Marketo Consultant at Webtech software servies
Real User
Easy to query, straightforward for beginners, and extensive online support community
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of this solution are easy queries and straightforward programming for beginners."
  • "SQL Server could improve by providing something similar to an interface or dashboard where a developer can do debugging, this would make a developer's work easier. Additionally, the optimization could be better. If there was an interface showing information needed for the optimization it would help because there can be some data loss making it difficult to optimize the SQL Server."

What is our primary use case?

We use SQL Server for web application and website development.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of this solution are easy queries and straightforward programming for beginners.

What needs improvement?

SQL Server could improve by providing something similar to an interface or dashboard where a developer can do debugging, this would make a developer's work easier. Additionally, the optimization could be better. If there was an interface showing information needed for the optimization it would help because there can be some data loss making it difficult to optimize the SQL Server.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution within the past 12 months.

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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 scalability is good for simple applications. However, the problem with scalability is if the application is too large, it cannot handle it. We have to depend on other database servers. 

How are customer service and support?

I have not used technical support but I have used the open forums online that provide all the information that we have needed. There is a large online community for support. 

How was the initial setup?

The installation is straightforward.

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

There is a license required for this solution and we pay monthly. The price is reasonable compared to other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate SQL Server an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Technical Director at Progetti e Soluzioni
Real User
Great integration with extensive documentation and a good community for support purposes
Pros and Cons
  • "We've found it to basically be pretty problem-free."
  • "The interface could be updated to make it slightly more user-friendly."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for recording transactions and information related to the reservation of a service. 

What is most valuable?

The product is very stable.

It offers very good documentation. When there are some little issues, it's always very easy to go into the documentation for troubleshooting purposes. There's just so much documentation on hand and a really great community around the product that is very helpful.

It's a very complete product.

We've found it to basically be pretty problem-free.

The integration with other products has always been quite good.

The security of the product has never given us any issues.

What needs improvement?

We're quite satisfied with the solution. There aren't any outstanding features we would like to add.

The interface could be updated to make it slightly more user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for more than ten years. It's been a while. It's been more than a decade at this point.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. there are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. it's excellent.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't really scaled the solution all that much. At the moment, we have measured the scalability in a horizontal way. When we needed to have more installation and more capacity, we split the database into a different SQL Server instance.

In the future, we'll likely need to consider scalability more. We are also moving in the last two years, also to a different architecture from a monolithic to a more microservice architecture. Maybe the scalability can be more easily handled in the applications that are talking to each other and leaving the database out of the equation.

While end-users are hard to quantify, I can say that likely half a million users have come through our system for transactions.

In the near future, we will continue to use the solution. We might use it for the next four or five years, although it is hard to say.

How are customer service and technical support?

We've always been able to rely on the fantastic documentation and great community around the product in order to troubleshoot problems. It's very easy to fix issues as they arise due to the public knowledge available to everyone.

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

We've mostly always used this solution. Last quarter, we moved a little bit to a NoSQL database. We have done a little experiment on Cassandra however, previously, it has always been on SQL Server.

We're considering moving away from the solution right now and trying something new. The owner of the company wants to experiment with other technologies and see what is out there, which is why there is talk of change. However, it's not a reflection on this product, which has been largely quite good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not overly difficult. It's pretty straightforward. A company shouldn't have any issues with the process.

We have 12 technical people on our team that can handle the implementation.

What other advice do I have?

The last version we used is 2015 if I'm not mistaken. We don't jump immediately to the latest version due to the fact that, usually, we look for stability. We make the move to the next version in case of some integration or limitation. We prefer not to move onto something that might have bugs or glitches that need to be patched. It's more secure for us that way. 

I'd recommend the solution to other companies.

I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten. It's doing exactly what we need it to do. We've very happy with it.

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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
SQL Server
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
769,334 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Cloud DBA at UNIT4
Real User
Its stability delivers performance and usability and it has good reporting services

What is our primary use case?

  • Effectiveness in a production environment
  • New features test

How has it helped my organization?

Besides that, SQL Server has become very expensive like Oracle. Its stability delivers performance and usability.

What is most valuable?

  • SSMS
  • SSIS
  • Reporting services
  • FCI clustering
  • AlwaysOn
  • Basic availability groups.

What needs improvement?

I would like a mature real-monitoring built in into SSMS, even a trace file analyzer.

For how long have I used the solution?

Less than one year.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
System Architect, SCRUM Product Owner at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Easy to use, scalable, and reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "I have found SQL Server easy to use."
  • "SQL Server could improve by having better usability or user guidance."

What is our primary use case?

SQL Server is used for storing data.

What is most valuable?

I have found SQL Server easy to use.

What needs improvement?

SQL Server could improve by having better usability or user guidance.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using SQL Server for approximately five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and the performance is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

SQL Server is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed to contact support.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation was done by our IT department.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation in-house.

