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Rafael Keller - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Pluris Midia
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Dec 5, 2020
Good technical support, easy to set up, and the documentation is helpful
Pros and Cons
  • "The documentation and manuals are very good."
  • "What I like best about this product is the environment."
  • "I would like to have the option to use fewer processors for certain tasks, thus reducing the licensing fee."
  • "The scalability is not very good because when you add processors to the machine, the price of the license goes up."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use is to maintain my database client.

What is most valuable?

What I like best about this product is the environment.

The documentation and manuals are very good.

What needs improvement?

The pricing could be improved.

I would like to have the option to use fewer processors for certain tasks, thus reducing the licensing fee. That would be great.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with SQL Server for more than 10 years.

Buyer's Guide
SQL Server
August 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I use SQL Server on a daily basis.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is not very good because when you add processors to the machine, the price of the license goes up. Scaling is very expensive. We have approximately 500 people who are using it.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very good.

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

We used the Oracle Database prior to SQL Server.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple and the deployment took one day.

What about the implementation team?

We had assistance with our deployment and the experience was very good.

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

This is an expensive product, especially when you need two servers, or for enterprise solutions. We pay approximately $12,000 USD per month for both the server and the license.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

At this time, all of my applications are running on SQL Server. However, in the future, if the application can be migrated to Oracle or another database then I may do that because SQL Server is very expensive.

What other advice do I have?

This is a good product, although my advice is that if a company can afford it then they should use Oracle instead.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2384076 - PeerSpot reviewer
BI Specialist at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Apr 4, 2024
Highly stable and easy to use, but its pricing and quality could be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "SQL Server is a highly stable solution."
  • "The pricing and quality of the product could be improved."

What is most valuable?

SQL Server is a highly stable solution.

What needs improvement?

The pricing and quality of the product could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Server for more than 40 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate SQL Server a nine out of ten for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our clients for SQL Server are usually enterprise businesses.

I rate the solution an eight or nine out of ten for scalability.

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

On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

Since SQL Server was one of the most commonly used products initially, it was very easy to use. I'm moving away from the solution because there are now better data storage tools. SQL Server was used for the postal service in the Netherlands, where the postal buses on the street were analyzed. SQL Server is always deployed on the cloud.

Data recovery and backup are sometimes hard with SQL Server because of the data store size. Based on the data structure, I would sometimes recommend the solution to other users.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
SQL Server
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
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reviewer2265342 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a tech company with self employed
Consultant
Sep 14, 2023
Works well as a general-purpose database, but it needs to improve documentation for specialist applications
Pros and Cons
  • "I value the ability it gives me to test on small machines and easily scale up to larger devices for live applications."
  • "When we run into problems, it's usually during installation, and finding answers to the problem has been a nightmare because the documentation is terrible."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is used primarily for medium companies in vertical accounting applications. We use the solution as a good general-purpose database.

What is most valuable?

I value the ability it gives me to test on small machines and easily scale up to larger devices for live applications.

What needs improvement?

When we run into problems, it's usually during installation, and finding answers to the problem has been a nightmare because the documentation is terrible.

Likewise, I find the business reporting rather poor, and the solution doesn't work well as a data warehouse product. When I tried to use it as one, I did not find it very satisfactory.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used SQL Server for about 20 years, probably. I've used a number of different versions, including 2010 and 2007.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have never had a stability problem.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We rarely have more than a few hundred users. It's more about the person using it since we don't have heavy, continuous use.

How are customer service and support?

We've never had a sensible answer from technical support.

How was the initial setup?

I have generally found implementing the solution easy. But when it comes to the time we took to implement the solution, the problem's always been the application and not the database. The solution is usually easy to implement because we use standard facilities. If you need something special, you run into all sorts of trouble because SQL Server gives you an awful lot of ability to change the settings.

