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Explore and dig into the best SQL clients for SSH tunneling and secure data access of the year!
SSH tunneling provides a secure way to connect to servers, or databases. By reading this blog, you will know that many SQL clients offer such a feature. Since security is paramount, SQL clients for SSH tunneling and secure access are the first choice for users looking to strengthen the posture of their databases.
Let’s discover the most relevant ones!
Why SSH Tunneling Is So Important
SSH access to databases is important because it provides a secure medium to connect to your database thus protecting sensitive data in the process. In other words, SSH tunneling is a method to route requests through an SSH tunnel, encrypting the communication and preventing third parties from intercepting data.
Looking at the wider picture, you can be sure that bigger companies will use SSH tunneling to connect to databases if it is available.
(I know that Percona uses SSH tunneling to connect to databases when conducting technical interviews and interacting with clients and I wouldn’t be surprised if other companies conduct similar measures!)
SSH tunneling provides unparalleled security upsides for everyone involved. Now, let’s look into the best SQL clients providing such capabilities!
The Best SQL Clients for Secure Data Access
So, what are some of the best SQL clients you should look into that facilitate SSH access to data? These days, you have numerous options and besides SSH, you should evaluate various other things too because they will have a significant impact on your work:
Once you answer those questions, you can start evaluating your options.
DbVisualizer
DbVisualizer is a great option for those going after SSH tunneling capabilities, it also comes with a variety of other features not often met across SQL clients including:
DbVisualizer also comes with a free 21-day trial so you can try all of the features of the tool by yourself. Grab an evaluation copy of DbVisualizer!
Navicat Premium
Navicat Premium is a popular choice amongst SQL clients. The newest version of the tool comes with AI-assisted query building capabilities and is quite simple to understand thanks to its sleek UI.
Database professionals looking for secure data access capabilities will have a gander here as well. At the same time, be advised that Navicat Premium doesn’t toot its horn in regards to security or SSH access capabilities.
Besides SSH tunneling, Navicat comes with:
DBeaver
DBeaver is another very popular choice for data professionals. Not because of its SSH access capabilities, but primarily because of its database-agnostic monitoring features. With that said, DBeaver supports SSH too, but it does come with a learning curve and many users may find it complex to use at first.
Choose DBeaver for SSH tunneling if you also:
HeidiSQL
Another popular SQL client of choice would be HeidiSQL. Lightweight, open-source, fast and efficient, coming with SSH tunneling capabilities too. HeidiSQL:
HeidiSQL doesn’t support many database management systems and its design can seem dated to some. Still, it does provide SSH tunneling capabilities and is fully open-source, which is great for secuirty. Those using SSH can also use Plink (PuTTY Link) to link their PuTTY clients to to the tool.
Summary
Many SQL clients position themselves as SQL editors and many of them have other kinds of capabilities, such as SSH tunneling. In this blog, we’ve unveiled the curtain behind some of them and told you about some of the tools facilitating secure access to database management systems.
Not all SQL clients for SSH tunneling and secure access are the same and each of them have upsides and downsides unique to themselves. After reading this blog you are well equipped to weigh all of them against each other!
Do that and make an educated decision because it will impact your application, database, and servers alike. Keep reading our blogs over on TheTable, and until next time!
FAQ
What is the best SQL client for SSH tunneling?
There’s no single “best” SQL client suitable for this purpose. Different SQL clients implement SSH tunneling a little differently, but since all of them have a common goal, you would need to take your requirements and match requirements against what those SQL clients can do in terms of them. As a general secure SQL database client, you may want to look into DbVisualizer.
Why are there so many SQL clients?
There are rather many SQL clients because not all of them are the same. Some of them focus on their SQL editors, some of them have advanced capabilities in data visualization and other spheres, and others come with limited support for databases altogether, so make your choice wisely.
