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Category Archives: SQL Server

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SQL Server 2022 is GA!

James Serra's Blog Posted on November 29, 2022 by James SerraNovember 23, 2022

The big announcement at the PASS Data Community Summit 2022 was that SQL Server 2022 is now generally available. See the official announcement. My top 10 list of new features are: Integration with Azure SQL Database Managed Instance — the Microsoft-managed, cloud-based … Continue reading →

Posted in SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

Microsoft Ignite Announcements Nov 2021

James Serra's Blog Posted on November 3, 2021 by James SerraNovember 8, 2021

Microsoft Ignite has always announced many new products and new product features, and this year was no exception. Many exciting announcements, and below I list the major data platform and AI related announcements: SQL Server 2022: A new version of SQL … Continue reading →

Posted in Azure Cosmos DB, Azure SQL Database, Azure Synapse Analytics/SQL DW, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 4 Replies

Syncing SQL databases

James Serra's Blog Posted on January 4, 2021 by James SerraJanuary 30, 2021

There are various ways to keep SQL Server databases and SQL Database/SQL Managed Instance (SQL MI) databases in-sync asynchronously that I will discuss in this blog. The main use cases for syncing databases are to distribute reads (i.e. a second … Continue reading →

Posted in Azure SQL Database, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

Top SQL Server migration questions

James Serra's Blog Posted on July 29, 2019 by James SerraJuly 29, 2019

Below are the top 12 questions I am seeing from customers looking to migrate on-prem SQL Server to Azure, and the blogs that I have wrote that try to answer each question (I have updated most of these blogs): How … Continue reading →

Posted in SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

Storage options for SQL Server database files in Azure

James Serra's Blog Posted on January 29, 2019 by James SerraApril 14, 2020

If you are using SQL Server in an Azure VM (IaaS) you have a number of options of where to store the database files (.mdf, .ldf, and .ndf).  Most customers use managed disks, available in a number of offerings: Standard HDD, Standard … Continue reading →

Posted in Azure, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 6 Replies

What’s new in SQL Server 2017 presentation

James Serra's Blog Posted on October 6, 2017 by James SerraOctober 6, 2017

I just uploaded a new presentation called “What’s new in SQL Server 2017”.  It covers all the new features in SQL Server 2017 (which went GA this past Monday), as well as details on upgrading and migrating to SQL Server … Continue reading →

Posted in SQL Server, SQL Server 2017, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

Distributed Writes

James Serra's Blog Posted on September 21, 2017 by James SerraAugust 21, 2022

In SQL Server, scaling out reads (i.e. using Active secondary replicas via AlwaysOn Availability Groups) is a lot easier than scaling out writes.  So what are your options when you have a tremendous amount of writes that scaling up will not handle, … Continue reading →

Posted in Azure Cosmos DB, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 9 Replies

Microsoft database migration tools

James Serra's Blog Posted on March 29, 2017 by James SerraAugust 20, 2020

There are various Microsoft tools that you can use to help you migrate your database (updated 1/16/19): Data Migration Assistant (DMA) – enables you to upgrade to a modern data platform by detecting compatibility issues that can impact database functionality … Continue reading →

Posted in Azure Cosmos DB, Database Migration Service, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 3 Replies

Microsoft Connect(); announcements

James Serra's Blog Posted on November 17, 2016 by James SerraAugust 20, 2020

Microsoft Connect(); is a developer event from Nov 16-18, where plenty of announcements are made.  Here is a summary of the data platform related announcements: Azure Data Lake Analytics is generally available in two datacenters in US (EMEA coming in Feb). … Continue reading →

Posted in Azure Cosmos DB, Data Lake, HDInsight, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

PASS Summit Announcements: DMA/DEA

James Serra's Blog Posted on October 28, 2016 by James SerraMarch 8, 2017

Microsoft usually has some interesting announcements at the PASS Summit, and this year was no exception.  My next few blogs will cover the major announcements.  This first one is about the Data Migration Assistant (DMA) tool v 2.0 general availability and … Continue reading →

Posted in SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | Leave a reply

Data Warehouse Fast Track for SQL Server 2016

James Serra's Blog Posted on October 19, 2016 by James SerraNovember 20, 2016

Microsoft Data Warehouse Fast Track for SQL Server 2016 is a joint effort between Microsoft and its hardware partners to deliver validated, pre-configured solutions that reduce the complexity of implementing a data warehouse on SQL Server Enterprise Edition.  The Data … Continue reading →

Posted in Appliance, Data warehouse, Fast Track, PDW/APS, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 5 Replies

Migrate from on-prem SQL server to Azure VM IaaS

James Serra's Blog Posted on May 18, 2016 by James SerraAugust 19, 2017

Hopefully you went through my presentations Should I move my database to the cloud?, Introducing Azure SQL Database and Implement SQL Server on an Azure VM and are convinced to move your databases to the cloud.  If you are going to migrate to Azure … Continue reading →

Posted in Azure, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

SQL Server on Linux!