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

We've used it as a development tool, and it's very cheap as a development tool. Besides, someone else has paid for it for my use, so it's a question of whether the cost suits the end user. The solution has a good midrange price for the applications in which we've used it. Oracle's pricing would raise more eyebrows, but SQL Server's pricing has proven satisfactory for our market range.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We mainly use SQL Server because it's cost-effective for our applications. We've occasionally tried other databases for various reasons. We've used the Sybase database, but the Sybase database is very close to SQL Server. We've also tried MySQL, but that was more of an exercise in porting than anything else. However, it's not a fair comparison because we had done the development on SQL Server and then used that as a porting exercise.

What other advice do I have?

The solution's generally been easy to use for the general cases we've used. The solution has been satisfactory for the sort of applications we've used.

We've been very much middle of the road in using SQL Server. We don't use specialist, and we've tried to keep to standard SQL as far as possible. We don't use the clustering facilities or try to use any of the specialist facilities. We could drop it and switch to MySQL or another database if we had to. We are using SQL Server, not for the particular services it's got, but using it as a middle-range product. We're taking advantage of the fact that it runs on all sorts of platforms, and it's a good value development product that works very easily for us. We're not using it for some of the things Microsoft clients find particularly useful for. We're not high-intensity users. For people like us, it fits in very easily.

For our purposes, SQL Server is just about ideal. It's easy to use and fit. Some of the later versions, in particular, have been easy to use. We have had installation problems on some of the later versions, and the documentation is poor. I'll rate SQL Server a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Chief ICT Officer at Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union Ltd
Real User
May 22, 2023
A scalable and stable solution that works as a database for applications
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool helps us by being available always."
  • "The tool is expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product as a database for the applications. 

How has it helped my organization?

The tool helps us by being available always. 

What is most valuable?

We don't encounter any issues with the solution. 

What needs improvement?

The tool is expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for the last ten years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The tool is scalable. 

How was the initial setup?

The tool is easy to install. 

What was our ROI?

We have seen ROI with the tool's use. 

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

I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten. It is not extremely cheap but also it's not the most expensive product. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the product an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Prashant Baste - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Solution Architect at Team Computers
Real User
May 21, 2023
User-friendly with ability to extract data from the server and store it in a local data source
Pros and Cons
  • "can extract data from the server and store it in a local data source for BI purposes."
  • "Performance could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution to extract data. We have a partnership with Microsoft and I'm a solutions architect. 

What is most valuable?

This is a user-friendly solution. It's great that I can extract the data from the SQL server and store it in my local data source for BI purposes.

What needs improvement?

I think that performance could be improved and SQL presents some challenges for us.

For how long have I used the solution?


What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't faced any scalability issues. We have over 200 users. 

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

I interact with multiple data sources, multiple customers and their ERPs. It can be Oracle, SAP or MongoDB among other solutions. MongoDB, for example, is a little more complex than the SQL Server and we often have more of a challenge establishing a connection with MongoDB.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not a problem. 

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

This solution is moderately expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

I can definitely recommend this solution to smaller and midsize organizations. I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
MakhosonkeMatshoba - PeerSpot reviewer
ESM Specialist at LetsCloudIT
Real User
Apr 4, 2022
Synchronization of nodes is very useful and there is no downtime for maintenance needs
Pros and Cons
  • "It's great that the nodes are synchronized so if you lose one it automatically moves to another."
  • "I like the stability of the solution, the fact that you have two, three, four nodes replicating at any given time at different locations, and they're all synchronized; if one is lost it automatically moves to another."
  • "The solution could have additional security."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution to store our data and for running queries, simple select queries that enable me to create the views I need and report from those views. I'm an ESM specialist and we are customers of SQL Server. 

What is most valuable?

I like the stability of the solution, the fact that you have two, three, four nodes replicating at any given time at different locations, and they're all synchronized; if one is lost it automatically moves to another. The other advantage here is that when it comes to application maintenance, you switch onto another node while you maintain another server and there's no downtime. 

What needs improvement?

