What are some recommended data modelling tools for designing a database for Microsoft SQL server?

What are some recommended data modelling tools for designing a database for Microsoft SQL server?

I know that SQL Server's built in modeling tools have really improved over the years and are worth a look too. For simple projects (in the dozens of tables or hundreds of columns) SQL Server Management Studio isn't a bad place to start. The important thing to realize is that none of these tools will hold your hand and architect the "right" database for you. They all require you to have some concept of relational database theory and constraints, ie primary and foreign keys, unique constraints, etc. But it's very nice to go from visual model to database creation, and to update the model first when adding columns, keys, etc. If you don’t like the formatting it uses for DDL you can change that.

There are dozens. Just use your favorite search engine.

Want different defaults for DDL options? You can change those as well. It truly depends on you. To design, or redesign, a database of any complexity, the Entity-Relationship modelling tool becomes essential. The specialized tools that have dominated the industry for a long while are expensive and are installed on a workstation. There are many online/offline tools, but you should decide which one suits you best. Some of them are free, some of them aren’t.