![]() This information can help you assess, when it comes to the security factor, whether your SQL Server databases (or the full instance) can be candidates for consolidation or not. ![]() In the generated report you will be able to access critical security information about your SQL Server instances and databases. Furthermore, it provides recommendations on how you can mitigate these risks.įigure 2: DBA Security Advisor – SQL Instance Connection Dialogįigure 3: DBA Security Advisor – Security Checks Dialogįigure 4: DBA Security Advisor – Sample Report The tool allows you to run security assessments against multiple SQL Server instances and generates security reports with the detected security risks. DBA Security Advisor is a security assessment tool for SQL Server with more than 30 security checks. One of those tools is DBA Security Advisor. Regarding the security assessment factor, there are tools you can use in order to make it easier for you to collect security-related information for SQL Server instances and their databases. The service accounts that are used for the SQL Server database engine and agent services and what privileges they have on the instance and OS. In most of the cases you can avoid that by giving only explicit permissions to database objects.Īny surface area features that might be enabled and how they are used. Who has SysAdmin Access? Is it really justified? Note than you should be extremely cautious if and when providing SysAdmin access. Prior to give the green light for the security factor, you need to check if the candidate SQL Server databases and instance use any features that you might not want to migrate to the consolidated environment. Let’s see the above factors in more detail. SQL Server Instance Versions and Database Compatibility Levels To this end, prior to consolidating a database or a full instance, you need to assess it against a list of factors such as: Your primary goal must be, after consolidating SQL Server databases and instances, to have at least the same level of performance, security and stability as before, if not more. Share hardware resources/reduce hardware costĮven though SQL Server consolidation is a practice used often, in order to have the above benefits, you need to thoroughly assess each candidate SQL Server database (or instance) for consolidation. The main benefits of SQL Server consolidation are:Įasier high availability and disaster recovery Some of the principles described in the article can also be used when consolidating SQL Server instances as well.Īn example of a database consolidation process would be having 3 databases on each of 3 SQL Server instances and after consolidating them to end up with a single SQL Server instance with 9 databases sharing the same hardware resources such as CPU, RAM, I/O, network, etc.įigure 1: SQL Server Database Consolidation Example This article mainly focuses on the consolidation type of hosting multiple databases on a single, highly available SQL Server instance and suggests a methodology of assessing the candidate databases. Host multiple virtual SQL Server machines on a single physical machine Host multiple SQL Server instances on a single machine Host multiple databases on a single SQL Server instance Database consolidation is the process of centralizing multiple databases and instances in order to share resources and thus, among other, cut licensing and hardware costs. However, even though consolidation can reduce costs, if not properly designed, it can lead to security holes, performance degradation and even service disruption.įirst let’s define what database consolidation is. Usually, consolidation of SQL Server databases and instances takes place in large organizations where the licensing and infrastructure costs can be very high. The key phrase used in the above statement is “under certain criteria”. Consolidating SQL Server databases and instances is a practice which, under certain criteria, allows organizations to benefit as they can reduce licensing costs, and if properly designed, hardware costs.
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