Is it practical to maintain a remote database using scripts only

Question

A current highly strict policy situation is making us consider updating a remote database server via scripts only - having no access via remote desktop connection or such. We will send the scripts and database owners will apply them..

There will be a dedicated dba on the other hand responsible for the maintenance of the databse.

This database is connected to a web application which we are able to maintain fully with full access.

I am curious if any one have experience with such setup and how practical or problematical it would be on the long run.

Answer 1

This is not a very unusual situation. In most organizations dba's are rather protective of their databases and do not allow developers near them. Usually for good reason. Also check this SO question.

What you should aim for is a test environment that mirrors the production environment so that you can develop, test and run your scripts there. Make the dba responsible for the production database.

This kind of setup should not be problematical on the long run. It may take some more time to get your desired changes executed on the production environment, but what you gain is stability. It's really easy to accidentally make irreversible changes to your database. This setup helps to prevents that.

Here are some more related links. And one more from the Coding Horror blog.