Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

IV.6.2. Determining When It Makes Sense to Access Data Remotely

One of the visions of SQL Server 2008 during its development was "Your Data, Any Place, Any Time." The idea was to meet the needs of companies of all sizes and provide support for many different types of data.

In Chapter 5 of this mini-book, Web services are covered. Web services aren't new, but they are popular examples of how data can be stored in one place and be accessible just about anywhere in the world via an Internet connection.

When SQL Server is configured with a Web service, applications anywhere can be used to retrieve information. Web services are enjoying widespread use and will continue to grow because of the convenience they provide.

By using distributed queries, you can access data from other data sources held on remote servers. Remote servers won't necessarily be available anywhere in the world, but they can be accessible anywhere on your network.

Darril currently works in a large enterprise environment spread across 10 states with 17 physical locations. All the locations are accessible to each other via redundant wide area network (WAN) connections. One group of database administrators manages the majority of the SQL Servers in this environment, and they can access the servers from a central location.

Admittedly, distributed queries aren't used for all the servers. Many servers are managed remotely using traditional system administration tools, such as Remote Desktop Connection (RDC), to remotely ...