Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Bible

Registered Servers

Registered Servers is an optional built-in feature; if you manage only one or a few SQL Servers, Registered Servers offers little benefit. If, however, you are responsible for many SQL Servers, or if you simply want an organized way to manage your registered instances, this is the right place to take control.

Using Registered Servers, you can maintain connection information for connections to the Database Engine, Analysis Services, Reporting Services, SQL Server Mobile Edition Databases, and Integration Services. The toolbar at the top of Registered Services enables selection among the types of services.

Managing Servers

Servers are easily registered using the context menu and supplying the Properties page with the server name, authentication, and maybe the connection information. One key benefit of registering a server is that it can be given an alias, or Registered Server Name, in the Properties page, which is great if you're a DBA managing dozens of servers or instances with cryptic server names.

After a server is registered, you can easily select a server, and using the context menu, connect to it with Object Explorer or Query Editor. Although this is a good thing, the server aliases don't propagate to the Object Explorer, which can lead to confusion. The workaround is to keep the Object Explorer free from all other connections except those currently in use.

You can also use the Server context menu, as shown in Figure 5.3, to connect to the server with Object ...