Data Virtualization" (Not talking about PolyBase) You should be able to spin up a clone of a database with minimal effort and storage space. No reason to have to pay a secondary company for such a vital feature!
October 01, 2019
Well Established, Reliable DBMS That is Scalable and Compatible with Many Platforms and Languages
Microsoft SQL server is the official database management system for Microsoft, and it is a very reliable tool. Our team has a platform for analyzing city infrastructure which has multiple instances and a DBMS is crucial for managing all of the data. We use Microsoft SQL Server to check queries before publishing them to the live website. The tool is dependable and fairly straightforward to use, even for someone inexperienced with database management.
- The tool is scalable and able to handle large amounts of data.
- Microsoft SQL Server is compatible with many platforms and languages.
- It is reliable and has the backing of a large and well established company.
- The performance and speed of Microsoft SQL Server could possibly be improved.
- Better tools for monitoring databases and better interface for these tools would be helpful.
- Easier ways to create complex queries would make the tool even more user friendly, for instance drag and drop style tools to create queries.
September 12, 2019
Best DBMS solution for professionals as well as beginners
Microsoft SQL Server is being used as the default database management solution. It is used across the whole organization and is responsible for managing different types of databases such as ERP, Spatial and regular ones. SQL server caters to regular reports generation, establish relational queries between different datasets, provide backup in case of any issues.
- Microsoft SQL Server has a very user-friendly interface. It is a breeze to create and schedule jobs for data reporting and updates.
- The online community support and the numerous forums for Microsoft SQL Server are really handy in case of any issues.
- Microsoft SQL Server supports Spatial Databases which is a critical requirement for an organization like ours.
- It would be great if working with SSIS packages would be much more streamlined in the Microsoft SQL Server. As of now, the only option is to use Visual Studio which in itself is not very forthcoming in how to work with a package.
- The version upgrade can be a bit of nuisance in case you have different databases created on different versions of Microsoft SQL Server. The version compatibility for different databases can definitely be improved upon.
September 10, 2019
Microsoft SQL Server is a Great Enterprise Database Option
Microsoft SQL Server is our primary data storage for our in house software as well as 3rd party financial software and provides the data for all of our enterprise reporting. We also leverage the additional services that come with Microsoft SQL Server including SQL Server Reporting Services and SQL Server Integration Services.
- Extremely Reliable - We have not had an instance of SQL Server itself having issues or causing downtime. We have had AWS hardware failures but not Microsoft SQL Server failures.
- Total Cost of Ownership - Having Enterprise Edition provides us with the additional features of SQL Server Reporting Services, SQL Server Integration Services, and if we would like, SQL Server Analytics Services.
- Multiple disaster recovery options - You can use mirroring (replaced by Always On Availability Groups), replications and log shipping to name a few options.
- Elastic Database options - You can have a mix of on-premises and Azure instances if your use case requires it.
- Easy Manageability - Microsoft has done a great job of making the management of Microsoft SQL Server easier with every release.
- In-Memory Database options - You can have in-memory tables for any business case needing that level of performance.
- While I really like their disaster recovery options, they could make them more affordable and easier to implement. Always On-Availability Groups is improving with every edition but still can come with some gotcha's if you do not watch it. Including Security across instances, jobs across instances, etc.
- In memory, at least in 2014, once you enable it that is it. You cannot go back. This makes it difficult to retire this feature.
- Better native Enterprise management meaning, in a use case where you may have multiple servers or clusters with multiple instances the native tools are lacking and typically require purchasing 3rd party tools or building out tools for monitoring and managing the servers and databases.
September 10, 2019
Easy to implement this complete set of tools
It is used as a data warehousing and business intelligence platform across the whole organization.
- Troubleshooting is easy because of several forums available on the internet. We can Google error messages and find solutions easily.
- It has a complete set of tools for data warehousing and business intelligence, so integration and automation are easy.
- Easy access to training and skilled workforce availability.
- There are some in-memory tools in the market that I have used to replace analysis services. Those in-memory tools have reduced the aggregation time to a few minutes as compared to a couple of hours on analysis services.
- Mobile apps for SSMS and SQL agent would be a good addition to the toolbelt.
- A built-in SQL source code control tool that can be used to track code changes and schema changes from SSMS would be very useful. It should easily show who made the changes, what changes were made and when, and provide an option to roll back to any of the previous versions if needed.
February 12, 2019
MS SQL server best software to manipulate data
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
My whole company uses the Microsoft SQL Server, almost every department and team makes use of the SQL Server. Basically it is used as RDBMS to manipulate and store data for business purposes. Developers use this to handle data of the products on which they are working. I am using SQL server since I joined the company in 2013.
- Provides good interface and intelligence help to write queries easily.
- Provides many built-in functions to perform various operations on data.
- Helps to store and manipulate data.
- 4 Users can create their own functions and procedures.
- Provides various types of data for analysis.
- Due to many features included in SQL Server it takes large memory and some times it slows down.
- You need to refresh many times for intellisense to show up.
- Installation takes more time.
December 04, 2018
Microsoft SQL Server makes it easy to focus on the important stuff
Microsoft SQL Server is the database of used by all web applications. Hosted web applications that collect gigabytes of information directly store data into one or more Microsoft SQL Servers being used by our organization. We need these servers to not only store data but provide an easy means to make available to other software and services.
- Easy to setup with the included Wizard that helps to get you up and running with the essential components covered. You won't waste a lot of time reading through documentation to just get started.
- There is a large community of support for Microsoft SQL Server that can help to troubleshoot issues and explain how to tackle a problem.
- The other components and modules to the system make is easy to setup backups and connections to other services.
- I would like to see them overhaul the Microsoft SQL Report Server included. Its very outdated and lacks modern features.
- I would like more artificial intelligence support to help make the databases run more efficiently.
- I would like have better support for ORM management within the included Studio Manager.
November 18, 2018
Would not be in my career and successful without it!
It is being used in a limited capacity which is why many SQL users are demonstrating the power of the tool.
Current use cases are order management, vendor performance metric building and maintenance, supply/demand views.
- Group and count data
- Join multiple data sets together across entire organization rather than a single site view
- Monitor exception cases at scale
- Intellisense won’t turn back on
- Enhance object explorer to help find tables previously unknown
- Easier note taking
June 05, 2018
A Growing Company Dives Into The Big TIme
Microsoft SQL Server is used to ramp up the capabilities of a growing business that began using Excel in place of an actual database.
- Support is a major factor. Day-to-day functionality is reliable, but for those times when there are issues support is available.
- Security is key, and Microsoft SQL Server has clearly put this concern in its design.
- Perhaps not a strength of SQL Server itself, but the pool of professionals with SQL Server experience ensures the ability for growth.
- User setup should be allowed to be copied from other users
May 29, 2018
Microsoft SQL Server Review
We use Microsoft SQL server to perform analytics with a large set of data from different kinds of clients. All the data preparations are done with SQL server. It is being used by everyone in our service line. also, most of our client uses SQL server as well. Using SQL Server to process unstructured data is not very effective.
- It's fairly quick to manipulate large sets of data
- Quick and easy to learn
- Cost efficient
- Implement features to process unstructured data easier
- Increase performance speed
- Add multiple results table in the same window