The SQL Server Web Data Administrator

Do you need the ability to manage your SQL Server data wherever you are?
Microsoft released a Web interface that can help you manage your SQL Server
databases. With this tool, called the SQL Server Web Data Administrator, you
can:

• Perform ad-hoc
  queries against databases and save them to your file system.

• Create/edit
  databases in SQL Server 2000 or MSDE 2000.

• View, create,
  and edit stored procedures.

• Export and
  import database schema and data.

• Manage users and
  roles.

Where do I download?

You can download the SQL Server Web Data Administrator
from Microsofts Web site. Before installing it, you must meet the following
requirements:

• Windows 2000
  SP4, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XP

• SQL Server 7.0
  SP2 or higher

• Microsoft .NET SDK or Visual Studio.NET

• IE 5.5 or higher

• IIS

Installing the Web Data Administrator

Once you have
downloaded the tool, click the Setup.msi and the welcome screen is displayed.
Click Next. The following two Windows ask you to accept the license agreement
and select your Installation folder. After you choose an installation location,
click Next to start the installation. Once the installation is complete, click
Close.

Working with the Web Data Administrator

Before you can begin working with this tool, you must first
know how you can access it via IIS. To configure the Web Data Administrator to
work with IIS, click Start | Programs | Microsoft SQL Web Data Administration |
SQL Web Data Administrator. You are presented with a Window to either start IIS
or choose Cassini Personal Web Server (Figure A).

Cassini is a sample Web server written using .Net framework that demonstrates
ASP.NET. You can download Cassini from Microsoft. For the purposes
of this article, we are going to choose IIS and click Start. You can also
access the tool directly by typing the following link in IE:

http://your_webserver_name/webadmin/default.aspx

After clicking Start or typing the link manually, the welcome screen for the
Web Data Administrator appears as shown in Figure B. You can log in to
SQL Server via Windows Integrated authentication or SQL Server authentication.

Now that
you have logged into your SQL Server via IIS, you will see the screen in Figure
C. You can perform one of the following:

• Create new
  databases

• Edit, query, or
  delete existing databases

• Import databases

• Export databases

• Create and edit
  logins

• Create and edit
  server roles

At this point, you can
begin to see the power of the Web Data Administrator. Let’s dig a little deeper
into each of these areas to show you how you can effectively manage your SQL
Server.