Production DB Modifications

We have a production database that is being used by at least 20 different
applications. Some of the tables need to be modified (column added). Does
anybody have a good way or best method of changing table schemas, objects,
etc. without interrupting or at least minimizing the impact on the current
operations?
Hello,
No. If you need to change the schema it defenetely require a downtime.
Thanks
Hari
"morphius" <morphius@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E5B38EC4-31D4-42EE-9C83-A180C04216EF@.microsoft.com...
> We have a production database that is being used by at least 20 different
> applications. Some of the tables need to be modified (column added). Does
> anybody have a good way or best method of changing table schemas, objects,
> etc. without interrupting or at least minimizing the impact on the current
> operations?
|||"Hari Prasad" <hari_prasad_k@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e6a39HvKHHA.3936@.TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hello,
> No. If you need to change the schema it defenetely require a downtime.
>
Eh, really depends on the size of the schema change.
If the column has no defaults, adding it should be a trivial change. We do
these routinely on a 24x7 database.
If the column has defaults, the larger the table, the longer it will be
locked.
One way to NOT do it is via EM. In almost all cases, this will guarantee
the table will be locked, a new one with the updated schema created, and
then data loaded into it, then the original deleted and the new one renamed.
You really have to do these via a script, not via EM.

> Thanks
> Hari
> "morphius" <morphius@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:E5B38EC4-31D4-42EE-9C83-A180C04216EF@.microsoft.com...
>
sql