Digitally Signing a Database File

  • Does anyone know if a database file (mdf, ldf, ndf, bak, etc.) can be digitally signed using X.509?

    We are archiving data for some clients by attaching external drives to a SQL Server, creating an archive database, and moving the data over to the archive. Once the archive is finished, we then purge the data from the source database. Our clients want us to provide "proof" that the archive database contains an exact copy of the data that existed in the source. Someone suggested that we should be able to digitally sign the archived database file just like any other file. Does anyone know if this is doable? Are there other, better, ways of accomplishing what our client want?

    TIA,

    Darias

  • I don't think there's anything in SQL that supports this, but you could encrypt the file, and then sign the encrypted file with a certificate, like you'd digitally sign any other file.

  • Thanks Steve.

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