David Bird, a regular columnist for SQLServercentral.com, has written up his list of favourite SQL Server tools that are free or charityware.
We've all done it. Scourer the Internet for a script or free tool to help do our job or solve a problem. SQL Server Central and similar sites contain an abundance of scripts and guides to assist us. There are times when I want to use a tool instead of a collection of scripts and commands. A tool more often than not requires less customization than a script and sometimes less technical know how to get them to work. So I decided to share a list of free tools that I use from time to time.
NVU
To start with I wrote this article using NVU an open source WYSIWYG HTML editor. It creates HTML pages with very simple HTML code. It still adds a few extra commands such as " " but that's nothing compared to what MS Word generates for HTML code.
NVU is open source software and does not require any registration to download or use.
FullSun SQL Server Toolkit
It is a nice tool kit with many helpful features. Currently this tool is for SQL Server 2000 but a 2005 version is being developed. Here are some of the functions available with this tool:
- List all SQL ids with very easy passwords so they can be fixed.
- Review all the errors or failed logins in the SQL Error Log files.
- Monitor database growth through their backup file sizes along with viewing the current table sizes.
- Check nine predefined performance counters.
- Read a database log file. (This was primary reason I got this tool. It's nothing fancy but I like it.)
This tool is CharityWare software. Every time the tool is started, a panel pops up in the background with instructions on using the tool and a request for a charitable donation.
Read more of his list at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/dbird/2959.asp .
Do you have a list of data management related free tools?