The data world is ablaze with applications that are both stunning in their capabilities as well as profound in their known applications and as-yet untapped potential for business. Exploring this emerging world—consisting of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning—is now on the agendas of many forward-looking businesses. Bear in mind these technologies are all built on a data foundation that needs to be solid and reliable. These initiatives—vital to understanding and predicting customer preferences, markets, and operations— require sophisticated capabilities incorporating robust, scalable, and adaptable databases. That power is inherent in today’s Microsoft SQL Server databases.
With Microsoft announcing Linux platform support for SQL Server available in 2017, followed by moving to the cloud in 2018, a new world of possibilities has opened up to companies running these databases. While there has been ongoing movement to these platforms in recent years, lately, the trickle has become a torrent. Linux, the open-source operating system, has taken its place alongside Windows Server as a key platform choice among SQL Server users. In addition, across all operating system instances, many of these implementations are being deployed in cloud-based environments, providing robust scalability and storage capabilities.