Middleware
Although SQL Server has always supported connectivity to COM- and Microsoft .NET-based data, Microsoft hasn't provided the same level of support for Java-based data connectivity. In fact, the company didn't provide a SQL Server Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver until 2002. Although Microsoft's native JDBC driver is a good starting point, some third-party JDBC middleware products exceed its capabilities. DataDirect Technologies, which supplied Microsoft's JDBC technology, also markets its own JDBC 3.0-compliant JDBC driver—DataDirect Connect for JDBC, which offers Java connectivity to most other database platforms. DataDirect also sells DataDirect Connect for .NET, a native data provider that supports .NET connectivity to DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, and Sybase. JNetDirect's JSQLConnect also meets the JDBC 3.0 specification and offers Linux, Windows, and UNIX client platforms Java access to SQL Server.
Auditing and Security
For basic security auditing of Windows and server products such as Microsoft Exchange Server and SQL Server, you can download Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) for free from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=8b7a580d-0c91-45b7-91ba-fc47f7c3d6ad&displaylang=en. MBSA is a valuable product that all SQL Server shops should employ. As valuable as MBSA is, however, several third-party products go beyond its basic functionality. Internet Security Systems' (ISS's) Database Scanner scans Oracle, SQL Server, and Sybase databases for possible security exposures, including incorrect account permissions, unauthorized object ownership, stale logon IDs, and other system-integrity threats such as buffer-overrun exposures and Trojan horses. Another powerful database-security scanner, NetIQ's VigilEnt Security Agent for SQL Server, is part of the VigilEnt Security Manager Suite and combines intrusion, policy, user, and vulnerability management into one agent. BindView's bv-Control for SQL Server is a multifaceted management product with a strong emphasis on security. bv-Control provides basic management as well as strong database-auditing capabilities, including the ability to review transaction logs, scan for unauthorized transactions, and track schema and configuration changes. Red Matrix Technologies' SQLAudit 2.0 lets you audit data changes, an important aspect of security. SQLAudit logs which users make data changes, which data they change, and how they change it.
Source-Code and Version Control
Despite its strengths, SQL Server has always lacked version control, which is an important feature if you need to isolate releases of a given database schema or enable team development. You could use Visual Studio .NET's integrated Microsoft Visual SourceSafe application for source-code and version control, but most DBAs and T-SQL developers don't use Visual Studio .NET. Instead, they typically rely on Query Analyzer, which doesn't have version-control capabilities. However, some third-party products, such as CAST Release-Builder, enable T-SQL version control. CAST Release-Builder also automates script extraction, database comparison, and script generation for updates. BMC Software's SQL-Programmer Expert, a well-known T-SQL development tool that features integrated version control, enables T-SQL development and provides stepped debugging and check-in and check-out version control. Embarcadero offers two tools for T-SQL development and source control: Rapid SQL and Embarcadero Change Manager. Rapid SQL includes code templates for improved productivity and built-in version control; Embarcadero Change Manager records and compares schema of different database versions. Red Gate Software's SQL Compare automates database comparisons and lets you push local database changes to a live database on a remote server. Adept SQL Tools' AdeptSQL Diff visually compares and synchronizes databases. Innovartis's DB Ghost lets you compare databases, report their differences, and optionally synchronize them.
Business Intelligence
Since Microsoft introduced OLAP Services in SQL Server 7.0, BI has been the fastest-growing segment of the overall database market. BI products have high strategic importance and provide a competitive advantage for the companies that implement them; they provide insight into a company's line of business and expose data relationships that foster improved understanding of business processes. These abilities let organizations recognize trends and adjust to changing conditions. ProClarity Analytics Platform is a leader in the BI market. The software supports Analysis Services and includes the ProClarity Analytics Application Development Platform (PAADP) and the ProClarity Analytics Suite. PAADP lets you build custom analytics applications; the Analytics Suite provides developer and end-user tools for analyzing BI data.
Panorama Software's Panorama NovaView BI Platform also supports Analysis Services and features a range of analytical capabilities that include bubble-up exceptions, forecasting, trend analysis, what-if analysis, and a direct Multidimensional Expression (MDX) mode that lets power users execute custom statements for Analysis Services queries. Cognos PowerPlay supports multiple OLAP data sources and lets end users create multidimensional analysis reports and share them across the organization. PowerPlay supports Analysis Services, IBM's OLAP for DB2, Hyperion Solutions' Hyperion Essbase, and SAP BW. Business Objects' Crystal Analysis also supports multiple OLAP data sources, including Analysis Services, Essbase, DB2 OLAP, and SAP BW. Crystal Analysis features a drag-and-drop design environment and uses the Crystal Enterprise tool to publish reports to the Web.
Other third-party BI products include MaxQ Technologies' eProphet Business Intelligence Series, which uses information from any source in your organization to perform multidimensional reporting and analysis. arcplan's dynaSight lets you create customized Web-based information systems without having to program. SoftPro Tetral's SoftPro Manager 4.0 uses distributed client/server architecture to provide scalability and offers a range of decision-support functionalities, from ad hoc queries to enterprise-database reporting. SPSS's OLAP Hub, a zero-client Web-based query, reporting, and analysis product, includes Report Depot, which saves and distributes reports; Relational Router, which lets users move between OLAP and relational data sources; and OLAP Hub Scheduler, which automates the production of OLAP reports. Temtec's Executive Viewer gives users interactive, Web-based access to Analysis Services and Essbase and enables dynamic ad hoc analysis and end-user reports, which you can embed in custom dashboards and Web portals.
Another class of BI products lets you integrate Analysis Services data with Microsoft Office. IntelligentApps Excel Edition integrates Analysis Services with Microsoft Excel and uses the Excel interface to create ad hoc queries, formal financial reports, and personal dashboards. MIS Plain uses familiar desktop tools to plan, report, and analyze information and delivers seamless Analysis Services integration with Excel.
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