The system administrator (SA) is responsible for administrative tasks unrelated to specific applications. Anyone who knows the system administrator's password can log in using the sa login ID and act in the role of system administrator.
A SQL Server system administrator is responsible for setting up and maintaining SQL Server. Administering SQL Server includes such tasks as:
The system administrator is sometimes responsible for managing database objects, including:
In addition, a system administrator might also add, change, or delete data in a database.
For information about managing database objects and data, see the Microsoft SQL Server Transact-SQL Reference.
The system administrator operates outside the protection system, which means that SQL Server does no permission checking for the system administrator. (However, the SA can use SETUSER ['ID'] to impersonate another user.) There are several commands and system procedures that only the system administrator can issue (and that cannot be transferred to other users). For detailed information about system administrator permissions, see About Permissions.
The system administrator can transfer many responsibilities to other users by assigning appropriate permissions. For information, see Chapter 9, Managing Security.
When SQL Server is installed, the system administrator is the database owner of the master database. The system administrator is also treated as database owner of any databases he or she uses. For information about database ownership, see Owners.
The following illustration outlines the responsibilities of a typical system administrator.
For more information about system administrators, see Permissions of the SA.