what is report server and how it differ from local report and when to use it?

Question

I'm confused about Reporting servers like ssrs,crystal report server ...
why I'd need a report server when I can connect to sql and get the data then bind it to a local report and view it in report viewer
what is the report server and how it differ from local report?
what are the benefits of using report server?
what are the cases in which using report server would be useful?

Answer 1

why I'd need a report server when I can connect to sql and get the data then bind it to a local report and view it in report viewer

• Not all people in your organisation will be able to do this.

what is the report server and how it differ from local report?

• Report server enables anyone to access it without specialist software via a browser, the server will render the report in HTML.

what are the benefits of using report server?

• Distribution.
• Data Governance - You are able to control to a granular level the permissions and their inheritance based on windows AD services.
• Centralised Location/Portal - It also provides a centralised location for your reports which makes it very easy to manage over an organisation.
• Data Extraction for users in a multitude of formats.
• Windows Security

what are the cases in which using report server would be useful?

• You should only use it if you have a lot of detail heavy/Operational reporting.
• Generate printed documents easily.
• Organisation requires Report subscriptions and data driven subscriptions.

We use Reporting Servers in my company across multiple sites to distribute and publish key reports for every department, this is enables users to access if via an external network as well as our internal network. it utilises window security and our active directory services meaning we can manage the entirety of the information from one central point.

We use it to generate forms, invoices, KPI data, data subscriptions etc.