Data Platform Virtual Summit 2021 Keynote

The Data Platform Summit has started. An excellent session covering the Azure data stack identifying when to use each tool and the key innovations with SQL. It was nice to see an explanation of when to use what tool. With so many tools now it becomes hard to know which is the best choice.  This useful chart was shown.

Azure SQL Edge

SQL Server 2019

Solves the modern data challenges 

• Data visualization and big data clusters
• Modern platforms with compatibility
• Built-in machine learning and extensibility
• Intelligent performance
• Layers of security and complain
• Business critical availability

SQL Linux/Container

Containers are portable and can run anywhere containers are supported. They are lightweight with reduced disk, CPU and memory footprint. They have a consistent image of SQL Server, scripts and tools and are efficient with faster deployment, no patching required and less downtime. 

Azure SQL

SQL Server vs. Azure SQL PasS are 

• business continuity, high availability, automated backups, long term backup retention , geo-replication
• scale, advanced security, version-less, built in monitoring and built-in intelligence. 

There are Azure SQL Editions for general purpose, business critical and hyperscale

Azure Arc

Bring Azure data services to on-premises, multi cloud and edge with Azure Arc. Azure Arc enabled SQL Managed Instance has many advantages.

The value of the Cloud provides additional tools such as

• Azure Defender to protect your data
• Azure SQL Database Ledger for blockchain
• Telemetry across all your assets with Azure Monitor SQL Insights

Then to help with migration there are tools available

• Azure Migrate to discover and assess your SQL Server assets
• Migrate Inline with Azure Data Studio
• Migrate online with Azure Database Migration Service or Log Replay Service

A few tools were not mentioned that form part of the data suite such as Azure Cosmos DB. The expansion of tools and options has grown significantly over the last few years so it is always good to assess what business objective you are trying to achieve and select the right tool.
 

Day 1 Microsoft Ignite 2019

Microsoft Ignite day 1 shared many exciting announcements. three of them are

SQL Server 2019 is now generally available.

SQL Server 2019 brings enhancements in the core SQL engine, offers a scale-up and scale-out system with built in support for Big Data (Apache Spark, Data Lake), state of the art data virtualization technology, and with built-in machine learning capabilities.
Get the free e-book on SQL Server 2019.

Simply unmatched, truly limitless:  Azure Synapse Analytics

Azure Synapse Analytics is a limitless analytics service that brings together enterprise data warehousing and Big Data analytics. It gives the freedom to query data , using either serverless on-demand or provisioned resources at scale. Azure Synapse brings these two worlds together with a unified experience to ingest, prepare, manage, and serve data for immediate business intelligence and machine learning needs.

Azure services run anywhere with new hybrid capabilities: Azure Arc

Azure Arc is a set of technologies that unlocks new hybrid scenarios for customers by bringing Azure services and management to any infrastructure. Azure Arc is available in preview.