A database snapshot in SQL Server provides an instant, read-only view of your data at a specific point in time without blocking the live workload. This post explores how snapshots interact with high-availability technologies—Always On Availability Groups, log shipping, and transactional replication—highlighting that creating a snapshot is always safe but restoring it severs existing sync mechanisms. You’ll learn the steps required to roll back to a snapshot, including AG reseeding, log-shipping reinitialization, or replication re-initialization, and why planning for these operations is essential. The post also covers practical tips on monitoring sparse-file growth and choosing between snapshots and full backups for longer-term retention.
Category: SQL Auditing
Introduction to Temporal Tables: Seamless Record Versioning in SQL Server
Have you ever wanted to see exactly how a row looked in your SQL Server database a week or a month ago—without writing complicated auditing code or triggers? With temporal tables (also known as system-versioned tables), you can do precisely that. Temporal tables automatically track historical data changes by maintaining multiple versions of each row in a separate history table. Let’s explore how they work, why you might use them, how to set them up, and what best practices to follow.
Securing NorthPine Bank’s Data: How SQL Server 2022 Can Help
NorthPine Bank, a fictitious yet representative financial institution, recognized the necessity to modernize its data infrastructure to safeguard sensitive customer information against emerging threats. The bank decided to migrate its operations to SQL Server 2022, leveraging its advanced security features to enhance data protection, ensure regulatory compliance, and maintain operational efficiency. This blog explores the specific security challenges faced by NorthPine Bank and details how SQL Server 2022 addresses these issues through its robust, built-in features.
The Application Role: Implementing Application Roles with SQL Server
A straightforward guide to implementing application roles in SQL Server, focusing on enhancing security and managing database permissions for applications. This guide covers the creation, activation, and management of application roles, ensuring applications have the necessary access while minimizing the risk of unauthorized actions. Learn about key concepts such as role activation, permission assignment, and reverting security contexts. Follow best practices to effectively use application roles and improve the overall security and manageability of your SQL Server databases.
SQL Auditing and Always On: Working Together
Maintaining continuous and consistent auditing is crucial for security, compliance, and troubleshooting. When working with SQL Server Always On Availability Groups, a failover event can pose significant challenges to your audit configurations and logs. This guide will help you navigate these challenges by outlining the key considerations and steps necessary to ensure that SQL Server auditing remains seamless during a failover.