Microsoft SQL Server 2016: an expandable database on the Cloud
Microsoft SQL Server 2016
Summary:
The new version of Microsoft’s database, SQL Server 2016 arrived with functions for the Cloud, full encryption for databases.
Presentation:
The new version of Microsoft’s database, SQL Server 2016 is now available in its public version. The database has over the years become a key product in Microsoft’s strategy. And this is the product that has most contributed to the growth of Microsoft in the past three years. According to Microsoft, SQL Server’s turnover is more than $6 billion.
Microsoft’s investment in this product focuses on three priorities: strengthening the functions to support critical applications, providing key capabilities in hand of the given operating and exploiting the growth of the potential volumes that is offered in the Cloud. The main new features of SQL Server 2016 illustrate the priority to these three areas of development.
Encrypted queries in encrypted databases
Thus always encrypted, technology developed by Microsoft Research, allows generalizing encryption and performing operations on encrypted data. The key is stored in applications, which minimizes the changes to be made to existing applications, says Microsoft in a blog post. To the cloud version, it offers a feature called Transparent Query Encryption, which encrypts requests when the work of the day on databases is done and you leave the company and query of a database itself performs the encryption.
A safety feature, according to Microsoft deploys sensitive data, which is accessible at one time or another to a system administrator or database administrator. This reduces the attack surface as the limited number of people will have access to the database.
As for analytic functions, Microsoft integrated the R programming language, popular among statisticians and POLYBASE, a tool that allows for the junction between the SQL Hadoop world and the rest of the world. Most importantly, Microsoft insists reconciliation of its In-Memory technology OLTP (transactional) and warehouse management index in columns and memory (analytical). If this integration fits well in line with previous versions (including version 2014), it opens the way to real-time analytics applications in SQL Server 2016, in particular by eliminating the ETL process. The approach is reminiscent of SAP Hana, which by placing all data in memory allows you to merge transactional and analytical applications (Read more: 5 Main Questions Asked by the Market about SAP S/4 Hana). But SAP’s approach is all or nothing. Within SQL server, it is sufficient to place 2 or 3 most solicited tables in memory. This clears 90% of earnings would have brought a total transfer in memory for a moderate investment in infrastructure.
Deport the cold data in the Cloud
But ultimately the greatest originality of this version of SQL server 2016 is to be sought in the exploitation of Cloud capabilities. The Stretch Database function allows the use of Cloud with uphill load capabilities to extend a database on the Cloud (the cons). E.g. hosting a cold data which is least called by the applications. One way to enjoy a very low cost of cloud environment and at the same time unloads the internal infrastructure from little use of daily data. A change of rules economically; especially since the implementation of this option takes place without application change, promises Microsoft. The SQL query that distributes on server on-premises remains in tables and rest deports on Cloud. At this stage the single market and bear Stretch Table Query with Transparent Encryption.
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