Question

Using Sql Azure with entity framework. Most of our tables have a date column where we store when the record was edited and by whom. Is there a benefit of making those columns into a timestamp column for the following reasons

1. Does timestamp help if we want to synchronize this db with another db with SQL Data Sync i.e. if we have a timestamp column that we can use both for our logging and data sync especially if data sync insists on all the tables having a timestamp column
2. Will having this column help with optimistic concurrency (via entity framework)?

Answer 1

To answer your first question, No. the SQL Data Sync service will create its own change tracking mechanism and you cant configure it to reuse your timestamp column.