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

The price of the solution is fine.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I 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.
PeerSpot user
CEO at netison
Real User
Simple to use and in demand among our customers
Pros and Cons
  • "SQL Server is widely used and it's simple. You cannot do without Microsoft if you want to manage IT for a business customer."

    What is our primary use case?

    We manage backups for our customers, so we are not developers and we don't use SQL to provide a service. We are a managed service provider focused more on IT support and SQL configuration. So we don't use SQL as a product by ourselves. Instead, we provide instructions for how to back up SQL and do maintenance on it for our customers who need a SQL server for their CRM and ERP products. Their products need to have a SQL server to use in order to use their services. So we handle the maintenance for our customers.

    What is most valuable?

    Microsoft has a very broad landscape of products that they provide—almost everything that you need. SQL Server is widely used and it's simple. You cannot do without Microsoft if you want to manage IT for a business customer. And even if you don't like Microsoft, you should know how to use it because just about every customer uses Microsoft, so you have to use it. So it doesn't matter if I like it. It's everywhere, so you have to know how to use it.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using Microsoft SQL Server for 25 years now.

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

    We are a reseller of Microsoft. We also signed the SPLA agreement, which stands for Services Provider License Agreement. So we are able to use Microsoft products in our data center in order to provide cloud services to our customers.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate SQL Server nine out of 10.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    PeerSpot user
    Technical lead/Senior embedded software engineer at a wireless company with 51-200 employees
    Vendor
    I've used SQL Server​ for most of the solutions I worked for, from web crawlers to logistic platforms and medical devices

    What is most valuable?

    Database Engine

    Integration Services

    Reporting Services

    How has it helped my organization?

    I am a Senior Software Engineer. I've used SQL Server for most of the solutions that I worked with, from web crawlers to logistic platforms and medical devices.

    What needs improvement?

    • The Server Objects area of SQL Server Management Studio
    • The SQL Server Configuration Manager

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Over 10 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Yes, I encountered issues only when using the Express editions during the development. SQL Server, generally speaking, is stable also in high transaction environments.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Yes, I encountered issues in the CPU intensive application, like web crawlers. It was difficult to reach the desired scalability through the fine tuning options available.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The support is good. The knowledge base is very good.

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

    I have experience with Sybase SQL Anywhere .

    I switched mainly because the SQL Server is widely deployed and known, for better XML support, and for better integration with .NET framework and its related technologies.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was straightforward for most of the installation, thanks to the wizards.

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

    I am not a direct purchaser, so I don’t know.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    SAP/Sybase SQL Anywhere for the small footprint which makes it suitable for embedded solutions.

    SAP/Sybase SQL Anywhere for the built-in synchronization technologies available.

    What other advice do I have?

    Improve the built-in database replication technologies.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    PeerSpot user
    Founder & Principal Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Consultant
    Best DBMS platform for all of your business needs

    Valuable Features:

    - Ease of use of this product is much better than equivalent products - New AlwaysOn availability group enhancements bundles more DR and HA features in one easy to use interface - In-Memory OLTP, or project Hekaton, allows for utilizing memory to boost application performance with only minor application changes - Power, scalability, flexibility, and bundled tooling means it will meet all of your organizational DBMS needs for all size workloads - Support from MS and free knowledge and support from the MS community is terrific - Virtualization friendly! - Core features of the product include many features that require additional licenses with other platforms - SImple to setup and keep running

    Room for Improvement:

    - Ease of installation means that anyone can install it, but many do not perform the steps required to properly maintain the data - The increasing cost of the platform is slowing adoption by the SMB space

    Other Advice:

    I am so fond of this product that I have dedicated this portion of my career to focusing on mastering this platform as a consultant. I feel that this product is the best fit on the market for your database needs. The product is stellar, the amount of free knowledge on the Internet for this product is without parallel, and the community around SQL Server is so strong that I consider it a family.
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user4524 - PeerSpot reviewer
    it_user4524Founder & Principal Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Consultant

    Thanks! And the answer is nope - Report Builder 2012 is out there and
    works great! It's available at
    www.microsoft.com

    Plus, Report Builder 2014 is out. Here's a great page on what's new in it.

    msdn.microsoft.com

    Hope this helps!

    David A. Klee

    See all 2 comments
    Senior Systems Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
    Real User
    It is easy to deploy and easy to maintain, but they should provide faster support
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is easy to deploy and easy to maintain."
    • "They need to improve their support. It should be faster."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are using it for various applications.

    What is most valuable?

    It is easy to deploy and easy to maintain.

    What needs improvement?

    They need to improve their support. It should be faster.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using it for a couple of years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is scalable. We have more than a thousand users who use this solution. It is being used heavily, and we don't have any plans to increase its usage.

    How are customer service and support?

    Their support needs improvement. It should be faster.

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

    We didn't use any other solution previously. We have been using it for a long time.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was easy.

    What about the implementation team?

    I can install it myself. We also have a technical team of three admins.

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

    Its licensing is yearly. There are no additional costs. There is only the subscription license.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend this solution to others. I would rate it a seven out of 10.

    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.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
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    Updated: April 2024
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