Microsoft SQL Server vs Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

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Microsoft SQL Server

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Microsoft SQL Server vs Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio: What are the differences?

Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) are key components of the SQL Server ecosystem, with the following differences:

  1. Functionality: Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that handles data storage, retrieval, and management using the SQL language. On the other hand, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is a graphical user interface (GUI) tool designed specifically for managing and administering SQL Server instances. It offers a range of tools for database administration, querying, scripting, and performance monitoring.

  2. Database Management: SQL Server handles database creation, modification, querying, and transaction management, while SSMS provides a user-friendly interface for tasks like database administration, user management, and performance monitoring.

  3. Querying and Scripting: SQL Server provides a command-line interface and a powerful SQL language for querying and manipulating data. It supports complex queries, joins, subqueries, and various SQL extensions. SSMS offers a visual query editor that allows users to write and execute SQL queries with syntax highlighting and IntelliSense. It also provides a script editor for creating and executing scripts against the database.

  4. User Interface and Visual Tools: SSMS provides a comprehensive GUI with visual designers for creating and modifying database objects, while SQL Server is primarily accessed through command-line interfaces or APIs.

  5. Extensibility and Integration: SQL Server integrates with development tools and programming languages, while SSMS offers integration with SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) for reporting capabilities.

In summary, Microsoft SQL Server is the RDBMS that handles data storage and management using the SQL language, while SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is a GUI tool designed for managing and administering SQL Server instances. SQL Server focuses on the core database engine and functionality, while SSMS provides a user-friendly interface, visual tools, and scripting capabilities for database management and administration.

Advice on Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

I am a Microsoft SQL Server programmer who is a bit out of practice. I have been asked to assist on a new project. The overall purpose is to organize a large number of recordings so that they can be searched. I have an enormous music library but my songs are several hours long. I need to include things like time, date and location of the recording. I don't have a problem with the general database design. I have two primary questions:

  1. I need to use either MySQL or PostgreSQL on a Linux based OS. Which would be better for this application?
  2. I have not dealt with a sound based data type before. How do I store that and put it in a table? Thank you.
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Replies (6)

Hi Erin,

Honestly both databases will do the job just fine. I personally prefer Postgres.

Much more important is how you store the audio. While you could technically use a blob type column, it's really not ideal to be storing audio files which are "several hours long" in a database row. Instead consider storing the audio files in an object store (hosted options include backblaze b2 or aws s3) and persisting the key (which references that object) in your database column.

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Aaron Westley
Recommends
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PostgreSQLPostgreSQL

Hi Erin, Chances are you would want to store the files in a blob type. Both MySQL and Postgres support this. Can you explain a little more about your need to store the files in the database? I may be more effective to store the files on a file system or something like S3. To answer your qustion based on what you are descibing I would slighly lean towards PostgreSQL since it tends to be a little better on the data warehousing side.

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Christopher Wray
Web Developer at Soltech LLC · | 3 upvotes · 420.6K views
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DirectusDirectus
at

Hey Erin! I would recommend checking out Directus before you start work on building your own app for them. I just stumbled upon it, and so far extremely happy with the functionalities. If your client is just looking for a simple web app for their own data, then Directus may be a great option. It offers "database mirroring", so that you can connect it to any database and set up functionality around it!

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Julien DeFrance
Principal Software Engineer at Tophatter · | 3 upvotes · 420.2K views
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Amazon AuroraAmazon Aurora

Hi Erin! First of all, you'd probably want to go with a managed service. Don't spin up your own MySQL installation on your own Linux box. If you are on AWS, thet have different offerings for database services. Standard RDS vs. Aurora. Aurora would be my preferred choice given the benefits it offers, storage optimizations it comes with... etc. Such managed services easily allow you to apply new security patches and upgrades, set up backups, replication... etc. Doing this on your own would either be risky, inefficient, or you might just give up. As far as which database to chose, you'll have the choice between Postgresql, MySQL, Maria DB, SQL Server... etc. I personally would recommend MySQL (latest version available), as the official tooling for it (MySQL Workbench) is great, stable, and moreover free. Other database services exist, I'd recommend you also explore Dynamo DB.

