SQL Server Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

Victor Sokolov

DWH Architect at B2BSoft

Dec 11, 2020

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Stable, scalable, and good integration services

Pros and Cons

"The columnstore index feature is useful for us, and we also use the integration services. It is also very stable."

"We would like to have a common storage option in the SQL Server. This option is available in Oracle Database. It would be great if Microsoft could create something like a columnstore that has not only indexing but also tables for common storage."

What is most valuable?

The columnstore index feature is useful for us, and we also use the integration services. It is also very stable.

What needs improvement?

We would like to have a common storage option in the SQL Server. This option is available in Oracle Database. It would be great if Microsoft could create something like a columnstore that has not only indexing but also tables for common storage.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Server for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is pretty stable.

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

If we talk about just standard RDBMS, it is very scalable because we don't have to scale platforms.

How are customer service and support?

All communication with Microsoft technical support is done by our internal support group. I'm not communicating with them directly. I guess their technical support is okay and fast.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend SQL Server as a solution for a medium enterprise or a small business.

I would rate SQL Server an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Rahul Kumar Singh

Software Developer at OATI

Aug 12, 2018

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I use it to fine tune my procedures and functions

Pros and Cons

"Tuning Advisor suggests where to add indexes and from where to remove them. It works like an adviser."
"SQL Server Profiler makes finding and debugging easy."
"I use it to fine tune my procedures and functions."

"Third-party services from Redgate should be built-in to it, like SQL Search."
"Debugging from the debugger tool functionality should be enhanced."

What is our primary use case?

I use SQL Server to optimize SQL queries and find the estimated cost of my queries.

I also use it to fine tune my procedures and functions.

How has it helped my organization?

SQL Server has maintained my database problem in an arranged manner.
SQL Server Profiler makes finding and debugging easy.
Support for third-party tools, like SQL Search.

What is most valuable?

SQL Server Profiler: Know exactly which procedures and functions are being called and how much read and write they are taking.
Tuning Advisor: It suggests where to add indexes and from where to remove them. It works like an adviser.
Storage capability
Debugger: The debugger tool can execute code step-by-step.

What needs improvement?

Third-party services from Redgate should be built-in to it, like SQL Search.
Debugging from the debugger tool functionality should be enhanced.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

It is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have been using SQL Server from the start.

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

In-house.

What was our ROI?

It is good.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The setup cost is high, but it will return every penny.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide

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April 2024

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Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.

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DenisMunger

Chief of Engineering at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees

Feb 4, 2018

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Ease of use, stability make it the right choice for us

Pros and Cons

"Only one CPU core can be used. Can’t move a database between servers easily. Can’t use triggers."

What is our primary use case?

We use it

to capture long distance calls for billing
as a quoting database
to redirect phone calls based on customer caller line id.

What is most valuable?

Ease of use.

What needs improvement?

Only one CPU core can be used
Can’t move a database between servers easily
Can’t use triggers

The free version is cumbersome to use and maintain. But $5000 for a licence is more expense than the benefit I would get from a licensed version.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are capturing 1 million calls per month. The free version can’t scale this much data.

How are customer service and technical support?

Never used. Google is sufficient.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Postgre has a weird syntax and it is slower than MS SQL. The command line interpeter makes it complex to learn.

How was the initial setup?

MS SQL is the easiest of the three I tried.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

A licence might be worth the price to simplify management and speed up searches.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user117381

Lead Software Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Jan 28, 2018

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We've measured notable performance improvements with this solution

Pros and Cons

"There was an online system in which we had about 2500 requests to the DB per second. Every request had a completion window of one second to process and retrieve data. After switching to SQL Server, and AlwaysOn, and Snapshot, and tinkering, and configuring and tinkering, the handling capacity we measured increased to about 5000 requests per second, while the time decreased to 0.5 seconds per request."

"As a software developer, it can be hard to do something in Oracle that is SQL Server specific, and vice-versa, sometimes."
"One stability issue I encountered was the deadlocking between calls to the same resources (tables, etc.). That was solved by row versioning."

How has it helped my organization?

There was an online system in which we had about 2500 requests to the DB per second. Every request had a completion window of one second to process and retrieve data. Before my arrival, the numbers were 1000 requests per second and two, and sometimes, three to five seconds spent per request.

After switching to SQL Server, and AlwaysOn, and Snapshot, and tinkering, and configuring and tinkering, the handling capacity we measured increased to about 5000 requests per second, while the time decreased to 0.5 seconds per request.

What is most valuable?

The AlwaysOn high-availability feature is the most valuable feature of SQL Server to us. This is because of the relative ease of the configuration, rather than configuring for OLTP-OLAP distinction.

What needs improvement?

As a software developer, it can be hard to do something in Oracle that is SQL Server specific, and vice-versa, sometimes.

