Essential SQL Server Concepts - Microsoft Business Intelligence Tools for Excel Analysts - page 157

Figure 8-3: Logins and server roles.

Login roles are the named users or groups that are allowed to access to the server. Groups are benefi-
cial, instead of individual logins, because group logins allow you to manage everyone in that group
in your organization's Active Directory. This keeps security centralized as these groups may have
access to other applications with related functions.

Add a login by right-clicking the Logins folder and choosing New Login. Work with your corporate
security administrators to make sure you're following your organization's security policies and
procedures.

The sa login is the administrative account, which has full access rights to the server. This
login is defined during the installation. If you're the one installing SQL Server, make sure
to assign a secure password to this account, otherwise you compromise the security of
your system.

Note

Server roles provide overarching permissions to take server-level actions, such as creating a new data-
base, and managing server backups and linked objects.

Every login in SQL Server must have at least one associated server role. You can set the login's roles by
right-clicking each login in the Logins folder and selecting Properties. In the Login Properties dialog
box, click Server Roles to see the available server roles (see Figure 8-4).