February 21, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Should client tools be installed on a production server(SSMS & BIDS)?
I've been at this a long time and never saw the need to install them. It always seemed to lead to sloppy practices and should be avoided. We recently hired a contractor who is insisting on installing them as part of a migration plan to SQL 2008 R2.
I just wonder if the tide has turned, I've been in this job for over none years and maybe the industry has moved on.
Any thoughts, options...
February 21, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Strictly speaking, you do not need to install either for these with a SQL server installation. The contractor may plan on using SSIS packages to do the migration, in which case, the BIDS tool is helpful (I'm not sure if it is required or not) for creating the packages. The management studio (SSMS) is optional, and in my opinion, just makes the administration a little easier.
These tools can be installed on an independent server from which you can connect to the server you wish to manager.
February 21, 2011 at 7:53 pm
I don't see any need to BIDS to be installed onto a production server and very little, if any, sustainable argument for it to be installed on any other server. This is a development tool and you really ought to be doing development on workstations NOT servers.
Strictly speaking I see no real need for SSMS to be installed on a server either although I am sure that there are times when it is easier to have SSMS available locally. As with BIDS, I would prefer to have be administer SQL Server from their workstations.
If you don't install these tools onto the servers, you have a smaller software footprint and a smaller risk - less software installed means that there are a smaller number of potential security holes etc.
Another reason for not installing BIDS and SSMS onto servers is that this allows the server to do what it is instended to do. That is to serve up data and not to manage the GUI of the DBA or Developer. That is best done on a device that is intended for that use.
February 22, 2011 at 2:02 am
They are called "client" tools for a reason 🙂
Does the contractor have a real valid reason to go sit before the server and do some work with SSMS and BIDS?
What can he do there that he can't do from his own desktop?
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February 22, 2011 at 2:23 am
BIDS nogo on prd servers.
SSMS optionale it makes administative tasks easier. But if the footprint should an issue you should go core edition imho its not a valid suggestion not to use ssms on a server because of the footprint.
February 22, 2011 at 5:28 am
Thanks for the input...I was just checking myself. I didn't want to install them for the reasons you all mentioned, but wanted to make sure I wasn't having a "this is my system, and we've always done it this way" syndrome.
The only reason I've ever found to install SSMS on a server was in a clustered environment with SSIS installed. SSiS will not pass through authentication so most admin tasks need to be run from a cluster node. I've never found a reason to have BIDS installed.
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