SQL Server in the Cloud

I read “The no spin details on the new SDS features” article earlier today. It is about SQL Data Services (SDS) and the acceleration of the release of relational database functionality. As a “part-time” SQL Server DBA, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one:

Most importantly for developers, this means symmetric SQL Server functionality and behavior combined with compatibility with the existing tools you are familiar with.

Tables?…Check

Stored Procedures?…Check

Triggers?…Check

Views?…Check

Indexes?…Check

Visual Studio Compatibility?…Check

ADO.Net Compatibility?…Check

ODBC Compatibility?…Check

To be clear, the above is not a complete list of supported features. However, given the feature set we are planning to support in SDS v1, a majority of database applications will “just work”, allowing developers to target on and off-premises deployments with essentially the same code base.

No hints on the pricing, but this could be a fascinating aspect of the Microsoft Azure platform. What I’d seen (or interpreted) of the data services up to this point wasn’t very exciting, but this … this could be a game changer.

But boy, I wonder how the pricing will compare to a beefy server and a SQL Server license / CPU… that’s really the key, right? Considering how most folks (including myself) over buy on a database server in the hope of growing into it… yeah, pricing will be really interesting to learn about.

I wonder if the SQL Data Services Dev Center is current with this new announcement.

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