Our favorite way to organize servers within a SQL Server estate is by using Registered Servers, which is an instance inventory system introduced in SQL Server 2005. Registered Servers are our preferred inventory system because they’ve got all of the basic the features we need, such as grouping, authentication and aliases, and they’re included in SQL Server at no additional cost. This means we don’t have to procure an inventory system each time we begin working in a new environment.
Registered Servers support SQL Server 2000 instances and above and can support the Database Engine, Analysis Services, Integration Services, and Reporting Services. We prefer to use this feature as a simplified inventory tool for the Database Engine, as it enables us to pipe servers from Get-DbaRegServer into almost any dbatools command. This makes it astoundingly easy to execute a command against every single instance in our SQL estate.
If you’ve got a lot of SQL Server instances, keeping track of them can be a daunting task. In the old days, we’ve used custom web applications, Excel or even notepad to keep track of each instance. Registered Servers can help keep track of your SQL instances, but can still be rather tedious as it requires a ton of clicking. Fortunately, dbatools turns those clicks into commands that make management fast and easy.