I was browsing the web recently and caught this note on coders and their tools and a related article on must have tools. It seems the focus was more for programmers and network administrators, but there are definitely some good tools in the list for DBAs to understand.

However, since it's Friday, it got me thinking...

What are your essential DBA tools?

By these I mean those pieces of software not included with SQL Server, that you find very handy. It can be a utility that serves some purpose or a programming aid, I'm wondering what tools outside of those that come with SQL Server do you consider essential.

For me I have to say that the one tool I find most handy right now is Litespeed. I've used this utility for backups to save space for years. We made a deal a long time ago with DBAssociates, who developed the tool, and we've stuck with it. As of now we're quite a few versions back since Imceda and then Quest took over the tool, but we're happy with the way it's worked.

That's not to say other products aren't just as good or even a better value, but that's the one tool I've found most handy for me with SQL Server.

So are you using compare tools? Programming IDEs? Something else I'm not thinking of that has proven to be an essential SQL Server DBA or developer tool?

Let us know. You might just make someone's day.

Steve Jones