title: Adding a new column to a database table that has millions of rows
body: <p>I am adding a new column to a database table that has millions of rows. When i do this in SQL Server Management studio through table designer i am getting following warning.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Saving Definition Changes to tables with large amounts of data could
    take a considerable amount of time. While changes are being saved,
    table data will not be accessible</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Is there any other way i can avoid this long table locking? Will this be faster with SQL <code>Alter Table</code> statement. </p>