What is the difference between reconciliation and validation?
Reconciliation focuses on comparing data values or totals. Validation is broader and can include schema, permissions, jobs, applications, and operational checks.
What is Data Reconciliation?
Data reconciliation compares source and target data to find mismatches after SQL Server sync or migration work. Learn how SQL Cockpit relates.
Definition
Data reconciliation checks whether source and target data match after movement, synchronisation, reporting, migration, or transformation work.
Why it matters
- It helps teams prove that a migration or sync process produced the expected result.
- It identifies missing, duplicated, delayed, or transformed records.
- It gives technical and business stakeholders a common evidence base for sign-off.
Common signals
- Row counts do not match between source and target.
- A report total differs after a migration or synchronisation run.
- Business users need exception lists rather than raw technical logs.
How SQL Cockpit helps
- SQL Cockpit keeps reconciliation work connected to table synchronisation, migration progress, and validation workflows.
- Teams can discuss differences alongside the database objects and jobs that produced them.
FAQ
What are common data reconciliation checks?
Common checks include row counts, checksums, totals, key comparisons, sampled rows, duplicate detection, and exception reporting.
How does SQL Cockpit help with data reconciliation?
SQL Cockpit connects reconciliation evidence to synchronisation, migration, table context, and operational visibility.