Microsoft SQL Server Information Reviews & Insights

Score8.7 out of 10

1,630 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Microsoft SQL Server are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Ease of Use and Integration: Users have consistently found the software easy to use, praising its simple design and common interface. They also appreciate its seamless integration capabilities with various frameworks and tools like Visual Studio, Dot Net, MSBI, PowerBI, Crystal Reports, etc.

Reliability and Performance: Reviewers have highlighted the software's reliability in handling high volume transactions and data staging operations. They also value its fast performance, intuitive SQL coding experience, efficient data table management, and quick information filtering capabilities.

Data Management Capabilities: Users have praised the software for its functionalities as a relational database server and its support for OEM applications. They particularly appreciate its features for data storage, manipulation, scalability options, quick data analysis abilities, troubleshooting tools availability, and maintenance procedures.

Reviews

21 Reviews

Information

Microsoft SQL is a valuable tool to manage and present information across platforms.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

October 10, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I work for a company that creates a software suite that allows our customers to manage and track their work, their companies and contacts, user logins, etc. We use an extensive database built over the years and several stored procedures that can be called from our software to perform calculations and format data in needed layouts.

Pros

It stores information.
It is very reliable, with a few notable exceptions.
It connects with other software quickly, and tools are provided to facilitate that.

Cons

SQL does not run on Snapdragon or any ARM processors in general. Vendors like Dell are starting to sell laptops with ARM-based processors, and while Windows will work, SQL refuses to run.
When Windows 11 came out, SQL would fail after the upgrade from 10 to 11 because Windows 11 formatted the disk with larger sector sizes than SQL allows. This left a lot of our customers unable to use our software until they reverted to Windows 10. Since then, a registry hack has been made available to let SQL run, but we lost quite a bit of customer goodwill. Microsoft needs to test its software, Windows, and SQL on various platforms before pushing upgrades to avoid this.
Since 2008, the maximum database size available to SQL Express has been 10 gigabytes. However, 10 gigs does not go nearly as far now as it did then, and this needs to be doubled.

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft SQL is ubiquitous, while MySQL runs under the hood all over the place. Microsoft SQL is the platform taught in colleges and certification courses and is the one most likely to be used by businesses because it is backed by Microsoft. Its interface is friendly (well, as pleasant as SQL can be) and has been used by so many for so long that resources are freely available if you encounter any issues.

Verified User

Technician in Customer Service (Computer Software company, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

18 years of experience

SQL Server - The best option as DB

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

July 21, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have been using SQL Server through AWS RDS and it is our main tool in terms of data. All collected data from our system goes directly to the SQL Server before going to RedShift. So, we call it internally our live data and it contains everything in real-time.

Pros

It's the most used Database so it's mandatory to have knowledge for most of the roles today
You can find anything your need related to SQL Server on forums
Easy Implementation

Cons

I don't see too much to improve but maybe a more intuitive or graphical way to monitor the performance

Likelihood to Recommend

It is very well suited if you need to store data in the relational model. It is a very powerful tool and can be used from small companies to huge companies. As it is the most used database in the market you can find all the necessary information and how to make it works in a better way.

Verified User

Employee in Information Technology (Computer Software company, 11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

Why Choose a Product Based on MS SQL?

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

June 18, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It is used as a back-end database engine for front-end client databases. Client is installed on user computers and it connects to a Microsoft SQL Server server for data.

Pros

It supplies a quick and easy way to analyze raw data when troubleshooting.
It gives the ability to easily create non standard ad hoc reports for clients.
It provides a standard platform for trouble shooting when we need to bring in engineers with advanced skills to solve problems.
It provides great tools for testing and development off line.

Cons

Configuration of the environment to create compatibility and restrict resource uses.
Configuration of connections in configuration manager.
Connection of data to other Microsoft products like Excel.

Likelihood to Recommend

My ability to support the recommendation with skills I have gained using Microsoft SQL Server. My ability to provide Microsoft SQL Server queries and stored procedures to others when supporting Microsoft SQL Server in an environment. Ease of moving data into Microsoft SQL Server. It does present problems when importing data from older versions or other sources and takes advanced skills in many cases. Installer is a bit baffling at times and you have to just know from experience what to check or uncheck in the process. Needs a better way to determine what version to use, where and with which licensing mode. Express version often fails for unexplained reasons even though the environment, data size, number of connections.... all are within spec.

