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.
 

SQLBits 2020 Keynote from Edge to Cloud

The keynote for the 2020 SQLBits was delivered by Rohan Kumar on 'Digital Transformation from Edge to Cloud with Azure Data' . This celebrated the tools used to achieve digital transformation at breakneck speed within months and shared the innovations just launching. The Azure Data Strategy includes various tools such as cloud databases, Azure Synapse Analytics and Power BI. These tools enable innovation anywhere, on premises, at the edge and in the cloud. 

The Azure Data Strategy includes many tools, incorporating SQL Server.

Azure SQL Edge delivers intelligence to the edge. Azure SQL Edge is generally available.

Azure Synapse offers a new class of analytics. There were two announcements Public Preview of Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB (Synapse SQL Serverless) and Private preview of Power BI performance accelerator for Azure Synapse Analytics.

Also announced was the Public preview of Power BI app for Teams.

A keynote full of ideas for innovation, how to drive a data strategy forward and help the environment in which we live in today

The Future of Tech

I enjoyed watching this The Future of Tech session, with Kevin Scott and guests at Microsoft Build. The session discusses advances in large scale models for natural language generation and AI on the intelligent edge among other things. Watch it here

2020 Build Keynote

The Build Keynote from Satya Nadella was entitled empowering every developer,  on Tuesday 19 May. You can watch it here.

In this time of uncertainty, developers will play a central role in reimaging the world we live in and accelerating our path to recovery. The 3 phases he touched on emergency, recovery and reimaging. Going forward business will need to be able to remote everything at a moments notice, automate everywhere to be agile and simulate anything. The Power Platform, Azure Arc as the first control plane and Teams are enabling the future. Satya left us with a thought provoking statement.

"We are at an inflection point. As developers you have that opportunity, as well as a responsibility, to define what should be rebuilt, what should be reimaged, and what should be left behind." Satya Nadella

We are crossing into a new frontier, anywhere together.

A few of the many interesting announcements follow: 

Microsoft responsible machine learning capabilities build trust in AI systems, developers say

https://blogs.microsoft.com/ai/azure-responsible-machine-learning/

Build AI you can trust with responsible ML

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/build-ai-you-can-trust-with-responsible-ml/

Autoscale is now generally available on AzureCosmosDB, and the launch the public preview of their new serverless model in just a couple of months!

Microsoft Build brings announcements for cloud data, analytics services, and intersection of the two
https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-build-brings-announcements-for-cloud-data-analytics-services-and-intersection-of-the-two/
Azure SQL Edge now in preview
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/updates/azure-sql-edge-now-in-preview/

Microsoft announces a new supercomputer and lays out vision for future AI work.
https://blogs.microsoft.com/ai/openai-azure-supercomputer/
It has built one of the top five publicly disclosed supercomputers in the world, making new infrastructure available in Azure to train extremely large artificial intelligence models.