SQL Azure Roadmap Simplifies Scale Out Needs with Bigger Data, SQL Azure Federation

sql-azure-logo-lgThe SQL Azure Q4 2011 Service Release will be available by end of 2011 and is aimed at simplifying elastic scale out needs. Announcements were made at PASS Summit and online.

According to the Azure blog post, Just Announced at SQL PASS Summit 2011: Upcoming Increased Database Limits & SQL Azure Federation; Immediate Availability of Two New SQL Azure CTPs, key features include:

  • The maximum database size for individual SQL Azure databases will be expanded 3x from 50 GB to 150 GB.
  • Federation. With SQL Azure Federation, databases can be elastically scaled out using the sharding database pattern based on database size and the application workload. This new feature will make it dramatically easier to set up sharding, automate the process of adding new shards, and provide significant new functionality for easily managing database shards.
  • New SQL Azure Management Portal capabilities. The service release will include an enhanced management portal with significant new features including the ability to more easily monitor databases, drill-down into schemas, query plans, spatial data, indexes/keys, and query performance statistics.
  • Expanded support for user-controlled collations.

Community Previews Set for BI, Cloud Connections

Also now available are two new community previews:

More Information

Click here for more information about Windows Azure and SQL Azure sessions at PASS Summit 2011. Click here to watch demonstrations of many of these new features, made during the PASS Summit keynote by Quentin Clark, corporate vice president, SQL Server Database System Group at Microsoft.