Regardless, you'd certainly only keep high-level records, meta data in Database, and the actual files, most-likely in S3, so that you can keep all options open in terms of what you'll do with them.

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Recommends
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PostgreSQLPostgreSQL

Hi Erin,

  • Coming from "Big" DB engines, such as Oracle or MSSQL, go for PostgreSQL. You'll get all the features you need with PostgreSQL.
  • Your case seems to point to a "NoSQL" or Document Database use case. Since you get covered on this with PostgreSQL which achieves excellent performances on JSON based objects, this is a second reason to choose PostgreSQL. MongoDB might be an excellent option as well if you need "sharding" and excellent map-reduce mechanisms for very massive data sets. You really should investigate the NoSQL option for your use case.
  • Starting with AWS Aurora is an excellent advise. since "vendor lock-in" is limited, but I did not check for JSON based object / NoSQL features.
  • If you stick to Linux server, the PostgreSQL or MySQL provided with your distribution are straightforward to install (i.e. apt install postgresql). For PostgreSQL, make sure you're comfortable with the pg_hba.conf, especially for IP restrictions & accesses.

Regards,

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Klaus Nji
Staff Software Engineer at SailPoint Technologies · | 1 upvotes · 420.3K views
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PostgreSQLPostgreSQL

I recommend Postgres as well. Superior performance overall and a more robust architecture.

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I am looking to build an azure database that connects to my power bi application. Initially, I attempted to create an Azure SQL database, then realized I needed to have SQL Server Management Service in order to manage and connect between Azure SQL <=> Power BI, but since I am on a Mac, I had to use the complex installation as a workaround.

If MySQL Workbench can solve this (as the product is available on Mac), I am more than happy to proceed with this approach if it can achieve the same goal of connecting an azure database with my Power BI application

What I am trying to achieve is fairly simple: have an online cloud database that connects to my Power BI application

I am open to any other solutions as well

Thank you

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Replies (5)
Oded Arbel
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MySQL WorkBenchMySQL WorkBench

As others have noted, MySQL Workbench cannot be used instead of Microsoft SQL Manager to manage Azure SQL (MS-SQL Server, I hate that Microsoft uses generic category names for their products).

If you're considering switching to MySQL (Possibly using Azure MySQL managed database), then please not that unlike MS-SQL Server, you do not need the MySQL Workbench to connect your application to MysQL: just use the correct driver for your stack, and you're all set (if your stack is using the .Net platform, use MySQL Connector/NET from: https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/ ).

If you do want to use a graphical interface to maintain your MySQL database, then MySQL Workbench is a great choice, but you are not limited to it - as others have mentioned, there is a plethora of competing graphical database management tools that would work just as well with MySQL - one of the advantages of choosing MySQL for your stack is the huge eco-system that is built around it.

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Lawrence Fernandes
Data Engineer at B2W Digital · | 1 upvotes · 191.1K views
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DBeaverDBeaver

Hello Could you give us a better idea of what Data Base Management System (DBMS) you are using at Azure? MySQL Workbench and Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) are tools developed to exclusively manage MySQL and SQL Server, respectively. If you need to manage multiple DBMS's from a single tool, I sugget you try DBeaver. There are also another alternatives: HeidiSQL, phpMyAdmin, etc. Regarding the DBMS itself, I suggest you stick with SQL Server. In my opinion it's more stable and has more features than MySQL - especially in the Standard and Enterprise editions. Regards, Lawrence

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Povilas Brilius
PHP Web Developer at GroundIn Software · | 1 upvotes · 191.4K views

As far as I know, MySQL Workbench doesn't handle Microsoft connections, including Azure, you should try Microsoft solutions such as MS VS Code.

