Each time a synchronization process is initiated and finished, a row is written to the history table holding all information about this execution. I’ll come back to this history a little bit later on when I explain the reporting capabilities.
Capture a snapshot
Idera SQL change manager not only allows you to compare and synchronize live databases, it also lets you compare a live database to a historical snapshot, or compare two historical snapshots. With the release of SQL Server 2005 the term “snapshot” has its own semantics, as the Enterprise Edition of SQL Server 2005 allows you to take snapshots of a database. To avoid any misunderstanding at this point, some words about the different meanings of “snapshot” in SQL Server lingo and Idera SQL change manager are appropriate. For SQL Server 2005, a snapshot is a static view of a database with all its objects AND data at a given point in time. For Idera SQL change manager, a snapshot is a static view of a database with only its objects, not the data, at a given point in time. It’s just a small difference, but an important one. This tool is only concerned with database objects, not with data. Ás a result, the size of a Idera SQL change manager snapshot is measured only in MB, not in GB.
To start the capturing process, choose the corresponding menu item from the context menu of the tree pane.
Shown here, the “Capture Wizard” lets you capture snapshots of more than one database in one action. These databases can also be located on different SQL Server instances. This is a very useful feature for DBAs’ responsible for large SQL Server server farms.
Just like synchronizations, SQL change manager also allows you to save snapshot capture plans and schedule them.
This is a good time to introduce you to the scheduling capabilities of SQL change manager. This functionality resembles the scheduler that is native to SQL Server and is therefore easy and intuitive to use. I really like the fact that SQL change manager has here a similar look and feel to SQL Server.