Master Data Services (MDS) historically centralized business reference records such as customer, product, location, and organizational structures.
Concept and purpose
MDS models organized entities, attributes, members, business rules, and hierarchies. Their role was to help reconcile multiple departmental systems that used different codes or descriptions for the same business concept.
Example or practical exercise
A product master can define a globally unique product code, approved category, display name and active status. An owner reviews changes before a downstream application incorporates them.
Good practices
Governance must specify authoritative sources, approval responsibilities, duplicate resolution, data-access permissions, and an audit trail. None of these requirements disappears when moving away from MDS.
Version and compatibility notes
Master Data Services is removed from SQL Server 2025. For SQL Server 2022 or earlier installations, follow documentation specific to that supported legacy release and plan a migration path.
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