Microsoft SQL Servers are an industry-leading choice for your workloads, but if you are not using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio you may be making things harder for yourself. The additional service is designed to integrate with your SQL database engine and improve object management, database queries, and other management functionality.
What is Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio? – Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) was originally released with SQL 2005 and helps users access and manage their SQL instances. It is an integrated management interface that allows you to access your SQL Server, manage objects, write scripts, and perform queries with a number of tools and features. It combines tools from Enterprise Manager, Query Analyzer, and Analysis Manager to get this job done. SSMS is easy to use with an intuitive User Interface (UI) and familiar design built on Visual Studio and will help improve your team’s management of SQL Server objects and elements
Object Explorer – The interface is intuitive and makes accessing and managing your databases simple and efficient. The Object Explorer is a hierarchical navigation tree that allows you to locate and act upon objects in your environment. These objects can be databases, tables, etc. You can click through the tree to find your object or perform a search. When you right-click on objects in the panel you can perform actions that make running queries that much simpler.
Rich Script Editor – The Rich Script editor is based on Visual Studio and has much the same functionality, except that it is tied into the database engine and can perform actions more efficiently as a result. It has the familiar color-coded text and script editing tools to which your developers are accustomed. The main differences will be the ability to query instantly, as you are already connected to the SQL server, and a tool to allocate the database environment to filter your actions.
Template Explorer – SSMS contains a library of templates to allow you to perform repetitive actions more easily. These templates are stock files that can be duplicated and edited to create actionable SQL scripts. With the templates, you can edit the code in the editor window, or create custom templates from scratch. This can help you create lots of objects that you need on a routine basis – databases, tables, stored procedures, functions, and even management items (logins, users, roles, etc.)
How Do You Get SSMS? – Microsoft releases SSMS separately from its SQL server releases, and so they are not on the same install package. This ensures that you are getting the most recent version of SSMS when you go to install, which is helpful, but it means that you may have to seek it out. Once it has been installed it will prompt you for regular updates. Don’t worry about compatibility. This service is backward compatible so that no matter what version of SQL Server you have (past 2005) it will work with the newest SSMS.
You can certainly utilize your Microsoft SQL Servers without SSMS, but why would you? IT processes and workloads are continually growing. It just makes sense to try to manage them smarter, not harder. Using every tool at your disposal will help contain management effort and help your system work for you.
Dobler Consulting is a full spectrum database service with 10 years of experience helping companies strategize and execute workload management solutions. Dobler Consulting is a Microsoft Gold Partner and can help you plan or execute your database strategies no matter where you are in the process. For more information about how Dobler Consulting can help you manage your SQL Server, visit www.doblerconsulting.com or call us at +1 (813) 322-3240 (US) .
Sources:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/sql-server-management-studio-ssms?view=sql-server-2017
https://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/definition/Microsoft-SQL-Server-Management-Studio-SSMS