Posted by David Portas on 12/04/06 17:58

Volker Hetzer wrote:
> ttt.tas@gmail.com schrieb:
> > Thanx Volker fo rteh gr8 help and time :D
> >
> > actually, i'll be using MSSQL for my DB.
> > the problem is as follow, i want to develop some small exe file that
> > will read the fields of unencrypted DB and encrypt it field by field.
> > actually i'll get this DB from a client and he doesn't want me to view
> > the DB content, its already an exisiting one, so i should develop him
> > some exe file that he will run on this DB and will encrypt all its
> > fields, and not the DB as a whole, so i can then take this DB and work
> > on the encrypted fields instead.
> >

What work do you need to do with the encrypted database? For most
purposes I'd say that what you have proposed is impractical and
probably impossible. If you encrypt the database in its entirity:

You won't be able to create or enforce constraints
You won't be able to index it effectively
You won't get any sensible performance metrics
You won't be able to create accurate test cases

In short, you won't really have a database to work with. So if you need
to do any development work I suggest you create some representative
test data for yourself instead.

However, SQL Server 2005 does have encryption built in to the engine,
including support for AES.

--
David Portas, SQL Server MVP

Whenever possible please post enough code to reproduce your problem.
Including CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements usually helps.
State what version of SQL Server you are using and specify the content
of any error messages.

SQL Server Books Online:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms130214(en-US,SQL.90).aspx
--

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