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 …
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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 |
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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 Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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(1-25 of 32)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
August 13, 2021
Gold Standard for Transactional Databases
We use SQL server as a back-end for the vast majority of our software applications. This includes backends for web apps, data staging and SSIS/SSRS. As far as DB's go, SQL server is our first choice because it integrates easily with our Microsoft .net and .net core applications. Our SQL DB's are used across the entire organization.
- high volume transactions
- data staging and bulk data loads
- integration to active directory
- ease of setup
- it's still a memory hog, but that's gotten better since 2016
- it can be expensive to license
July 22, 2021
Microsoft SQL Server - A complete package
Microsoft SQL Server is being used by my whole organization by analysts and database administrators to maintain banking data including documents, statements, check images location pointers etc. It is able to store large banking information and can be managed easily at one place. Besides our client banks data, our company internal applications database is also stored and managed in it.
- Data Storage and Manipulation
- Highly Scalable
- Easy Integration with a lot of framework including .NET
- Lower prices
- Better UI
- Requires a lot of maintainence
- No visualization of data
We use it as our central data warehouse across the entire organization for most of our data needs. We base our MicroStrategy Analytics software off of it, executive reporting off of it, and use it to house several years of transaction and inventory data. It serves as the central source of truth.
- Is reasonably responsive even when thousands of queries are executing at the same time
- Provides an end user experience that allows for intuitive use of structured query language coding
- The database explorer is intuitive and easy to use for SQL neophytes
- This is probably a sys admin setting, but it forces me to reset my password every month
- I've heard the enterprise edition is quite costly
- If we want to do anything substantial with it beyond simple storing and reporting, we often need to hire consultants
June 18, 2021
Why Choose a Product Based on MS SQL?
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It is used as a back-end database engine for front-end client databases. Client is installed on user computers and it connects to a Microsoft SQL Server server for data.
- It supplies a quick and easy way to analyze raw data when troubleshooting.
- It gives the ability to easily create non standard ad hoc reports for clients.
- It provides a standard platform for trouble shooting when we need to bring in engineers with advanced skills to solve problems.
- It provides great tools for testing and development off line.
- Configuration of the environment to create compatibility and restrict resource uses.
- Configuration of connections in configuration manager.
- Connection of data to other Microsoft products like Excel.
May 25, 2021
MS SQL Server
For the uninitiated it is first important to point out that many programs use a Database at the back-end and the end-user will be totally unaware of that fact. So Microsoft SQL Server is a Database software. You (or the program you use) can enter all the needed information and then retrieve it when needed.
- Holds data tables
- Filters information quickly
- Integrates with many programs
- Installation is pretty complicated
- Needs professional maintenance
- Costs a pretty penny
May 23, 2021
Powerful, Flexible and Scalable.
We use Microsoft SQL Server to provide a platform for our field users to input data for multiple purposes. We store contract data, financial data, time entry data, customer survey data among other data. Microsoft SQL Server gives us a single source of truth for a lot of our reporting. This allows us to have confidence that we are recording and reporting out accurate data.
- Integration. We use PowerBI and Crystal Reports for our reporting and it integrates seamlessly with either.
- Ease of use. Easy to learn and use. (Not the language - but the application)
- Protection. Easy maintenance and backup options.
- Licensing. Can be sometimes confusing layers and expensive.
- Efficiency. Can be memory intensive on larger tables.
- Server maintenance can be intensive as well.
This is the database engine we use for our own systems and for our clients. So we use it internaly and externaly, to store all the information we need to have control of.
Also this is the source for different process and reports, outside the database sich as Power BI.
It helps a lot with the database storing, since it is very easy to use and manage.
Also this is the source for different process and reports, outside the database sich as Power BI.
It helps a lot with the database storing, since it is very easy to use and manage.
- Safe to store and query information
- Query optimization
- Scheduled jobs and tasks
- Easy to code.
- Maintenance procedures
- External data sources
- Support and chatting
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...
April 12, 2021
Microsoft SQL Server is an industry standard
SQL Server is used company-wide: All of our business data is stored in SQL databases and all of our applications utilize SQL in some capacity.
- Scales well
- Widespread usage means resources are more readily available.
- Reliable when configured and maintained properly.
