RDP to Production

  • Why it is not a good practice to RDP into production server and use SSMS instead?

    "He who learns for the sake of haughtiness, dies ignorant. He who learns only to talk, rather than to act, dies a hyprocite. He who learns for the mere sake of debating, dies irreligious. He who learns only to accumulate wealth, dies an atheist. And he who learns for the sake of action, dies a mystic."[/i]

  • by running SSMS on the server you are using resources on the server.

    There is usually a limit to the number of RDP connections that can be made as well.

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  • Also some hilarious individuals have been known to shut the box down accidentally instead of logging out :-).

  • Lizzie (2/19/2014)


    Also some hilarious individuals have been known to shut the box down accidentally instead of logging out :-).

    I don't know if they are hilarious or not, but I have seen this happen far too often.;-)

    This would be the main reason I wouldn't have people rely on RDP solely to perform stuff they could do otherwise in SSMS.

    Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
    _______________________________________________
    I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
    SQL RNNR
    Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
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  • When 2008 server came out, someone senior to me asked me if the server prompt you to be sure if you( intentionally or unintentionally) click on shut down button:-D. Yes it is little risky at times and because usually DBAs have admin roles even on the server level, it is better to be more careful and always have the contact number of the person in the data center ready if you push 'the' button.

    Thanks

    Chandan

  • on server 2008 onwards the default option is to logoff, you dont see the old style logoff or shutdown. Main reasson for preventing users from connecting diectly to the server is to limit the amount of resources that are used.

    If TS is configured in admin mode (the default) only 2 simultaneous user connections are allowed. Installing in non admin mode will allow many more connections (can't remember the max figure).

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    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • While it may be a "bad practice" (and agree with all that others have said), any critically important queries that I need to run against production (say a hot fix/patch from a vendor, etc) I always RDP into the actual server and run it via SSMS. The reason for this is simply because I've had issues where the connection got toasted from the server I was running the query on in the past...and that created it's own mess (depending on the type of query). The clean-up was time-consuming...

    While I would agree it's not a best practice, I frequently use it for "important" tasks.

    ______________________________________________________________________________Never argue with an idiot; Theyll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience

  • Thank you all for your reply. I was just curious about that since I have read articles in the past where DBA's prefer using SSMS to access the DB but I didn't know the reason behind it. Anyway, I am not too concerned in my situation since there are only 2 users who RDP into the DB server.

    Thanks again!

    "He who learns for the sake of haughtiness, dies ignorant. He who learns only to talk, rather than to act, dies a hyprocite. He who learns for the mere sake of debating, dies irreligious. He who learns only to accumulate wealth, dies an atheist. And he who learns for the sake of action, dies a mystic."[/i]

  • ya not so much of an issue when TS is installed in admin mode as the number of connections are limited

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    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • I RDP into them quite often. Especially if it is late at night and we have an outage window to do major things like Service Packs or a major table change... etc... if you RDP into the server and your connection gets cut off the process still runs. If you use Mgt Studio from your PC and your network connection gets cut the process is killed off.

  • Most people say that best practice is to have a dedicated DBA administration machine that you do RDP on to, and use SSMS on that machine to do your administration of your other SQL Server machines.

    This should be satisfactory for just about all administration and troubleshooting tasks, but there will be a residue of troubleshooting issues that can only be sorted out by logging on to the affected machine. However, just because maybe 1% of your work needs you to log on to a specific SQL machine, you should not say this has to be standard practice. Many people who have had to deal with large SQL Server estates will say they have avoided far more problems by using a central administration machine than would have been the case if they had always logged on to each SQL Server machine.

    Now that Windows 2012 and above support SQL Server when running in Core mode (apart from SSRS), it is becoming established practice to build SQL Server machines using Core mode. This has been found to significantly reduce the number of patches, number of required reboots, extent of surface area and hence vulnerability to attack, etc, resulting in more uptime. A DBA administration machine is essential when you start deploying Core servers.

    Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.

    When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara

  • EdVassie (2/24/2014)


    Most people say that best practice is to have a dedicated DBA administration machine that you do RDP on to, and use SSMS on that machine to do your administration of your other SQL Server machines.

    This should be satisfactory for just about all administration and troubleshooting tasks, but there will be a residue of troubleshooting issues that can only be sorted out by logging on to the affected machine. However, just because maybe 1% of your work needs you to log on to a specific SQL machine, you should not say this has to be standard practice. Many people who have had to deal with large SQL Server estates will say they have avoided far more problems by using a central administration machine than would have been the case if they had always logged on to each SQL Server machine.

    Now that Windows 2012 and above support SQL Server when running in Core mode (apart from SSRS), it is becoming established practice to build SQL Server machines using Core mode. This has been found to significantly reduce the number of patches, number of required reboots, extent of surface area and hence vulnerability to attack, etc, resulting in more uptime. A DBA administration machine is essential when you start deploying Core servers.

    +1 for the advice with centralized administrative machine concept. However as you mentioned at times we need to login directly.

    I have to do it especially when shrinking the databases. Before you slam me for doing so, let me tell you that in theory and during interviews I am on the side of -no shrink but in real world when your manager wants to stay away from alerts of disk space and getting extra space provisioned, I will be given bad grades if I don't perform shrinks. No theory can help in such situations:-P

  • Markus (2/20/2014)


    I RDP into them quite often. Especially if it is late at night and we have an outage window to do major things like Service Packs or a major table change... etc... if you RDP into the server and your connection gets cut off the process still runs. If you use Mgt Studio from your PC and your network connection gets cut the process is killed off.

    But, this also depends on how the policies are set up in your environment. Much as it stinks, where I'm at, if you get disconnected from a server you're RDPed into, the policy is set to end the session...

    Plus, there's a time limit on inactive sessions, so I have to "baby-sit" anything really long-running (SP installs, OS patching, etc.)

  • "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not" - A. Einstein

    Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.

    When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara

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