how to download a database to local

Question

As a part of my .net learning process I want to do some experiments like adding new functionality to a project which is not yet live, but I have given the access to the server and all. So how can I download the database to my local and do my on experiments in it without affecting the server give me some suggestions .I am using SQL server 2008

Answer 1

Download SQL Server Express and you will get SQL Server Management Studio as part of the installation. You can either connect using that tool or set up your own instance using SQL Server on your own development machine.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/cloud-platform/sql-server-editions-express

Once you have a local instance to work on, you can right click in SSMS on the database and Export it using database tasks, to effectively back it up to your local machine. You can then work on it without affecting the production environment.