Are you a SQL Server DBA that wants to streamline work? Or maybe you are a Network Engineer that just inherited SQL Server tasks to do your job. If you are new or a seasoned veteran, there are specific tools available to help you with your day-to-day SQL Server tasks. RED Gate Software recently released a new service called SQL Professional Toolbelt, a compilation of all of their tools for an annual subscription. You can compare it to a Microsoft MSDN or Technet subscription where all the software is free to you for one year. As a SQL Professional Toolbelt subscriber, you have access to all of their current and new tools for one price. The annual subscription which includes 12 months of support and upgrades, is $1,995 and renewals are $995.

“SQL Professional Toolbelt is like tapping into the entire contents of our developer’s brains as they turn out the tools you need to get the job done,” says Simon Galbraith, joint CEO of Red Gate. “There are three major benefits to this subscription. First, it’s astonishingly good value. Second, the one-off annual payment greatly simplifies purchasing. Third, it gives SQL DBAs and developers access to the preferred tools they need right now – not in a month’s time after the purchase order has been approved. It’s in the nature of the DBA role that you have to deal with live issues quickly and get it right the first time. SQL Professional Toolbelt gives flexibility, speed and confidence.”

With this annual subscription, the following products are available to you: SQL Compare, SQL Data Compare, SQL Packager, SQL Backup, SQL Doc, SQL Toolkit, SQL Dependency, SQL Log Rescue, SQL Refactor, SQL Prompt, and 12 months support for their products which includes upgrades.

Let’s provide you with a brief overview of these products.

SQL Compare allows you to compare and synchronized the structure of your SQL Server databases (database schemas). With this product, you choose the databases that need to be compared and then review the differences. Once that is complete, you can create a script to “synch” the databases together. You can even choose the direction in which you want the data synchronized. A close relative of SQL Compare is SQL Data Compare. This tool allows you to keep your data in production, development, and disaster recovery databases in “synch.”

Do you have a need to deploy databases on a regular basis? If so, SQL Packager allows you to deploy databases by themselves or as a part of any .Net applications that you use. One of my favorite tools is SQL Backup. Simply stated, it allows you to encrypt and compress your database backups.

With SQL Doc you can connect to a database(s) and output documentation in an HTML format. It enables you to quickly access an overview of your database, including schema and dependencies. SQL Doc Pro comes with a command-line interface. Any DBA that needs to produce documentation quickly can benefit from this tool.

The SQL Toolkit compares and synchronizes databases’ schema and data. By giving you access to the APIs and command-line utilities you can automate your SQL comparison and synchronization tasks.

SQL Dependency Tracker allows you to dynamically explore all your database object dependencies, using a range of graphical layouts. You can analyze very large Microsoft SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 databases and produce diagrams for all of your database changes.

SQL Log Rescue is a safety net for SQL Server databases. It is used for identifying transactions that have damaged a database, recovering a damaged database without any downtime or data loss, understanding demands on a database in terms of numbers of transactions, rate of data change, volume of users etc, protecting your data in the event of mistakes or accidents and so on.

SQL Refactor allows you to automatically format your SQL code and database objects in the style of your choice. SQL Refactor improves the quality of your code, making it easier to read, understand and share amongst a team.

SQL Prompt provides IntelliSense-style auto-completion for Microsoft SQL Server editors. It will tell you the exact formatting you should use for your SQL commands, while you are writing them, and will therefore help you write fast, perfectly formatted SQL statements. SQL Prompt improves the productivity of all SQL script creation.

About Red Gate Software

“Since 1999, Red Gate Software has been developing ingeniously simple tools that simplify the business of working with SQL Server and .NET. Our tools, which include SQL Compare, SQL Backup and ANTS Profiler, have become industry standards for developers and DBAs worldwide.” Red Gate is a Microsoft Gold Visual Studio .NET launch partner and a VSIP partner.

Download a 2 week free trial of SQL Professional Toolbelt form Red Gate’s web site and see their tools first hand.