Red Gate SQL Server Toolkit Targets Overburdened DBAs

Red Gate Software pulled the covers off its revamped automation software developer toolkit this week to help database administrators avoid programming mishaps and clean up the clutter in their Microsoft SQL Server production and testing environments.

SQL Comparison and Synchronization Toolkit Version 3.0 has been rebuilt to satisfy Microsoft .Net and to simplify the creation of automated programs that compare and synchronize SQL Server database structures, said Neil Davidson, technical director of the Cambridge, England, company.

Davidson said the new toolkit API allows developers and DBAs to push and pinpoint any object changes, as well as serve any migration needs through multiple database development stages. In addition, Davidson said the software utilizes the new engine built into the companys flagship SQL Compare 3.1 product to boost speed and deployment.

Recouping lost productivity is fast becoming a major priority for overburdened DBAs, according to Red Gate customer Jonathon Moorman, senior database architect for the London Bridge Group (LBSS Inc.) in Norcross, Ga.

Moorman said he has to run a fine-toothed comb through the four SQL Server 2000 databases running in his environment to keep them all in sync for his company, a software provider for the U.S. mortgage industry.

"[Before] a lot of what I had to do was manual. We had to keep track of every single object that changed, and when you start running under tight deadlines and we need it now you have a tendency to cut corners and stop documenting, so you find youre out of sync and forgot why," Moorman said. "Ive just found the ability to go in there and actually look at all schema changes Ive made has been an incredible time-saver for me."

Moorman said his databases feature 700 tables and 5,000 stored procedures, getting close to 1,000 views.

Another user, John Allman, senior DBA for American Medical Society Group Inc. in Green Bay, Wis., said he employs Red Gate technology to institute change management scenarios in between database testing and production stages.

"It keeps us honest and saves a lot of headaches [instead of doing] that manually, and helps us occasionally find differences pretty readily," said Allman.

SQL Toolkit Version 3 is available now and costs $890. A 14-day free trial of the new toolkit is available at the Red Gate Software Web site.

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