- *Very* complex
- Performance can be poor when configuration isn't tweaked just right.
- System resource intensive, and some resources are capped by licensing.
- Upgrading to newer versions is difficult and time-consuming.
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
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
The way to go for your database implementations
I use Microsoft SQL Server primarily as the back end database server to ASP.Net C# websites. For authentication and authorization, the database uses tables and stored procedures to implement membership or identity for user login and defining roles. Of course, the database is used to hold data entities for the needs of the website. Use of stored procedures, views, and sequences full-text indexing are just some of the useful features I take advantage of.
- Speed of selects with appropriate indexes.
- Use through C# of Linq queries to the data.
- Ability to use CLR assemblies to program in C#.
- Replication to keep the database mirrored to another server.
- I sure wish the T-SQL language was more like C# - it's really primitive.
- I would like an easy way to pass an array to stored procedures and a way to iterate through the array in the code.
- Integrated source control for the database would be appreciated.
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
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.
April 02, 2018
My experience with SQLServer and its R Integration
We used to SQL Server to build a decision support system for mid-size companies (e.g. bakeries) offering perishable goods. The core of the system is a machine learning algorithm that provides demand forecast based on transactional data (POS data) that are required for daily production and order decisions. Hence, the provided demand forecasts are used by operational staff at the headquarters that control the complete supply chain.
- Integration of the R programming language and its eco-system.
- Transact-SQL is quite expressive and allows implementing complex application logic.
- MS Excel can be used as front-end.
- OLAP queries on non-aggregated POS data can be very slow. Hence, it is required to persist aggregated views on the data.
- Debugging R-Code is not convenient.
- Versioning of SQL procedures.
Microsoft SQL Server is being used by our enterprise proprietary products as a backend database. Our entire organisation across departments widely uses Microsoft SQL Server. Microsoft SQL Server caters the needs of the following aspects. 1. Easy accessibility of data 2. Easy connectivity of data 3. Securing layers of information. 4. Hosting/Supporting/ acting as a backend database to all major applications (internal/ external).
- Strengths of Microsoft SQL Server creating an ease even for a newcomer who just knows basics of the database. Creates an easy adoption for any other database programmer who is working on another platform (Oracle, MySQL etc.) to get migrated over to Microsoft SQL server version with minimal efforts.
- Primarily when the application data to be hosted is very less there is less complexity involved in the creation of databases, securing access to a database table, schema and role wise. Much of the functionality of DML, DDL operations can be achieved through user interface called SQL management studio - best tool for any programmer to senior DBA.
- SQL Server integration services, analysis services, and reporting services which are included in BI pack will definitely help enterprise customers save a lot of revenue spent on the additional BI stack Reporting products like Cognos, Crystal Reports, Informatica etc.
- SQL Server has certain limitations in terms of functionality of SQL management studio. But there are a lot of third party programming tools which are available in the market which is powerful enough to overcome these limitations.
- Database comparison tool - Lack of a tool where you can compare entities of database like tables, views, indexes between 2 databases of the same application (like comparing production to stage sites).
- Version control management system (to maintain different versions of code checked in / checked out). Had to be driven using 3rd party tools.
- SQL replication - coverage for all 3rd party databases has been withdrawn in recent editions which are a limitation especially while migrating from previous SQL server editions. This is a gray area of SQL Server often challenged to due to limitations of integration to 3rd party software's like Oracle, MySQL etc.
- Performance management tools - even though there are built-in reports like "Activity Monitor", they are existing to monitor the performance of SQL Server. It's better to have an individual console to connect to SQL server instead of depending on Windows or other 3rd party tools like APEX SQL console, IDERA tool to monitor SQL server performance.
March 28, 2017
Business level data storage and reporting
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Microsoft SQL server as a base platform for our enterprise resource program. Not only is it the data warehouse but it also serves as the SSRS report server so we can use SQL views and stored procedures to create SSRS reports more effectively based on the user needs. The tools in SQL Server allow for all maintenance to be scheduled, simplifying maintenance.
- Backing up databases both full and differential as well as transaction logs so data recovery is simple.
- Database cleanup and maintenance tools that can be scheduled to keep the database running at optimal performance.
