Data has become an important part of the digital world, and as such, we need ways to manage and secure it so it can be used to its maximum effect. This is where databases—places where you can store, manipulate, and organize data, as the name implies—come in. And, as we’ve talked about before, you don’t want to spend a long time manually managing them. Your needs will dictate which SQL server tool you’ll need, so today, we’re looking at five more SQL server tools for 2020 and see which one is right for you. This is part three of a four series blog.
SQL Server Performance Monitoring
SQL Server Performance Monitoring is, as the name implies, a tool that focuses on the server’s performance, and helps you find the source of any slowdowns.
SentryOne’s SQL Server Performance Monitoring comes with several tools, such as a Performance Analysis Dashboard, which comes with a graphical view of the server you’re monitoring, as well as a “Jump To” navigation that instantly takes you down to the granular details.
Another feature is Top SQL, and you can use it to identify SQL server queries that are causing bottlenecks. It also lets you set automated responses to a wide arreay of specific conditions with Advisory Conditions, comes with Deadlock Analysis, Event Calendar, and more.
Unfortunately, all these tools come at a price, and SentryOne’s SQL Server Performance Monitoring starts at $995/year.
Solarwind’s Database Performance Analyzer for SQL Server Performance
Solarwind’s Database Performance Analyzer for SQL Server Performance is yet another tool that’s a mouthful to say, so we’ll call it Solarwind’s SQL Performer Analyzer for now. As with SentryOne’s tool, it analyzes your server performance, and identifies the source of server slowdowns.
Some of the features it boats include intuitive performance analysis, blocking and dealock analysis, advisors recommendation, machine-learning anomaly detection, query performance analysis, and more. It’s also cheaper than SentryOne’s, starting at $399/year.
SQuirreL SQL
Squirrel SQL is a graphical Java-based tool for managing databases, and provides a short tutorial to help you get started, as well as a more in-depth one by Kulvir Singh Bhogal of IBM. Although its bare-bones version is lackluster, there are plenty of plug-ins that let you extend SQuirreL’s functionality.
WinSQL
WinSQL is another paid universal database tool with a free version (Lite) available as well. For paid versions, prices start at $99/license, with the Pro version starting at $299/license.
It has many features, such as the generation of royalty-free executables that your users can use to run queries, it works with Microsoft Excel to export query results with a single mouse click, drag-and-drop data migration, scheme and data comparison, E/R diagrams that can be done manually or generated automatically, enhanced wizards for table creation, and more.
Stay tuned for the final part of the Top SQL Tools series!