SQL Server has been recognized by many studies as the leader in providing the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) of major relational database management systems (RDBMS).

Most of these studies look at the price of the hardware and software required to achieve a certain result – usually a number of transactions per second, and it is clear what the cost advantage of SQL is in these scenarios; licensing costs for SQL Server are significantly lower than its main competitors, especially in multi-core systems as a license is only required for each socket, not for each core . However, the main benefit in lower cost is one that is not as easily measured, but provides the major advantage long-term. That is ease of use and administration.

SQL Server is targeted at all ranges of systems, from individual desktop databases to the largest in the world, but it is designed to be as self-tuning and manageable as possible. The goal is to ensure that a default installation will be as performant as possible for the majority of installations, but access is available for sophisticated fine-tuning if required. There are more and more installations that do not even have a DBA. The manufacturing world is a good example, where plant floor operations are run off of SQL Server, but there is not really an IT operation. Or a system running out on an oil well drilling platform. This system may be very sophisticated, managing huge amounts of sensor and seismic data, but there is certainly no DBA on the platform.

Another major area of savings from SQL Server that is often overlooked is the developer experience. Many developers prefer to work on SQL Server than other systems because of the feedback available to ensure optional queries. The graphical query plan can show how a query will actually be executed, as well as show the best (as far as query cost) option from a selection of queries.

SQL Server was rewritten for version 7.0 to conform as close as possible to the relational model. This means that a good data model and understanding of the relational model allows developers to design in performance from the outset. This makes a huge difference in the costs of on-site consultants to optimize each and every installation.

SQL Server also has a Database Tuning Advisor (DTA), that takes individual queries up to whole workloads and analyzes them for optimal indexes and then writes those indexes for you. There are also many maintenance queries that are monitoring the systems and gather data for other optimization suggestions. An example is the missing index data management view (DMV) in SQL 2005 that suggests indexes that are needed, generated from actual system use.

These are just some of the many features that are available in SQL Server to further lower the cost of ownership. For more information on the Database Tuning Advisor (DTA) in SQL Server 2005, please watch our webcast and read our whitepaper.

For more information on Database Management Views, see an overview and an application to report from these views easily.

sharon bjeletich | SQL Server Program Manager

This blog is provided by Sharon Bjeletich and does not reflect the views, opinion, or advice of Microsoft Corporation.