Hi, all. We are creating a new process whereby I'm taking and storing multiple raw data feeds, analyzing and manipulating, and eventually storing in a master table, whereupon I must push finalized data to external systems. I've used SQL 2000 for many years and am familiar with TSQL and DTS. I am also familiar with VB.NET.
My issue is that the company isn't paying for the tools I need (that's another topic). Given that I'm going to be storing a lot of data and doing a lot of ETL, I have the following questions:
1) Can I obtain full SSIS functionality between SQL Express 2008 or 2012 and Visual Studio Express 2008 or or 2010 or 2012?
2) I'm unclear about what constitutes BIDS, but I want as much SSIS/ETL functionality as possible. What is the cheapest way of achieving this?
3) It seems that the combination of SQL Server and Visual Studio offers the most bang-for-the-buck around regarding database and BI functionality. Do you feel this true? If not, what should I be looking for?
4) Last, I may be able to acquire a single product under $1500. From my reading and understanding, I should be able to purchase SQL Server Standard 2008 or 2012 with a single CAL. Logic being that this server is an island that simply imports data from various sources and pushes data to other servers -- nobody is accessing the server. Am I off base?
Thanks in advance. Any input appreciated.