5 Ways MS SQL Server Enhances Data Integrity

We’ve entered a time in which high quality data is at the heart of operating a successful organization. For many companies these days data IS the business. For others, data is a driver. In both scenarios its critical to maximize your data’s efficacy, and this means being sure you can trust that data. I’m talking about data integrity. It’s essential to be able to trust your data, and that means using a database you can trust that is actively working toward ensuring your data.  Microsoft SQL is a longstanding leader in the game. Their database offers top of the line stability and data integrity. If you are concerned about ensuring your data integrity this database might just be right for you.

Why Microsoft SQL Server? – Microsoft SQL Server 2019 features upgrades that will give your organization greater access to large amounts of valuable data quickly. Once it’s released, querying multiple sources of data, both structured and unstructured, will be simpler and more secure than ever. MS SQL preview CTP 2.0 is now available in preparation for the upcoming official release. If you’re interested in experiencing some of the new features beforehand, consider downloading it soon.

In the meantime, here are 5 ways Microsoft SQL Server enhances data integrity.

  1. Advanced Security- According to the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), the SQL Server is the least vulnerable database. With the upcoming release, you can expect the same controls with greater flexibility. Data continues to be encrypted using Always Encrypted, but thanks to the addition of Secure Enclaves, it can now be utilized to perform operations beyond just a comparison operation against your Always Encrypted data.
  2. Delivers Greater Insight- The MS SQL has expanded its reach to unstructured data in other non-relational databases beyond Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) using new Polybase connectors. You can now query Oracle, Teradata, MongoDB, and other SQL Servers without moving a petabyte of data. What this means is you’re able to pull the data you need from multiple sources, regardless of physical location or format, and integrate it in a way that makes sense to you. Data virtualization is on the rise, and Microsoft SQL Server is not missing out.
  3. Complete Artificial Intelligence (AI) Platform – It’s no secret that automated machine learning is high on Microsoft’s priority list, but it will be interesting to see how much it develops within MS SQL. With the new AI platform, data can be fed into machine learning model training routines using numerous programming languages, like Python, R, and Java. And once the models are trained, they can be deployed for integration into any application. These advanced analytics will make it easier for all users, not just data scientists and engineers, to extract data insights. As a result, the data flowing into company reports, dashboards, and other applications will add significantly more value to the organization.
  4. Big Data Clusters – The MS SQL database engine, Apache Spark, and Hadoop (HDFS) have all been combined into a singular data platform called a “big data cluster.” These big data clusters ensure applications have flexible scalability and quick deployment, whether deploying over the cloud or in on-premises. Users can enjoy consistent quality management services, like backup, monitoring, and log analytics.
  5. Reduced Database Maintenance Time – Database maintenance is a priority but can sometimes cut into business operations, threatening profitability. With the Always On availability feature, companies can enjoy an increase in business uptime. This feature allows the database to build a new index while users continue reading/writing on the old index. Once the process is complete, the tables lock briefly before the new index replaces the former.

Read more about the newest features in Microsoft SQL Server in these sources:

https://info.microsoft.com/rs/157-GQE-382/images/EN-US-CNTNT-white-paper-DBMod-Microsoft-SQL-Server-2019-Technical-white-paper.pdf

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/what-s-new-in-sql-server-ver15?view=sqlallproducts-allversions

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-2019

Oracle to Sybase Database Migration Tips

One of the most important parts of database migration is having a full understanding of the current systems and the business applications that they support. Without this fundamental knowledge, you will not only run the risk of missing key components in the system, but you will also not be able to strategically improve the performance of the database.

Oracle to Sybase Migration Overview

In order for your oracle to sybase migration to be successful, it is best to follow the suggestions that are outlined below:

  • Review your requirements, standards, best practices, and business preferences to develop a comprehensive strategic plan. Make sure this plan has been created or at least validated by experts in both Oracle and Sybase systems.
  • Ensure that you have full access to all Oracle PL/SQL code being used in both client applications and the database applications.
  • Sybase ASE expertise is needed for performance tuning and optimization.
  • Have a solid testing process and way to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the database system.
  • Have a plan and strategy for validating the migrated components.
  • Use the Sybase Power Designer to reverse-engineer the Oracle schema and convert it to the Sybase ASE equivalent.

In migrating Oracle PL/SQL code to the Sybase Transact – SQL you will need to manage this for the stored procedures, triggers, SQL Functions as well as the code in the client applications.

The maintenance, administration, and monitoring tasks are highly specific for each database system and a simple migration will not work for these items. Use a seasoned expert in each database brand to avoid issues with your migration.

One of the first things that you will need to evaluate and determine is if the database migration will require the following:

  • Simple Conversion – example Oracle VARCHAR2 to Sybase VARCHAR
  • Partial Rewrite – example Oracle Sequence to Sybase ASE Identity Columns
  • A Major Rewrite – systems that don’t have a direct equivalent Sybase ASE feature like Oracle Flashback.

Oracle to Sybase Migration Table

Create a table of the systems you will need to implement to replicate or improve the database functionality.

Oracle Sybase
Oracle Database Server Sybase ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise)
Oracle OLAP and DW Sybase IQ
Oracle RAC Sybase ASE Cluster Edition
Oracle Times Ten Sybase ASE In-Memory Database
Oracle Golden Gate Sybase Replication Server

Useful tips to use in your migration:

  • In order to obtain the Oracle schema, there are two methods that can be used, reverse engineer the schema from the actual database or use existing DDL scripts from which the schema was created in the past.
  • Before starting any migration be sure to identify tables that have chained rows. To find chained rows in Oracle, run this query:
    • SELECT owner, table_name, chain_cnt
    • FROM dba_tables WHERE chain_cnt > 0
  • Then, to look up the chained rows, you can input the following command:
    • ANALYZE TABLE table-name LIST CHAINED ROWS INTO chained-row-table
  • Make sure to check for reserved words before you migrate your Oracle schema, stored procedure, function or trigger for problematic or non-migratable keywords. For example, Oracle allows SQL keywords to be used as identifiers and ASE does not.