iPad and SQL Server

In the last few months we noticed a jump in the number of downloads for RSS Reporter and were not sure what to attribute it to. So we started probing the users who were downloading the product and found that the increased interest in our RSS Reporter for SQL Server was directly related to an ever increasing number of SQL Server Database Administrators carrying an iPad around.

What's so great about RSS Reporter? A couple of things:

• You don't need a client, just install the RSS Reporter on a machine with IIS that has access to the  SQL Server instances you are interested on and then access it from anywhere with an internet browser, iPad, iPhone, tablet – anything that can read a standard rss feed;
• Your executives need live data on their iPads, no problem, you add an ad-hoc query on RSS Reporter and simply send them the url;
• You need to see what happened with your SQL Server Jobs last night, no problem. You can get an aggregate report from all your SQL Servers right on your iPad, and you can drill down and see exactly what happened.

If you haven't tried RSS Reporter check it out – it is completely free for a single SQL Server Instance and very reasonably priced if you want to monitor multiple SQL Server instances in one place.

After you try make sure to send us your comments and suggestions as on how we might make RSS Reporter even more useful to you.

xSQL’s Oracle Data Compare vs. the others

When you do a search for data compare tools for Oracle a bunch of competing tools come up and at first look they all seem to be similar but once you start digging a bit deeper most of them get crossed off the list because they don’t amount to more than an amateurish effort. The very few that remain are hard to separate and you are inclined to go with the most known brand - after all, who has the time to thoroughly test all the available products!

We decided to take the time and do a more thorough review of a couple of those products that made the first cut and compared them to our Oracle Data Compare. Here is what we found:

1. Functionality: Oracle Data Compare supports Oracle Geometry, complex data types and unicode data; they DON’T
2. Performance: in the tests we did xSQL’s Oracle Data Compare completed the tasks  30% to 40% faster while keeping the memory consumption under 100 MB whereas the next best one was at 200 MB.
3. GUI: An argument can certainly be made in favor of simplicity but in the world of Oracle professionals having flexibility and control is important and xSQL’s Oracle Data Compare gives the user significantly more control and flexibility over the comparison and synchronization operation.

Download the free trial and see for yourself. If you wish to challenge our findings please do so – we will be delighted to hear from you!  Email us at the info address on xsql.com

Note: the introductory price of $174 expires on October 31, 2011. After that the price goes back to $349. To get the introductory price use promo code ORACLEPROMO on checkout.

Oracle Data Compare new build

Just released a new build of Oracle Data Compare - support for Oracle collections was added. Download your three week trial copy here...

xSQL Data Compare for SQL Server - new build available

We just published a new build of the xSQL Data Compare for SQL Server. Following is the list of enhancements and fixes included in this build:

1. Allows session naming by clicking on the name without launching it
2. Adds tooltip on session panel that shows the left/right databases, useful when the names of Sql Server/Database are too long and can't be fully seen in the UI
3. Fixes an issue with screen resizing
4. Fixes an issue with print wrapping for windows that support printing.
5. Adds a UI formatter for XML data types
6. Improves the process of comparing select tables

You can download the new build from http://www.xsql.com/download/sql_server_data_compare/

Oracle Data Compare released

We have just released a new tool, Oracle Data Compare. The same awesome (to quote a user that called recently) data comparison and synchronization tool, many of you have become accustomed to, is now available for Oracle. You can learn more about the product here, and download a fully functional trial version from here.

Please note that from now until the end of October you can get a license for the low introductory price of $174 - use promo code ORACLEPROMO on checkout.

A big thank you goes to all the beta testers of Oracle Data Compare who gave us a tremendous amount of help during those last crucial months in the product development - we are grateful for all you have done!