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Julien DeFrance
Principal Software Engineer at Tophatter · | 1 upvotes · 190.9K views

Hi Aashwiin, Looking at your stack (https://stackshare.io/aashwiin82347/my-stack), it seems you are using Azure SQL Databases. I'll infer this is Microsoft SQL Server. Therefore, it certainly makes sense you stick with some of the official Microsoft Tooling to connect to it, query and administer it. You'd only be looking at MySQL Query Workbench, if you were running and connecting to a MySQL Database. - That said, could Azure MySQL (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/mysql/overview) be an option for you a this point? MySQL offers great performance. I have been running it at various companies (under AWS/RDS and AWS/Aurora) and have no reason to switch over to anything else. - Decision making-wise, how much do your want your local sql/mysql client to influence/weigh in your architecture/technology decisions, though? This can be a slippery slope. - Alternatively, other clients exist, such as "Table Plus" and allow you to connect, on Mac, to a variety of database servers, including SQL Server. It might be worth giving it a try.

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Erica Rowe
Tech Lead at eComEngine LLC · | 1 upvotes · 191.1K views
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AzureDataStudioAzureDataStudio

Microsoft provides an application known as Azure Data Studio that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux machines. It provides the ability to manage an Azure SQL database, as well as connecting to standard SQL Server databases. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/azure-data-studio/what-is?view=sql-server-ver15

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Pros of Microsoft SQL Server
Pros of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
  • 139
    Reliable and easy to use
  • 102
    High performance
  • 95
    Great with .net
  • 65
    Works well with .net
  • 56
    Easy to maintain
  • 21
    Azure support
  • 17
    Full Index Support
  • 17
    Always on
  • 10
    Enterprise manager is fantastic
  • 9
    In-Memory OLTP Engine
  • 2
    Easy to setup and configure
  • 2
    Security is forefront
  • 1
    Faster Than Oracle
  • 1
    Decent management tools
  • 1
    Great documentation
  • 1
    Docker Delivery
  • 1
    Columnstore indexes
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    Cons of Microsoft SQL Server
    Cons of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
    • 4
      Expensive Licensing
    • 2
      Microsoft
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      What is Microsoft SQL Server?

      Microsoft® SQL Server is a database management and analysis system for e-commerce, line-of-business, and data warehousing solutions.

      What is Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio?

      It is an integrated environment for managing any SQL infrastructure, from SQL Server to Azure SQL Database. It provides tools to configure, monitor, and administer instances of SQL Server and databases. Use it to deploy, monitor, and upgrade the data-tier components used by your applications, as well as build queries and scripts.

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      What companies use Microsoft SQL Server?
      What companies use Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio?
      See which teams inside your own company are using Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.
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      What tools integrate with Microsoft SQL Server?
      What tools integrate with Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio?

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      What are some alternatives to Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio?
      Oracle
      Oracle Database is an RDBMS. An RDBMS that implements object-oriented features such as user-defined types, inheritance, and polymorphism is called an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS). Oracle Database has extended the relational model to an object-relational model, making it possible to store complex business models in a relational database.
      PostgreSQL
      PostgreSQL is an advanced object-relational database management system that supports an extended subset of the SQL standard, including transactions, foreign keys, subqueries, triggers, user-defined types and functions.
      Apache Aurora
      Apache Aurora is a service scheduler that runs on top of Mesos, enabling you to run long-running services that take advantage of Mesos' scalability, fault-tolerance, and resource isolation.
      Microsoft Access
      It is an easy-to-use tool for creating business applications, from templates or from scratch. With its rich and intuitive design tools, it can help you create appealing and highly functional applications in a minimal amount of time.
      MariaDB
      Started by core members of the original MySQL team, MariaDB actively works with outside developers to deliver the most featureful, stable, and sanely licensed open SQL server in the industry. MariaDB is designed as a drop-in replacement of MySQL(R) with more features, new storage engines, fewer bugs, and better performance.
      See all alternatives