In the latest SQL Solution center articles, we wrote about SQL Server database snapshots and started the methods for auditing SQL Server data changes series
Here is the short overview of the solutions we covered in the last two weeks:
Using SQL Server database snapshots to protect yourself against accidental data modification – the article explains what SQL Server database snapshots are, how they are created, what they contain and what they can be used for – to protect from errors, provide easy resets for test and training environments, and provide recovery from an unwanted DML statement. In case a snapshot is not available, ApexSQL Log can be used for DML statement recovery
In Part 1 – Change Tracking we showed why auditing is important and what it should provide. We explained what the Change Tracking feature is, what events it can track, and showed steps to enable it on a database – both using T-SQL statements and SQL Server Management Studio options
The Part 2 – reading the Change Tracking results showed how to obtain the Change Tracking results through the Change Tracking functions. We gave T-SQL queries for reading the results and showed how individual column updates can be tracked, what information is captured for each data change, and what the advantages and disadvantages of this auditing method are
In the Part 3 – Change Data Capture feature we introduced another SQL Server auditing feature – Change Data Capture. We showed the captured events – inserts, deletes and updates, and the provided information for each event. We showed its similarities and differences with the Change Tracking feature – the complete history of the changes on a specific row is shown, including before and after values for UPDATEs
November 6, 2013
