Earlier this month, Microsoft held their annual Ignite conference, and shared several big announcements. There are plenty of blogs and podcasts out there which have summarized some of the highlights, and of course we have Microsoft’s own Book of News, too. I won’t bore you with another re-hash like that.
Instead, I just want to talk about one announcement in particular that has piqued my interest, especially for the SMB space. The product? Microsoft Syntex. What, never heard of it? I don’t blame you. Or, if you have heard of it, did you assume this was just going to be one of those “Enterprise things?” That was my first reaction: “Content A.I.,” they called it. A fancy set of Machine Learning algorithms that will help you to better organize and categorize data, or at least that’s what I thought.
It turns out that Microsoft Syntex is going to be an umbrella that houses all kinds of interesting capabilities, some of which will be of particular interest to the SMB.
I encourage you to check out some of the content from Ignite: go see demos on some of these features for yourself. For example, content assembly, summarization of documents, translation of documents, etc. We also have native eSignature capabilities to look forward to! Yes, I know we have long had the ability to integrate with third-party clouds such as Adobe or Docusign to accomplish these tasks, but having the ability to natively collect signatures right in the Microsoft cloud (so that it never leaves your tenant) has certain benefits, too.
Next, I want to draw your attention to Backup and restore, as well as Archiving (coming 2023). Finally: we will have a native solution for handling backup and restore of data! I assume this will cover single item restores as well as an entire mailbox or document library. I am excited to see if this service can displace the third-party solutions that we service providers have been stapling on to date.
The Archiving piece is especially interesting to me, because this is going to involve a “cold storage” option that is (supposed to be) extremely cheap. This means old content can be preserved and kept available, but access times may be a bit slower (as content needs to “warm-up” or rehydrate before it is fully accessible again). This was sorely needed, as I have blogged before about the expensiveness of SharePoint storage, especially for the SMB, where we lack the volume in terms of seats to obtain decent capacity in the Microsoft cloud (1 TB per tenant plus 10 GB/user).
There are still some question marks around how much Syntex is going to cost, but I have reason to be optimistic: Microsoft announced that this service will be available on a “Pay-as-you-go” basis. In other words, you pay for the features/services you consume or use, but not the ones you don’t. Therefore, if you have no desire to use content assembly, but you still want to turn on the archive features, you could do so, and not worry about getting charged for the features you aren’t using.
As well, since it is a usage-based model, we expect SMBs to pay less in order to process less data. Whereas an Enterprise organization could have thousands of requests per day against Syntex capabilities, in the SMB we should see a fraction of that. So, we could be talking pennies or dollars, vs. hundreds or thousands of dollars.
If you like me, and are similarly interested in learning more about Microsoft Syntex, I encourage you to check out the following from Microsoft:
P.S. – You have probably noticed it has been quiet around this blog for a bit: yes, that is true. I am working on some big updates to my publications and will have more to share about that soon. Stay tuned!
Today, we announced the general availability of SQL Server 2022, the most Azure-enabled release of SQL Server yet, with continued innovation across performance, security, and availability1. This marks the latest milestone in the more than 30-year history of SQL Server.
SQL Server 2022 is a core element of the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform. The platform seamlessly integrates operational databases, analytics, and data governance. This enables customers to adapt in real-time, add layers of intelligence to their applications, unlock fast and predictive insights, and govern their datawherever it resides.
SQL Server 2022's connections to Azure2, including Azure Synapse Link and Microsoft Purview make it easier for customers to drive deeper insights, predictions, and governance from their data at scale. Azure integration also includes managed disaster recovery (DR) to Azure SQL Managed Instance, along with near real-time analytics, allowing database administrators to manage their data estates with greater flexibility and minimal impact to the end user3.
Performance and scalability are automatically enhanced via built-in query intelligence. Security innovation, building on SQL Server's track record as being the least vulnerable database over the last 10 years, continues with Ledger for SQL Server, which uses blockchain to create a tamper-proof track record of time of all changes to the database.
Watch how one of our customers, Mediterranean Shipping Company, is already taking advantage of the new capabilities in SQL Server 2022.
Azure-enabled features
Link feature for Azure SQL Managed Instance: To ensure uptime, SQL Server 2022 is fully integrated with the new link feature in Azure SQL Managed Instance. With this new capability, you benefit from a PaaS environment applied to disaster recoveryallowing you to spend less time on setup and management even when compared to an IaaS environment. This works by using a built-in Distributed Availability Group (DAG) to replicate data to a previously deployed Azure SQL Managed Instance as a DR replica site. The instance is ready and waiting for whenever you need itno lengthy configuration or maintenance required. You can also use this link feature in read scale-out scenarios to offload heavy requests that might otherwise affect database performance. We are working on building out more capabilities to support online disaster recovery.
Azure Synapse Link for SQL: Previously, moving data from on-premises databases, like SQL Server, to Synapse required you to use extract, transform, and load (ETL). Configuring and running an ETL pipeline is time-consuming, and insights often lag behind what is happening at any moment. Azure Synapse Link for SQL Server 2022 provides automatic change feeds to capture the changes within SQL Server and feed them into Azure Synapse Analytics. Synapse Link provides near real-time analysis and hybrid transactional and analytical processing with minimal impact on operational systems. Once the data comes to Synapse, you can combine it with many different data sources, regardless of their size, scale, or format, and run powerful analytics over all of it using your choice of Azure Machine learning, Spark, or Power BI. Because the automated change feeds only push what is new or different, data transfer occurs much faster and allows for near real-time insights, all with minimal impact on the performance of the source database in SQL Server 2022.
