test and production environment

[DTSFreak]

Hi,

Could somebody explain to me what the best practice is about how to update the production environment if there are new changes to be made.

I have a testing environment where i do datamodelling in a sql server db and a production environment with also a sql server db.
The case is that at one time, there will be some changes to made.

How can i apply changes with the least problems if you take into account that logins need to be fixed or maintained, data that needs to be exported/imported.

 

[Catadmin]

What sort of changes are you making? Third party application changes? Schema changes? DTS job changes?

To my mind, the best way to do changes it 1) After hours when no one is accessing the server or you can shut off connectivity to it or, if you have a 24/7 shop, at the time of least activity, 2) do changes one at a time so if a problem arises, you know which change caused the problem instead of having to search through a bucket o' changes to find the bad schema/data/code. After doing 1 change, let it take affect for a couple of days before the next one just to make sure there aren't any hidden surprises.

And always, ALWAYS run a full database backup of your user DBs, and the Master, Model & MSDB databases right before processing your changes just in case you have to restore to your prior implementation, jobs/logins & all.



Catadmin - MCDBA, MCSA
Remember, "Work" is a four letter word. And you know what your mother told you about using four letter words!