- The performance monitor allows you to track query performance so you can maintain the best user experience and tune the server for optimal usage.
- A better way to remotely connect to the database to maintain and review current transactions is needed.
- SSRS report designer needs better tools to build the reports you need. Too many workarounds due to limitations in SSRS.
- Logs need to be less cryptic and more meaningful at times so that diagnosing problems can be done quicker.
June 06, 2016
SQL Server for quick and easy wins
Microsoft SQL Server is being used extensively in my organization. It is the default database for SharePoint sites and also the default choice for custom database applications. SQL Server Database is very commonly used in the IT department since it is well suited with the Microsoft umbrella of products. Other departments also use SQL Server for self-served Microsoft Business Intelligence reports and SharePoint. Analytics is one of the main business problems that SQL Server handles efficiently and effectively. SQL Server Reporting Services, PowerPivot, Power BI, SharePoint rely heavily on SQL Server engine and database in the back-end.
- SQL Server handles a relational database very well. The fundamental logic for Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) hasn't changed much for a long time, so there is no learning curve if you upgrade from older versions to new ones.
- One of the strong advantages of using SQL Server is its better compatibility with Microsoft product suites. Choosing Microsoft SQL server is the first choice if your organization relies on other Microsoft products.
- It is very stable, fast, affordable, and extremely popular. There is an easy learning curve to acquire SQL Server skills. Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio is very graphical and requires very little programming to achieve basic tasks.
- SQL Server is only operable on the Windows platform. It should support the Unix platform too.
- There are a few object types missing in SQL Server, e.g. no packages (collection of procedures and functions), no "before" event triggers.
- SQL Server doesn't support partitioning.
June 04, 2016
Microsoft SQL server - WHY
Microsoft SQL server is the backbone of our organization and is used by the whole organization. Our application uses Microsoft SQL server as a backend. We do a lot with SQL server like storing the actual data, replicating the production database, SQL jobs to create a reports database, SQL server reporting services etc. We do have multiple servers for multiple different databases and we user the server objects/linked servers to access data across all the servers. I think it addresses almost all aspects of our business at this point.
- Data accessing via Excel or Access is very easy.
- Reporting services are a really good example to present and analyze the data to management.
- We do have an analytics team which does a lot of data modeling and also uses lots of integration services.
- Definitely room for improvement in SQL server reporting services.
- Missing the functionality to purge/archive/delete the reports from the server. We have to do it one at a time.
June 01, 2016
MS SQL- Great Tool!
Microsoft SQL is the company's backend. We utilize it for many different systems in place. It's the backend to our financial suite, to our internal and external CRM systems, to store financial data, etc. We heavily rely on it.
- It's a great database backend system. It will allow you to store a wide variety of databases and datatypes.
- It's easy to create and execute, stored procedures to automate tasks.
- It allows for us to set up a vast array of permission sets, so people who need to access it only can access the features they need.
- The latest implementation of SSIS does not work as well as the previous versions when it comes to importing datasets from Access or Excel files. Rather than using the datatypes in those source files, it tried to figure out the datatypes by looking at the first few columns. This has been frustrating for us.
- It would be good if SQL Server came equipped code checking. We currently use SQL Enlight to ensure that our code meets certain standards.
April 22, 2016
SQL Server to the rescue
Our company uses Microsoft SQL Server for much of our database storage needs. In the energy section, we use SQL Server to store sample data, generate reports and spreadsheets, as well as internal reporting and data manipulation.
- SQL Server is a whole package that usually connects well with other Microsoft products.
- SQL Server has a large community of users for tips and advice on SQL programming.
- SQL Server works fairly seamlessly with Power BI, Power Query.
- One glaring example is importing spreadsheets through SSIS, SQL Server only seems to sample the first few rows and generates errors if larger text cells are further down the rows.
- SQL Server tends to be a bit more touchy with database object names than MySQL.
- The good - SQL Server has a lot of ways to get at the data, the bad - finding particular settings is often buried in dialogs.
April 11, 2016
MSSS Review
Microsoft SQL Server was used to develop asset management models for the UK DNO sector.
- Access Data
- Perform lage scale calculations
- Control data flows
- Visualisations
- Improve dashboard capabilities
- Sampling