Read SQL Server 2014 ldf file

Question

We’d like to read transaction log file in SQL Server 2014 purely for auditing purposes.

Historically we used third party log readers for this with big success but now we’re investigating SQL Server 2014 for similar built in options that would allow us to cut the costs.

I’m familiar with CDC and that works just fine but only for data changes and we need to audit both data and schema.

Is there something like Change Schema Capture in SQL Server 2014? We looked at this but couldn’t find anything yet. I just want to make sure we didn’t miss this by accident.

Answer 1

As far as I know there is nothing like that in SQL Server 2014. So far your options are third party log readers. I’ve used ApexSQL Log couple years ago and it did the job for me but I know there is also log reader from Quest that I haven’t used.

Another option is to switch to another auditing solution such as DML and DDL triggers, or traces.

Answer 2

SQL Server includes both Change Data Capture and Auditing since SQL Server 2008. Both features are available in the Enterprise edition, so you are going to pay extra if you want to use them in production.

A third-party tool will be a lot cheaper if you don't need the features of the Enterprise edition.

Both CDC and Audit include logging of DML and DDL events, yet they address different scenarios:

• CDC captures detailed events in a relational format so a tool can process the changes for reporting or replication purposes.
• Auditing captures detailed events for security purposes.

The schemas, data volumes and security restrictions of both features are very different. You would have to think carefully which scenario you want to address before picking one or the other