I asked myself “What tools would I immediately install if I started a new job as a company’s first DBA?” This series of posts are the answer to that question. This is part of a series of Getting Started posts that I’m doing in which I spotlight the tools I use in my day to day duties as a DBA. The first step is to figure out your server name, to do this go to the SQL Azure Portal. You can download the standalone SSMS from Microsoft here: Here is how to us SQL Server Management Studio to attach to SQL Azure: 1. While the updates do not install automatically, having the ability to update SSMS without having to download a SQL Server service pack or cumulative update is going to be nice! One of the great new features of this version of SSMS and the version that comes bundled with SQL Server 2016 (which I am assuming are the same SSMS 2016 product) is that it now has a built in check for updates. As with previous versions of SSMS, you still get it bundled with your SQL Server install, but with this new release we now also have the option of downloading SSMS separately via its own lightweight installer.

Microsoft has released a new standalone version of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

Microsoft sql server manager studio