Cloud Computing

Cloud Alternatives to Microsoft SQL Server

When people say “cloud”, they’re simplifying a lot of different solutions into a single catchphrase. Let’s break out the different options and compare them. 1. SQL Server in Amazon EC2 and Azure VMs Amazon EC2 is a virtualization platform. Amazon buys servers, installs their secret sauce software, and rents you Windows virtual machines by the…
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Amazon Web Services Architect Training Recap

Going into Amazon Web Services (AWS) architecture training last week, I expected to get whiteboard-level training for project planners, and it met expectations.  We spent time talking about how Amazon’s most popular services fit together and how they can be used to solve our business needs.  Nothing in the training itself was groundbreaking for me – I keep…
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Architecting with AWS – Before You Go

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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Architecting with AWS is a three day training session held at the AWS offices in Seattle (classes are available in other locations). Both outsiders and AWS employees come together to learn about building scalable solutions on the AWS platform. This is a practical training program – there’s no certification behind it. The Architecting with AWS…
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SQL Server RDS

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a platform that offers a ton of services ranging from block storage, operating systems, to mail queues, DNS, and caching. When you say “cloud”, a lot of people think of AWS. AWS hosts a variety of businesses, large and small. Unfortunately, you still have to administer and configure your servers.…
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SQL Server Always On Availability Groups in AWS

Many companies are investigating a move into cloud hosting. With the recent release of SQL Server 2012, these very same companies are also looking at a migration to SQL Server 2012 to take advantage of readable secondaries. Combining Amazon Web Services and SQL Server 2012 seems like a perfect match. Unfortunately, there are some gotchas,…
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BSOD-T

SQL Azure Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft Azure
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On Monday 2/1, SQL Azure goes commercially live.  Microsoft’s charging for service now, and that means it’s officially official. I talk to a lot of enterprise DBAs, project managers, and developers about SQL Server in the cloud.  Here’s some of the questions I get asked most often. What is SQL Azure? SQL Azure is Microsoft’s…
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Playing Around with SQL Azure and SSMS

Microsoft Azure
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The latest build of SQL Server Management Studio for SQL 2008 R2 includes built-in support for SQL Azure.  The November CTP is still only a feature-complete preview, not a release candidate, so don’t go installing it willy-nilly on your production desktop. To use this, you’ll need a SQL Azure account.  You can register for an…
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Microsoft SQL Azure: The Flat Pack Database

Microsoft Azure
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Erika’s friends call her “Fancy Feast” because she only likes the best things in life. She’s got champagne tastes, but we can’t afford to buy the best of everything. I recently picked up a coffee table from Ikea, and it got me thinking about SQL Azure.

In a perfect world, I’d have on-premise SQL Server for every database. I’d use cutting-edge storage and cluster everything. But this isn’t a perfect world…

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Sky Blue Screen of Death

Microsoft Azure
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I don’t have anything insightful to add, but Microsoft’s Azure cloud service suffered its first nearly day-long outage.  I have this vision of looking up to the clouds and seeing a giant BSOD, only with lighter colors. Might be the flu medicine, though.  I’ll be back in the game tomorrow or Wednesday.
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Amazon EC2 Windows support now live!

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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You can now spin up a virtual server in Amazon’s datacenter with Windows running. Even better, you can spin up a fresh new SQL Server for around $1 per hour. Amazon Web Services Blog announcement on Windows support Amazon EC2 description with Windows and SQL Server pricing And of course, this comes on a day…
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