Improvements must not be stopped and must not end. When business needs arrive, then the improvements follow. For example, 15-20 years ago, MySQL did not have built-in Stored Procedure support; there was no business need for MySQL to have stored procedures built-in.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

One stability issue I encountered was the deadlocking between calls to the same resources (tables, etc.). That was solved by row versioning. (We were shooting ourselves in the feet).

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have never had the need to reach out to the vendor.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes I did use another solution previously. The switch was mainly for the performance. Secondly, it was for the technology compatibility.

How was the initial setup?

It was very straightforward. There was no complexity which I couldn’t handle.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I’m not a "product" fan. I try to use "the" product which will comply smoothly with the software I’m working on.

What other advice do I have?

I’ve been working on Microsoft SQL Server since 2005, and currently I’m using SQL Server 2014 in my development environment and SQL Server 2012 in the production environment.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user153675

SQL DBA at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Oct 2, 2014

The SSIS or SQL Server Integration Services is a vital component that is associated to the Server.

SQL Server and SQL Server Integration Services – Informative Article

SQL Server and SQL Server Integration Services: Discussed and Explained

The concept of Relational Database Management System when brought forward by Microsoft was known as SQL Server. Architecture of SQL is a division where all the components combine and work, both; independently and together. This is done in order to process the services offered, in a defined way. This allows SQL Server to work smoothly.

The external SQL Server interface is developed by the Protocol Layer. All the operations conducted on the server are transmitted through a defined format known as the Tabular Data Stream (TDS). Basically, this is an Application Layer Protocol that helps to transfer data between the client and server (database).

Some other points that in a combination help make SQL an essential database management system for users include the following:

Data Storage

It is a collection of a variety of tables with all sorts of types including; primary types – decimal, integer, float, etc., varchar, and more.

Concurrency and locking:

The server permits users to make use of the SQL database concurrently by multiple types of clients. So it is required to take control of the simultaneous database access to the shared data. The two concurrency control modes provided are; pessimistic and optimistic.

SQL uses lock mechanism, in the pessimistic mode of concurrency control and they can be further classified as; shared & Exclusive Locks.

Data retrieval:

Data in SQL Server is retrieved via querying it and this query procedure is executed by the SQL Server variant; T-SQL. The order of steps in the procedure of querying for essentials to recall the data requested for is decided by the Query Processor.

Buffer Management

This part of SQL Server plays a critical role in reducing the Disc I/O while it buffers the pages into RAM. One can store up to 8 KB of pages in the buffered memory and this collection of all buffered pages is known as the Buffer Cache.

SQL Server and Its Versions

The entire database held by SQL Server is available as Primary (*.mdf) and Secondary (*.ndf) Database respectively. While an LDF file’s role is to hold the entire log details of the transactions carried out on any of the database.

Amongst all the versions of SQL Server; 2005, 2008 R2, 2014, and others; 2000 was the first version to be adding multiple performance measures to the Server. And out of all the measures introduced by SQL Server version 2000, SQL Server Integration Services or SSIS was the most vital one.

Detailing Of SQL Server and SQL Server Integration Services Security

The SSIS Security of SQL Server consist of a variety of layers offering a completely sound environ for the services. These layers constitute of the below mentioned components:

Package Properties;
Digital Signature;
Operating System Permissions;
Database roles.

When used in a combination for applying security measures, these components act as a defensive shield to the packages of SQL Server.

In order to interpret the concept of SQL Server and SQL Server Integration Services security, understanding the platform of SSIS is of primary importance. The forthcoming segment of this article discusses about the same as well as the attributes offered by it in SQL Server environ.

Understanding the SSIS Concept of Security

The SSIS or SQL Server Integration Services is a vital component that is associated to the Server. Normally used for carrying out a wide number and variety of operations related to data migration this platform has been structured considering the two mentioned elements:

Data Integration which happens to be an approach for combining the data from different set of resources. Thus, representing it in a manner that is unified and coordinated.
Workflow programs a set of applications that modify procedures to some point and even require manual agreement / customization or modification of activities sometimes.

The following functions are allowed to be performed at a higher level:

Data retrieval through any source and loading of components into any source with a defining workflow.
Carrying out a wide number procedures on the database including; calculation, conversion, etc.

This was an overview of the SSIS platform therefore, proceeding to the concept of SSIS security measures is feasible now.

The Concept of SSIS Security

Always using trusted mediums for launching the packages is one of the most important concepts of the SSIS Security measure. And prior to that, you must necessarily identity the source of package before opening it, which can be done by allotting certificates to packages.

The Perks of It: Unauthorized access to the server’s sensitive data can be kept under control via allotting identity features to a package. Also, it guarantees control on the SQL Server package configuration.

Even the logs, checkpoint files, and the configurations can be protected as well.

The Package Information displayed via SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio) Integration Services is offered integrity and protection by the medium of this platform.

A better understanding about the functional measures and features of the SSIS Security can be referred in the upcoming sections below.