The solution could have additional security. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is easily scalable because of its flexibility.

How was the initial setup?

I don't do the installation, but it appears straightforward according to those who carried out the implementation. These days deployment takes about an hour. We have 1,200 or so users. With the onboarding of more customers, we'll be increasing our use of SQL Server. For now, we have one person dealing with maintenance. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution nine out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Craig Kona - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Information Officer at SYNOVA CONSULTANCT
Real User
Mar 26, 2022
High performance, setup straightforward, but priced high
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of SQL Server is the performance."
  • "The price of SQL Server could be reduced, the license is expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We use SQL Server for developing systems.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of SQL Server is the performance.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Server for years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have approximately three people who are using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support from Microsoft has been good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of SQL Server is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We have two administrators that did the implementation of the solution.

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

The price of SQL Server could be reduced, the license is expensive. We have an annual subscription.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend SQL Server to others.

I rate SQL Server a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1803756 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Analyst at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Mar 23, 2022
Easy use and simple to expand with good performance
Pros and Cons
  • "We found it to be quite scalable."
  • "The most valuable aspect of the solution is its ease of use."
  • "While using it, we really didn't experience any pain points."

What is our primary use case?

I'm a web developer, and I use SQL for the backend.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable aspect of the solution is its ease of use.

It's a pretty stable solution.

We found it to be quite scalable. 

What needs improvement?

While using it, we really didn't experience any pain points. It doesn't need any additional features. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have a couple of years of experience with the solution so far. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability and performance are good. It doesn't crash or freeze. it's not buggy. there are no glitches. It's pretty reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability has been good. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.

How are customer service and support?

I've never used technical support. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they would be. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm not sure which version of the solution I'm using. 

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been satisfied with its overall capabilities in general.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Mudasir Shafi - PeerSpot reviewer
Testing Lead at Enstoa
Real User
Mar 22, 2022
Integrates well, good support, and quick deployment
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of SQL Server are the speed, great support, and it is from a known vendor."
  • "The security features of the solution could be better."

What is our primary use case?

We are using SQL Server for data processing.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of SQL Server are the speed, great support, and it is from a known vendor.

What needs improvement?

The security features of the solution could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used SQL Server within the past 12 months.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SQL Server is a scalable solution.

We have approximately 200 users using this solution. We increase the number of users every year.

How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted their technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The process for the deployment is straightforward. It takes approximately four hours to complete.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation of SQL Server in-house. We have eight people managing the solution. The team includes managers, technicians, and administrators.

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

There is a subscription that needs to be purchased to use the solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise others this is a good Microsoft solution.

I rate SQL Server a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Senior Systems Engineer at NTT DATA
Real User
Top 10
Mar 22, 2022
Good usability, satisfactory performance, and easy setup
Pros and Cons
  • "Its usability is very good. Its performance is satisfactory."
  • "We are satisfied with the product in general."
  • "Their support could be better. There should be more visibility on the progress of the ticket, and their last line of support should be more knowledgeable. Other than that, we have nothing to complain about."

What is our primary use case?

It is for supporting our custom applications. We have a number of custom applications that we use that have SQL embedded.

I am using the version before the latest one.

What is most valuable?

Its usability is very good. Its performance is satisfactory.

What needs improvement?

Their support could be better. There should be more visibility on the progress of the ticket, and their last line of support should be more knowledgeable. Other than that, we have nothing to complain about.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for seven to eight years.

How are customer service and support?

Their support could be better. Sometimes, you don't have much visibility of how your service request is progressing. There should be more visibility, and the last line of support should be more knowledgeable.

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward. It took two to three hours.

What about the implementation team?

We have internal staff for its implementation. We have a team of about three or four people who are well-versed with SQL Server, and we have 30 to 40 users who use this solution.

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

You need to pay for the license. It most probably has per-core licensing.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. We are satisfied with the product in general. Overall, I'd rate it an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SQL Server Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: August 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free SQL Server Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.