This week SQL Server 2022 was released into general availability. It has been hyped as the most Azure-enabled release of SQL Server so far and that certainly holds up. Azure connections include:
- Azure SQL Managed Instance: this new feature provides a built-in Distributed Availability Group to replicate data to a previously deployed Azure SQL Managed Instance as a disaster recovery replica site.
- Azure Arc-enabled SQL Server: providing a new cloud-enabled billing model
- Azure Synapse Analytics: no need to use ETL anymore when the new link feature provides automatic change feeds to capture changes in the SQL Server and feed them into Azure Synapse Analytics.
- Microsoft Purview: make use of this excellent unified data governance and management service even with your on-premises workloads.
- Azure Active Directory: providing secure access management
- Microsoft Defender for SQL: meaning Microsoft Defender for Cloud can even protect your on-premises data.
If you want to update workloads to SQL Server 2022, the great news is that no app or code changes are required.
Next Steps
You can explore SQL Server 2022 in more detail on its website which provides a large number of resources to get you started.
If you are deciding between updating to SQL Server 2022 or making the move to Azure, we have a few handy resources for you:
- SQL Server Versions – SQL Server Updates
- Tips to Migrate from SQL Server to Azure SQL
- Azure SQL Options– What to Use and When
Here at Ballard Chalmers, as app developers, we would choose the cloud option wherever possible. However, due to circumstances for individual organisations, that isn’t always possible. So, it’s great to see SQL Server 2022 making real inroads to connecting to the cloud while remaining an excellent on-premises alternative.