James Serra's Blog Posted on March 8, 2016 by James SerraMarch 13, 2016

Looks outside: pigs are flying! In an announcement yesterday, SQL Server will be made available on Linux.  The private preview of SQL Server on Linux is available now, and Microsoft is targeting availability in mid-2017.  Microsoft will offer both on-premises and cloud versions … Continue reading →

Posted in SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

Migrate from on-prem SQL server to Azure SQL Database

James Serra's Blog Posted on January 27, 2016 by James SerraJanuary 5, 2017

This blog describes the various approaches you can use to migrate an on-premises SQL Server database to Azure SQL Database. In this migration process you migrate both your schema and your data from the SQL Server database in your current … Continue reading →

Posted in Azure SQL Database, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 2 Replies

SQL Server 2016 public preview arriving this summer

James Serra's Blog Posted on May 20, 2015 by James SerraMarch 11, 2016

SQL Server 2016 was recently announced.  Top new features include: Always Encrypted protects data at rest and in motion.  With Always Encrypted, SQL Server can perform operations on encrypted data and best of all, the encryption key resides with the … Continue reading →

Posted in SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, SQLServerPedia Syndication | 1 Reply

24 Hours of PASS videos online

James Serra's Blog Posted on August 7, 2014 by James SerraAugust 6, 2014

All the videos for the sessions at 24 Hours of PASS (Spring 2014) are available for free.  Check the session schedule for a complete list.  Also, many of the PASS virtual chapters have recordings of their meetings online.  Enjoy!

Continue reading →
Posted in PASS, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Videos | Leave a reply

24 Hours of PASS: Business Analytics Edition videos online

James Serra's Blog Posted on February 6, 2014 by James SerraFebruary 6, 2014

On February 5, 2014 business intelligence experts took to the virtual stage for the 24 Hours of PASS: Business Analytics Edition to deliver a series of one-hour webcasts, digging deep into the world of business analytics.  All session recordings and slide presentations … Continue reading →

Posted in PASS, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Videos | Leave a reply

TechEd Europe 2013 videos online

James Serra's Blog Posted on July 25, 2013 by James SerraJuly 17, 2013

Microsoft has posted ALL the session videos for TechEd Europe 2013 and they are available for free!  Some great videos on the latest products and versions.  Check them out here.  There are four videos on SQL Server 2014: Microsoft SQL Server … Continue reading →

Posted in SQL Server, SQL Server 2014, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Videos | Leave a reply

TechEd North America 2013 videos online

James Serra's Blog Posted on June 20, 2013 by James SerraJune 17, 2013

Microsoft has posted ALL the session videos for TechEd North America 2013 and they are available for free!  What a great way to learn all about SQL Server 2012 and Business Intelligence (some sessions have hands-on labs).  Check them out here. … Continue reading →

Posted in SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Videos | Leave a reply

Visual Studio 2012 now supports BI!

James Serra's Blog Posted on March 6, 2013 by James SerraOctober 22, 2013

My most popular blog has been Visual Studio 2012 does not support BI.  In short, this means VS 2012 does not support SSAS, SSIS, or SSRS.  Well, not anymore!  Just released is Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools – Business Intelligence for … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Intelligence, SQL Server, SQLServerPedia Syndication, SSAS, SSDT/Juneau, SSIS, SSRS, Visual Studio 2012 | 9 Replies

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About James Serra

I work at Microsoft as a big data and data warehousing solution architect where I have been for most of the last ten years.  Prior to that I was an independent consultant working as a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence architect and developer. I am a prior SQL Server MVP with over 35 years of IT experience. The views and opinions on this blog are mine and not that of Microsoft. Check out my book Deciphering Data Architectures: Choosing Between a Modern Data Warehouse, Data Fabric, Data Lakehouse, and Data Mesh. 

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