Item: DbVisualizer
Rating: 8
Author: Keith Sader

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use DbVisualizer to query RDBMS and non-relational data. For us, it solves the problems of determining a structure in an org that doesn't have a dedicated DBA role. It further helps our DBA-lacking org with evaluating query performance and updating live data.

Pros and Cons

Visualizing existing table relations
Query performance reporting
Multiple database support

Support other non-RDBMS structures--Dynamo, memcached, redis
An option when clicking in the tree to always open a new window
Import/address parquet tables

Return on Investment

No impact other than my own productivity.

Alternatives Considered

IntelliJ IDEA

DbVisualizer is a more complete and more functional universal tool than IntelliJ's built-in SQL client. It supports more storage systems than SquirrelSQL or MySQL Workbench. I've also had a license for DbVisualizer since 2006, so there's a bit of inertia on my end.

Key Insights

Do you think DbVisualizer delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with DbVisualizer's feature set?

Yes

Did DbVisualizer live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of DbVisualizer go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy DbVisualizer again?

Yes

Other Software Used

IntelliJ IDEA, Zoom, Slack

Likelihood to Recommend

DbVisualizer is really useful where there's a JDBC connection to an existing data store and that data store supports a SQL interface. It's less useful, although functional, at many non-relational stores. I'd recommend it for small departments where the engineers need to poke around on an existing database. I'm not sure I'd recommend it at an organizational level since the use cases for DbVisualizer tend to be very team and data specific.

DbVisualizer--solid DB tools for 15+ years

Overall Satisfaction with DbVisualizer