I have been working on maintenance plans for some time now and while they are very powerful I am starting to wonder if Powershell might be a better platform to perform my server maintenance. I am starting to lean towards Powershell and here is why. Keep in mind that this is up for debate and I am sure this could stir up some controversy.
With Powershell it is easier to get access to the OS. With maintenance plans it gets a little more complicated. Maintenance plans are built for SQL DBAs, not for the person who owns the whole box. Sometimes DBAs have limited access to the server, so for those people Powershell isn’t the best choice. Also if you don’t have a programming background, Powershell might not be for you although you might want to consider it since there are some very simple scripts that can get some serious information to you very quickly, but I digress.
Scripts are highly portable. SSIS packages are as well but you can’t edit them easily without BIDS. Notepad is all you need for Powershell.
I am going to keep you all posted as I am making changes to my scripts. Once I make a really good script I will post it.
