SQL Server Engineering Audit Service
PCA provides professional SQL Server Engineering Audit services to determine underlying design (architecture)
and implementation (coding) issues that negatively impact SQL Server performance, data integrity, security and system reliability.
Our SQL Server Engineering team will perform a thorough professional code
review of your SQL Server database, and
recommend the appropriate remedial engineering methods necessary for a stable, high performance system that is
cost-effective to maintain and extend.
The root-cause behind most SQL Server issues can often be traced to deficiencies in the SQL Server database design itself,
and/or the absence or misuse of proper SQL Server engineering methods. It is rarely the case that simply throwing more hardware
at the problem will resolve these underlying issues!
PCA employs a
standard check-list of SQL Server schema design and implementation methods to
determine the issues that impair system performance, data integrity, availability, security, and overall system
maintainability.
SQL Server applications can involve a number of variables and moving parts — database architecture, table structures and
coding techniques, application-side code, 3rd-party controls, web services, server hardware resources and
configuration, network and IP — and it is quite common for problems/bottlenecks to occur in more than one area of
the system. This is why it is critically important that an evaluation take into consideration all of these
variables, so as to avoid spending time and money on areas that have marginal impact on the quality of the system.
The PCA Audit Process
Two senior PCA SQL Server Engineers perform independent appraisals of your system. The time and effort
required depends largely upon the size and complexity of your system — we have completed audits within 3 weeks;
others have taken 8 weeks to complete. Once both Engineers have completed their independent appraisals, we meet
as a team to discuss the findings, reconcile any gaps or overlaps, and develop a consensus, prioritized view of our observations
and recommendations.
PCA SQL Server Audits are fully documented. Clients receive 3 documents: a high-level management
overview that describes the audit scope and methodology, along with our summary findings and key recommendations.
In addition, PCA delivers both source audits which contain the engineering details behind our summary findings and recommendations.
These contain specific observations, area(s) of impact, severity, and recommended remedial engineering techniques.
You can engage PCA to guide your in-house developers, or PCA can perform whatever remedial engineering services
are required.
The Value of a SQL Server Audit
Here are common reasons why business owners and executives have engaged PCA to perform a
SQL Server Audit:
- "We outsourced development of our SQL Server system. The project is well over budget and over
schedule, and we need to find what where we REALLY ARE with respect to completion and schedule"
- "We recently completed development of a SQL Server application, and we are getting ready to put the
new system into production. Before I do this I would like a professional appraisal of our work, so I
can sleep better at night."
- "I have lost confidence that my developers can get the job done, and I need to figure out
all the open items, and what is needed to get the project wrapped-up and deployed."
- "I just spent good money upgrading my server hardware, with no appreciable improvement in overall
system performance or reliability. In fact, I think my system might even be a little slower now!"
- "I recently upgraded my SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2008, and it's the same slow system as before... what are
we missing here?"
- "We are thinking about acquiring this software company, and we need an independent, expert appraisal of the
quality and completeness of a SQL Server asset."
- "I licensed a SQL Server-based system from a vendor, and the slow performance is killing our business. They keep telling me
to invest in more Server resources, but I am not convinced this will help."