Access On Package Data Components To Be Controlled: To limit or restrict access to package or its components, they are encrypted via “ProtectionLevel” property applied. Level of this type of security can be adjusted accordingly. Values get automatically encrypted for properties that are assigned to sensitive set of data by the IS (Integration Services). Only on providing the correct password, can an encrypted data be displayed.
Package Access To Be Controlled: SQL’s MSDB database or an XML file can be used for storing the IS Packages with file extension as .dtsx. In an MSDB database the “sysdtspackages” & “sysssispackages” for storing the package, tables are taken into usage. Thus, when database backup is created, associated packages automatically get backed up. In order to control access to these packages, three types of database roles are allotted to them:

Db_ssisadmin
Db_ssisltduser
Db_ssisoperator

TIP: In case the file system is used for package storing, make sure that file or folders containing the packages are secure completely.

Access to Packages Containing Files To Be Control: Information encapsulated within the log, checkpoint files, and configuration packages require being prevented and protected due to the sensitive nature they have. Some of the factors associated with the approach are:

Checkpoint file storage must only be done into the file system.
Storage of Logs and Config files can be done using; SQL DB Tables or the File System.
Extra provision of security is needed by the checkpoint files stored under file system.

IS Service Access To Be Controlled: “Windows Administrative” group members are assigned with package running access & stop roles. Meanwhile, users that are not member of the group are authorized to access or eliminate packages started only by them.

Conclusion: Security is a matter of concern regardless of the platform being discussed about. And understanding the detailed aspects of the SSIS Security measure helps prevent the SQL Server packages from unofficial access.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1707912

System Analyst and Team Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Nov 9, 2021

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Stable, scalable, and simple installation

Pros and Cons

"Many developers like SQL Server."

"The solution could improve by having more integration with other operating systems and other platforms."

What is our primary use case?

I am a professional and I use this SQL Server in different companies. One of the companies I worked for was in the automotive industry. They had automobile products which they developed the SQL Server and database. At that time it was the first time I used SQL Server. I have also used Suprema which is a biometric system that also had an SQL Server. Our main products for data we have used SQL Server. However, my main application is developed on Oracle and MySQL, not any other database solution.

All of our systems use this solution, it can control security, data management, and integration.

What is most valuable?

Many developers like SQL Server.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by having more integration with other operating systems and other platforms.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used SQL Server within the past 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

SQL Server is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used MySQL.

How was the initial setup?

If you follow the restoration policy, the installation is not a problem. If you want connectivity in the application then you have to open the ports and configure them. Otherwise, I'm very pleased it is very simple.

What about the implementation team?

I can do the implementation myself.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

SQL Server is under a license from Microsoft.

What other advice do I have?

I would not recommend this solution.

I rate SQL Server a six out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1362969

IT Specialist at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees

Jun 20, 2021

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A relational database management system that's relatively stable

Pros and Cons

"I like that it's relatively stable."

"It would be better if it had more integration with other systems."

What is our primary use case?

We use SQL Server for collecting and storing our data.

What is most valuable?

I like that it's relatively stable.

What needs improvement?

It would be better if it had more integration with other systems.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Server for over five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I think it's scalable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's relatively stable.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good. When I have a problem, they're responsive.

How was the initial setup?

I've tried to do the initial setup, and I don't think it's that easy. But I think the configuration is normal.

What about the implementation team?

I set up and deployed this solution myself.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this product to new users.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give SQL Server an eight.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1503438

Specialist Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Mar 17, 2021

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Easy to install and helps us to keep customer data safe

Pros and Cons

"I use the menu on the management view credit section to get information from the database."

What is our primary use case?

We use SQL Server for database integration as we sometimes use queries to take information from the database. For example, if I need a couple of information that is archived or not indexed, I will inform the SQL Server team to help.

What is most valuable?

I use the menu on the management view credit section to get information from the database.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Server for eight to ten years, but I still check Google for things that aren't clear to me. For service delivery, we use on-premises solutions for our customers.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We don't use SQL Server as our primary product. Our focus is on safe customer SQL admin as we don't want problems with customer data in our system.

How are customer service and technical support?

I think we consulted once for support in the active directory. We requested the support of Integration Engineers for installation, and their service was very good. However, in the last eight years, we have also used Microsoft support with satisfaction.

How was the initial setup?

For the initial installation process, I did an installation for database testing using SQL Server Express. Sometimes, the trials for the samplers are not allowing the SQL Server Express. So, when I was doing the installation, I just selected database management because it isn't the default and it has helped me not to fill out the same details for future use.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I cannot answer that question concerning pricing and licensing because I'm just a technical staff member. However, we are just a customer of Microsoft and some of our clients say SQL Server is very high in price.

What other advice do I have?

SQL Server is a very good product and we use Microsoft SQL Server software that runs on Windows as most of our clients make use of the Windows operating system. But I don't have a hundred percent trust in Microsoft products. Why am I saying that? This is not a security issue. I am just... We are hitting this kind of issue because, as you know, Windows servers sometimes get corrupted or we need to restart them.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.