"Synapse Link for SQL Server 2022 helps us to seamlessly replicate operational data in near real-time to be able to have more powerful analytics."Javier Villegas, IT Director for DBA and BI Service, Mediterranean Shipping Company.
Microsoft Purview integration: Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance and management service. We are excited to highlight that SQL Server is also integrated with Microsoft Purview for greater data discovery, allowing you to break down data silos. Through this integration you will be able to:
Automatically scan your on-premises SQL Server for free to capture metadata.
Classify your data using built-in and custom classifiers and Microsoft Information Protection sensitivity labels.
Set up and control specific access rights to SQL Server.
Additional Azure-connected features: SQL Server 2022 has a number of additional Azure-enabled features. A simple connection to the Azure Arc agent, part of the default setup process for SQL Server 2022, enables additional capabilities, including:
Single view of all SQL Servers deployed on-premises, in Azure and other clouds.
Fully automated technical assessment for SQL Server at no additional cost, to help you optimize your database's performance, scalability, security, business continuity, and more.
Protect your on-premises data using Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Secure identities with Single Sign-On and Azure Active Directory.
Pay-as-you-go billing.
Continued innovation to the core SQL Server engine
Performance: Performance is critical. On the SQL Server Engineering team, our core engine feature principles are: do no harm, no app changes required. With SQL Server 2022, performance enhancements come without requiring code changes by the end user.
SQL Server continues to offer differentiated performance, with #1 OLTP performance, #1 Non-Clustered DW performance on 1TB, 3TB, 10TB, and 30TB according to the independent Transaction Processing Performance Council. In SQL Server 2022:
With Query Store, we are adding support for read replicas and enabling query hints to improve performance and quickly mitigate issues without having to change the source T-SQL.
With Intelligent Query Processing, we're expanding more scenarios based on common customer problems. For example, the "parameter sensitive plan" problem refers to a scenario where a single cached plan for a parameterized query is not optimal for all possible incoming parameter values. With SQL Server 2022's Parameter Sensitive Plan optimization feature, we automatically enable the generation of multiple active cached plans for a single parameterized statement. These cached execution plans will accommodate different data sizes based on the provided runtime parameter values.
"As a company with 24/7 availability requirements, we are looking forward to embracing all SQL Server 2022 features that can make database failover faster, such as Buffer Pool Parallel Scan, ParallelRedo and Accelerated Database Recovery(ADR) enhancements. On the development side, we expect to further utilize continuous improvements in the Intelligent Query Processing package. In an environment with a lot of servers and huge databases, even when you have people and resources to deal with performance issues, each feature that can improve performance or fix performance issues automatically or without touching the code is very valuable." Milos Radivojevic, Head of MSSQL Database Engineering at Entain.
Security: Over the past ten years, SQL Server has had few vulnerabilities. Building on this, the new Ledger for SQL Server feature creates a tamper-evidence track record of data modifications over time. This detects tampering by malicious actors and is beneficial for scenarios such as internal and external audits.
Availability: With Contained Availability Groups you can create an Always On availability group that manages its own metadata objects (users, logins, permissions) at the availability group level in addition to the instance level with contained availability groups. Additionally, it keeps multi-write environments running smoothly when you have users across multiple locations. With SQL Server 2022, we are automating the last-writer wins rule to ensure that when a conflict is detected, the most recent modification time will be chosen to be persisted on all replicas.
New pay-as-you-go SQL Server billing model, enabled by Azure Arc
Today, we are also excited to announce a new billing model that provides flexibility to innovate quickly and move as fast as you do.
Via a simple connection to Azure Arc, a default part of the SQL Server 2022 setup process, you now have access to a new cloud-enabled billing model for SQL Server, providing you with cost efficiency to pay only for what you use. Pay by the hour for consumption spikes and ad hoc usage without the need for upfront investment. Learn more in the announcement blog post.
Azure SQL migration offer
If you're ready to start your journey to the cloud, Microsoft can help. Today we are announcing a new offer, the SQL + Apps Migration Factory. This program can assess and migrate qualifying low complexity SQL Server applications and databases to Azure SQL at no cost to you.4 Talk to your Microsoft account team or apply now at aka.ms/SQLAppsMigrationFactory to get started.
SQL Server IoT 2022
We are also announcing SQL Server IoT 2022, which is designed for fixed function use cases and licensed through the OEM channel under special dedicated use rights. You can read more about SQL Server IoT 2022.
Learn more and get started with SQL Server 2022 today
Learn more about SQL Server 2022 at the PASS Data Community Summit, including Microsoft and community-delivered keynote and general sessions.
[1] SQL Server 2022 free editions (Developer edition, Express edition) are available to download starting today. SQL Server 2022 paid editions (Enterprise edition, Standard edition) will be available in Volume Licensing (Enterprise Agreement, Enterprise Agreement Subscriptions) and MPSA starting today, which represents the majority of SQL Server customers. Customers purchasing via CSP, OEM, and SPLA can begin purchasing SQL Server 2022 in January 2023.
[2] For all Azure-connected features of SQL Server 2022, customers can optionally enable these capabilities based on business requirements.
[3] The bidirectional disaster recovery capability of the Link feature for Azure SQL Managed Instance is available in limited public preview.Sign upfor early access. General availability will occur at a future date.
[4] Subject to the limitations described in the full SQL + Apps Migration Factory program specifications here, and provided that the SQL Server workloads are low complexity with no code changes, Microsoft agrees to assess and migrate SQL Server databases and SQL Server-associated applications from your datacenter or AWS EC2 to Azure at no cost to customer. Migrations must be completed by June 30, 2023.
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