Date: 11th March 2016
Author: James Cherry – Chief Technical Officer
With Oracle suffering allegations of bullyboy tactics around licensing audits and a hike in prices for its core database products, it isn’t surprising that Microsoft has chosen the release of SQL Server 2016 as a good time to go on the offensive.
SQL Server on Linux. For Real!
One of the main barriers for SQL server in some environments is the requirement to run it on Windows. For organisations that run Linux as their main operating system, SQL servers are just not an option. Until now that is. With the release of Microsoft’s SQL server 2016 is a cloud-based information platform that helps organisations unlock critical business insights and quickly establish robust solutions to extend data usage, whether it’s accessible on-premise or via a public cloud.
However, it continues to get better. Microsoft recently announced that SQL servers will be available on Linux with a target date of mid-2017 opening up the database platform to an increased set of customers.
Enterprise Grade Security
This latest release also brings with it a whole host of security features that firmly positions the product as enterprise grade. Row-level security, a feature that’s really been missing on previous versions, makes its debut along with Always Encrypted and Transparent Data Encryption.
Migrate from Oracle with Free Licenses
To step up the assault Microsoft have also announced a rather compelling set of offers aimed at reducing the cost and risk of migrating off of competitive products. They are subject to some small print but include:
- Free SQL Server Licenses
- Free Training
- Subsidised deployment services
OUCH!