Rick Hahn

Consultant \ Support in Information Technology at Rick Hahn Tech Services (Computer Software, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

MS SQL Server Industry standard database and comprehensive solution

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

May 17, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I currently provide consulting services to various clients. These clients use [Microsoft] SQL Server as the database for there financial system and CRM applications in addition to using for reporting and ETL processes.

Pros

ETL using SSIS to automate processes
Reporting Services to offer SSRS reports as a standard reporting interface
Data Analysis using stored procedure, views and transformations
Connectivity/Integration with other applications through ODBC, Linked Server, etc.

Cons

Simplify licensing

Likelihood to Recommend

[Microsoft SQL Server is well suited] as a comprehensive solution as transactional database, data warehouse, analytics, reporting and ETL. Able to communicate with Azure database environment.

If you use other Microsoft applications, it integrates well such as Excel and Access.

If you have limited resources to support and maintain environment this may not be ideal compared to a managed service or SAAS solution such as SNOWFLAKE.

Salvador Orochena

Salesforce Developer in Information Technology at Mondo (Information Services, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

20 years of experience

View profile

Good robust software for handling complex datasets

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 8, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Microsoft SQL Server to store various databases that are used within both the whole company and also within certain departments. Data from these databases have front-end interfaces for easy editing by certain users and data also feeds into other systems and is merged with other data sources. It allows us to have a common silo for storing our data that helps developers and admin staff easily access the data for further use.

Pros

Good range of data types helps us store lots of diverse data
Easy administration helps us control who has access and what they can do with the data
Backup and restore processes are easy to manage and provide good security
Data can be easily replicated from Server to Server for use in other countries

Cons

The import/export process can be tricky to follow with lots of steps and could be better for importing flat files
Obtaining help from Microsoft is cumbersome and often other internet sources are better and quicker
The documentation is not great and again it's generally better to obtain help elsewhere if needed

Likelihood to Recommend

Ultimately [Microsoft SQL Server] is fairly easy to set up and easy to use if you have knowledge of relational databases and how they work. Being from Microsoft it is a well known, widely used robust piece of software that is ever evolving and plenty of related information can be found all over the internet in various guises such as forums and blogs.

Paul Nockolds

Data Analyst / Scuba Dive Instructor in Information Technology at Haymarket Publishing (Media Production, 1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

20 years of experience

View profile

Microsoft SQL from a happy database user

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

March 2, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I consult for system and data integration projects. Many of my customers use SQL as their data management and storage system. During integration projects, I will also use SQL to store information that I need later in the integration process or for reporting purposes or auditing.

Pros

Storing data in a de facto standard relational database.
Industry proven connectors to the data.
Options for hosted (Azure) to on-premise.
Options for scalability from SQL Express to SQL clustering.

Cons

Developers have their change list, however, it does what I need.

Likelihood to Recommend

Large to small amounts of data that is logical and fairly predictable type of data. It provides a way to see the data and access it in a logical way. SQL provides the system for database architects to create their own database as efficiently or not so efficiently as they wish. The platform is flexible.
SQL is not as well suited for fuzzy data storage or data lakes.

Quentin Goin

Integration Engineer in Information Technology at Goin Solutions, Inc. (Computer Software, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

Easy to use and set up, robust and reliable DBMS

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 20, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In our database department, we use Microsoft SQL Server for storing data, data aggregation, and manipulation. We use Reporting services tools for creating, managing and deploying reports for our clients. For creating a report definition I personally used Report Builder which makes defining data source connections, queries used to retrieve data, expressions, parameters and others extremely easy to perform. We also try to improve the performance of stored procedures, user-defined functions, and triggers by learning the execution plan in detail. One of our clients has a web app for an insurance company and they have a large amount of data stored in the Microsoft SQL Server database. Our goal is to improve performance from queries that are used in that web app, so we try controlling execution plans with hints or adding indexes. In cases when we meet a new client who already has some database storage then we use replication technology for copying and distributing data and objects from one database to another. Besides that, we also help our clients to build parameterized queries in order to defend from SQL injection which is one of the most common web hacking techniques.

Pros

It offers a lot of functionalities, such as Reporting Services, Integration Services, Job Scheduler, Resource Manager, Query Analyzer and Profiler, etc.
You can connect it to Active Directory if you so desire.

Cons

The price of the enterprise version could be a little lower and also licensing should be more understandable.
There can be problems when connecting with software that is not owned by Microsoft.

