Getting started

SQL Data Compare enables you to compare and synchronize the data in two Microsoft® SQL Server™ databases. You can also compare a backup with a database, a scripts folder, or another backup. SQL Data Compare enables you to synchronize multiple tables whilst maintaining referential integrity.

This is useful, for example, to identify the differences between the contents of two databases following a failed replication; or to restore selected rows from a backup.

You can use SQL Data Compare to compare and synchronize data in SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2000 databases.

SQL Data Compare: step-by-step

Worked examples

Learn more about SQL Data Compare by following one of these detailed examples:

Technical notes

SQL Data Compare's mapping features allow you to compare any tables with compatible data types.

For more information, see Which data types can be compared

You can create a rollback script to undo data synchronization

You can filter the comparison using a WHERE clause

SQL Data Compare can take time to compare and synchronize data sources. Speed depends primarily upon disk write speed, processor speed, memory, and the size of the databases. However, there are a number of ways to improve the performance of SQL Data Compare.

If your tables or views are very different, for example if data types are different, Red Gate Software offers SQL Compare®, which will synchronize the structure of two databases. You can then use SQL Data Compare to synchronize the data.

Getting more information

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