"When defining a surrogate primary key for a [SQL Server] table, two options are the most common: Integer and UniqueIdentifier (aka Globally Unique Identifiers, or GUID's) ... Historically, Integer has been the logical choice. It’s human-readable, requires minimal storage, and can be set as an identity (auto-incrementing) to prevent the need for additional application logic. UniqueIdentifier comes with significant disadvantages. The most immediately noticeable is that it’s user-unfriendly. You’ll never hear a user or developer ask you about record “A78383A3-4AB1-42CF-B3FC-A4A23AD10398”. With high availability and replication becoming highly prevalent, UniqueIdentifier is being chosen more often, but has caveats that mean it isn’t always the optimal solution."

--Jeffrey J. Keller, Vertabelo.com

"Many data and information modelers talk about all kinds of keys (or identifiers. I'll forego the distinction for now). I hear them talk about primary keys, alternate keys, surrogate keys, technical keys, functional keys, intelligent keys, business keys (for a Data Vault), human keys, natural keys, artificial keys, composite keys, warehouse keys or Dimensional Keys (or Data Warehousing) and whatnot. Then a debate rises on the use (and misuse) of all these keys ... The foremost question we should actually ask ourselves: can we formally disambiguate kinds of keys (at all)? Of all kinds of key, the primary key and the surrogate key gained the most discussion."

"If we take a look at the relational model we only see of one or more attributes that are unique for each tuple in a relation -- no other formal distinction is possible. When we talk about different kinds of keys we base our nomenclature on properties and behavior of the candidate keys. We formally do not have a primary key, it is a choice we make and as such we might treat this key slightly different from all other available keys in a relation. The discussion around primary keys stems more from SQL NULL problems, foreign key constraints and implementing surrogate keys."

"The Internet is full of dogmatic commandments for choosing and using keys in relational databases. At times it verges on a holy war: should you use natural or artificial keys? Auto-incrementing integers, UUIDs? After wading through sixty-four articles, skimming sections in five books, and asking questions on IRC and StackOverflow I think I’ve put the pieces together and have a recommendation to harmonize the various camps. Many arguments about keys boil down to false dichotomies and failures to acknowledge other points of view."

--Joe Nelson, begriffs.com