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| Vivek Ravindran, Director, Data Insights Lead, Microsoft Asia Pacific (left), explains that the ability to access SQL Server-based business intelligence on different devices, including a smartphone, can increase convenience for users. Andreas Hartl, GM, Cloud and Enterprise Division, Microsoft Asia Pacific is on the right. |
Microsoft SQL Server is designed to make applications intelligent enough to add more value than is traditionally possible. The upcoming SQL Server 2016, the first database "born in the cloud", is designed to help businesses with the full spectrum of analytics: descriptive (what happened?), diagnostic (why did it happen), predictive (what will happen next?), and prescriptive (how can we make it happen?).
Vivek Ravindran, Director, Data Insights Lead, Microsoft Asia Pacific, explained that the functionality that enables successful business operations: transaction processing, security, performance, advanced analytics as well as business intelligence capabilities across any device will be bigger, better, and built into SQL Server 2016 for faster, more seamless services.
When it comes to online transaction processing (OLTP), for example, SQL Server 2016 will feature up to 30x faster transactions with in-memory OLTP, Ravindran shared. The increase in speed can reduce queries which took minutes to seconds, and enable analytics in real-time.
Analytics can also be conducted on data stored in the cloud. The Stretch Database feature in SQL Server 2016 expands data from on-premise platforms into the cloud. Cloud storage is typically cheaper than physical storage, allowing companies to cut storage costs. Although cloud storage provided by a third party is often considered less secure than on-premise, SQL Server addresses the problem by ensuring that the data in the cloud is always encrypted yet queryable, Ravindran explained.
Three layers of security are found in SQL Server 2016, Ravindran added. SQL Server 2016 will monitor activity, control access as well as protect data, with security features such as advanced threat analytics and always-on encryption to be introduced in the upgrade. The 'always encrypted' feature is significant in that the data is encrypted whether it is at rest or in transit, as is common with enterprise-class encryption, but also when data is in use, and queries are being processed.
The software is significantly more secure than the competition, Ravindran said, having been classed as least vulnerable for the last six years in a row by the US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology in comparisons against Oracle, DB2, MySQL, and SAP HANA*.
SQL Server 2016 also addresses another challenge, that of integrating open source with traditional enterprise data platforms. Open source tools allow the easy creation of custom models to generate predictions on unique datasets. However, they traditionally have unpredictable support paths, performance and scale issues, and there are security and cost overheads if large volumes of data need to be analysed. Microsoft has addressed both challenges with knowhow gained through the acquisition of Revolution Analytics in 2015, Ravindran said. R code and in-memory processing in SQL Server 2016 keeps the data close at hand and processes it quickly.
On March 8 (Singapore time), Microsoft also announced SQL Server on Linux, another flavour of open source code. SQL Server on Linux completes the picture for SQL Server, allowing a consistent data platform to be delivered across Windows Server and Linux, as well as on-premises and cloud. Core relational database capabilities are available for preview, and availability is to be in mid-2017.
"We're leading across the board, price-wise and functionality-wise. There is no other vendor in the market with a similar offering," Andreas Hartl, GM, Cloud and Enterprise Division, Microsoft Asia Pacific said, sharing that Microsoft is offering to buy out established databases and offer promotional licensing and migration services to get new customers to adopt SQL Server. "We are going to be super aggressive...we will double down investments to own this market in the region."
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| Microsoft summarises R plans. There will be an enterprise-grade R analytics platform; a developer edition; and it will be embedded into SQL Server 2016. R will also be embedded in Power BI for the desktop. |
On March 8 (Singapore time), Microsoft also announced SQL Server on Linux, another flavour of open source code. SQL Server on Linux completes the picture for SQL Server, allowing a consistent data platform to be delivered across Windows Server and Linux, as well as on-premises and cloud. Core relational database capabilities are available for preview, and availability is to be in mid-2017.
"We're leading across the board, price-wise and functionality-wise. There is no other vendor in the market with a similar offering," Andreas Hartl, GM, Cloud and Enterprise Division, Microsoft Asia Pacific said, sharing that Microsoft is offering to buy out established databases and offer promotional licensing and migration services to get new customers to adopt SQL Server. "We are going to be super aggressive...we will double down investments to own this market in the region."
Interested?
Download the e-book on SQL Server 2016 (PDF)
View the SQL Server 2016 video on encryption, Polybase - new ways of making data processing quicker, and mobile support
Apply for the SQL Server on Linux preview
The preview of SQL Server 2016
Microsoft's plans for R
*National Institute of Standards and Technology, Comprehensive Vulnerability Database, update October 2015.
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