Likelihood to Recommend

When a client is working in a .NET environment and he is developing a web application then it is advisable to use Microsoft SQL Server as a storage solution. Also when some company wants to store a large amount of data then Microsoft SQL Server is an extremely good solution because it is a very stable and maintainable database option. But in cases when someone wants to make a small website or application that stores a small amount of data then it is probably better to store it in some open-source database which is also free to use. When some company relies a lot on analytics then SQL Server is the first-class solution. A scenario where it would be less appropriate is when some startup doesn't have much money for starting and at the start they don't need some very professional RDBMS, then they could use something like MySQL.

luka horvat

Software Engineer in Information Technology at King-ICT (Computer Software, 501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

The way to go for your database implementations

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

September 12, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Microsoft SQL Server primarily as the back end database server to ASP.Net C# websites. For authentication and authorization, the database uses tables and stored procedures to implement membership or identity for user login and defining roles. Of course, the database is used to hold data entities for the needs of the website. Use of stored procedures, views, and sequences full-text indexing are just some of the useful features I take advantage of.

Pros

Speed of selects with appropriate indexes.
Use through C# of Linq queries to the data.
Ability to use CLR assemblies to program in C#.
Replication to keep the database mirrored to another server.

Cons

I sure wish the T-SQL language was more like C# - it's really primitive.
I would like an easy way to pass an array to stored procedures and a way to iterate through the array in the code.
Integrated source control for the database would be appreciated.

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft SQL Server is well suited for various scenarios and solutions since it is a general-purpose relational database capable of easily and efficiently meeting the needs of your website or application. It is fast, reliable, scalable and easy to use. Due to its popularity, there are many sources of user help, tutorials, examples, and solutions available.

Gary Davis

Director in Information Technology at Webguild (Computer Software, 1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

24 years of experience

MS SQL server best software to manipulate data

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

February 12, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My whole company uses the Microsoft SQL Server, almost every department and team makes use of the SQL Server. Basically it is used as RDBMS to manipulate and store data for business purposes. Developers use this to handle data of the products on which they are working. I am using SQL server since I joined the company in 2013.

Pros

Provides good interface and intelligence help to write queries easily.
Provides many built-in functions to perform various operations on data.
Helps to store and manipulate data.
4 Users can create their own functions and procedures.
Provides various types of data for analysis.

Cons

Due to many features included in SQL Server it takes large memory and some times it slows down.
You need to refresh many times for intellisense to show up.
Installation takes more time.

Likelihood to Recommend

MS SQL is well suited for every organization using databases at the back-end to store data. This has been improving every year and addressing the need of growing data. It is a very consistent and reliable tool. Very easy to import and export data to external tools like Excel and other files. Easy to bulk copy data from tables to files and from files to tables.

Pardeep Goyal

Senior Software Developer in Information Technology at Open access tecnology India (Computer Software, 501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

View profile

My opinion on using Microsoft SQL Server

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 21, 2019

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Microsoft SQL Server is used as a relational database management tool by our organisation. It's mostly used by every department in our corporation to insert, update, delete, manage data and to provide various encryptions to it.

Pros

SQL Sever supports multiple users in one setup which make it a multiuser system.
SQL profiler tracks the background queries and helps with the debugging and management of SQL queries
By analysing estimated and actual test plans, it helps to make queries more optimized

Cons

Issues exist when restoring a database for low screen resolution system. This should be debugged and corrected.
Doesn't auto backup an unsaved query window. So when SQL server is restarted it [loses] previously unsaved work.
Hanging issues while booting SQL Server.

Likelihood to Recommend

If the user needs data management tool for development purposes of website or desktop applications then it's a good tool. It supports Microsoft Visual Studio well.

Simran Singh

Senior Software Engineer in Engineering at ToXSL Technologies Pvt Ltd (Computer Software, 51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

View profile

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Easy to use and set up, robust and reliable DBMS

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 20, 2020

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

It offers a lot of functionalities, such as Reporting Services, Integration Services, Job Scheduler, Resource Manager, Query Analyzer and Profiler, etc.
You can connect it to Active Directory if you so desire.

Cons

The price of the enterprise version could be a little lower and also licensing should be more understandable.
There can be problems when connecting with software that is not owned by Microsoft.

Likelihood to Recommend

luka horvat

Software Engineer in Information Technology at King-ICT (Computer Software, 501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience