As of today, July 14, 2026, SQL Server 2016 has reached end of support.

For the past decade, SQL Server 2016 has helped organizations run mission-critical applications and support the data needs of their business. Whether it was end-to-end encryption with Always Encrypted or performance improvements with In-Memory OLTP, SQL Server 2016 was shaped by evolving data platform needs and what we heard directly from customers like you.

Last year, we shared guidance on how to prepare for this milestone: Protect and modernize SQL Server 2016 workloads with Microsoft. Now, after 10 years of powering innovation, the focus shifts to what comes next.

Beyond end of support: Setting up your data platform for what’s next

For organizations running SQL Server 2016, this transition is an opportunity to improve how your database environment operates. Moving to a modern platform can help reduce operational overhead, avoid recurring upgrade cycles, and simplify database management. It can also support new scenarios such as advanced analytics and AI-driven applications built on operational data.

Organizations are already taking action by moving to Azure SQL or upgrading their SQL Server. The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) upgraded to SQL Server 2025 to modernize its SQL Server deployment and streamline how operational data flows into Microsoft Fabric, enabling faster analytics and data-driven decision-making across its global operations.

SQL Server plays a key role in powering our systems, enabling us to operate at scale and deliver on our promise to customers everywhere.

—Javier Villegas, IT Director for Database Administration and Business Intelligence Services, MSC

Assessing your options for end-of-support workloads

For organizations that still run on SQL Server 2016, there are three paths that help you stay protected while planning the next phase of your data platform modernization:

1. Move to Azure SQL: Modernize your data platform using Azure SQL, helping you reduce operational overhead and remove the need for ongoing upgrades. (Best to avoid future upgrade cycles.)
2. Upgrade to SQL Server 2025: Move to the latest version of SQL Server with enhanced performance, security, and AI capabilities. (Best for keeping your databases on premises or in hybrid cloud.)
3. Deploy Extended Security Updates (ESU): Get critical security updates for SQL Server 2016 while you’re planning a transition. (Best for short-term protection while planning next steps.)

Each path offers a way to maintain security and compliance while planning long-term business and infrastructure goals. Here’s what each of these options would mean in practice:

Option 1: Move to Azure SQL

Moving to Azure SQL provides a managed approach to updating your SQL Server environment. Azure SQL platform-as-a-service (PaaS) services handle patching and backups, provide high availability, and come with built-in version updates, allowing your team to focus less on infrastructure management and more on delivering value.

For many SQL Server 2016 workloads, Azure SQL PaaS provides a path to reduce ongoing maintenance and automate resiliency, scalability, and security. With strong backward compatibility, applications can be migrated with minimal changes in most scenarios—and where updates are required, GitHub Copilot can help accelerate code changes and modernization efforts.

Azure supports multiple options depending on your migration and modernization goals:

1. Azure SQL Database: A managed database service designed for modern applications. Azure SQL Database Hyperscale enables independent scaling of compute and storage to handle growing data and workloads without changing your application. (Choose this if you don’t need instance-level features and want a simpler, app-focused model that can flexibly scale as your data grows.)
2. Azure SQL Managed Instance: A SQL Server-compatible service that supports your existing workloads with minimal changes, enabling easier migration and reducing the need to manage your infrastructure. (Choose this if you want the closest PaaS experience to SQL Server with minimal application changes.)
3. SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines: A flexible option for running SQL Server in Azure while retaining full control over your SQL environment and operating system, including custom configurations and dependencies. (Choose this if you use software, configurations, or third-party components that require a specific SQL Server version or instance-level control of your SQL Server.)

Frontier Accelerate for Databases

Reduce the cost of migration by combining Microsoft-funded delivery support, Azure credits, and investment programs.

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Option 2: Upgrade to SQL Server 2025

Upgrading to SQL Server 2025 allows you to stay on a supported platform while bringing modern capabilities directly into your existing on-premises or hybrid environments.

SQL Server 2025 is built to support evolving application and data needs, helping teams modernize while preparing for AI-driven scenarios. It includes new and improved capabilities such as:

• Performance and engine improvements: Optimizations across query processing, indexing, and concurrency help improve performance and stability for high-volume transactional workloads.
• Security and data protection: Built on the existing SQL Server security model with continued investments in encryption, access control, and compliance support for regulated environments.
• Built-in AI: Comes with native support for vector search and semantic workflows, enabling AI-driven applications directly on operational data without requiring separate data pipelines.
• Integration with Microsoft Fabric: Enables mirroring of operational data into analytics environments for near real-time insights, without impacting core transactional workloads.

This path is especially relevant for organizations powering large-scale applications or complex data environments where control, performance, and consistency are essential. It allows you to modernize in place, retain your existing infrastructure, and prepare your platform for the next generation of applications without requiring the shift to a new operating model.

Option 3: Deploy Extended Security Updates (ESU)

Some migrations take time, and we understand that not every environment can move immediately. Extended Security Updates (ESU) provide a short-term option to maintain security coverage for SQL Server 2016 after end of support, helping reduce risk while you plan and execute your next step.

Extended Security Updates are available for workloads running in Azure, including SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines and Azure VMware Solution, and for on-premises and multi-cloud environments through Azure Arc. They are offered as a paid program to extend security coverage while modernization work is underway.

This option is best suited for environments with application dependencies, testing requirements, or migration complexity that require additional time. Extended Security Updates are designed as a temporary bridge that helps you maintain your existing operations while you move to a supported platform like Azure SQL or SQL Server 2025.

Take the next step

As you plan this transition, there are clear paths to stay secure and move forward based on your environment and priorities. Whether you choose to modernize on Azure, upgrade to SQL Server 2025, or use Extended Security Updates as a bridge, taking a structured approach will allow you to reduce risk and ensure continuity.

If you need help evaluating your options or getting started, reach out to your Microsoft representative to explore the right path forward for your environment.

Resources

Explore the following resources to help you plan your next steps:

Migrate SQL Server workloads to Azure

• Azure SQL Database: Explore a cloud-native database platform for modern applications.
• Azure SQL Managed Instance: Learn how to migrate SQL Server workloads with minimal changes.
• Azure Database Migration Service: Assess, plan, and migrate SQL Server workloads to Azure.

Upgrade SQL Server to a supported version

• SQL Server 2025: Explore features, performance improvements, and AI capabilities in the latest release.
• Upgrade SQL Server using SQL Server Management Studio: Step-by-step guidance for upgrading SQL Server versions.
• AI capabilities in SQL Server: Learn about vector search, semantic processing, and AI scenarios in SQL Server.

Extended Security Updates (ESU)

• Extended Security Updates overview: Understand ESU coverage, timelines, and how to apply updates.
• SQL Server 2016: Stay Protected While You Modernize: Maintain your existing workloads while you upgrade or modernize.

The post SQL Server 2016 end of support is here: Plan your next steps appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

End-to-end migration simplified

If you’ve been using SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc, you’re likely familiar with continuous migration assessments that offer target recommendations, technical readiness, and cost estimates. Now, we’re taking the next step forward by introducing automated, end-to-end migration capabilities in SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc.

Once you’ve assessed the Azure readiness of your SQL Server instances, you can now select or provision your Azure targets such as Azure SQL Managed Instance, without jumping between various tools or places in the Azure portal. This streamlined workflow eliminates context switching and simplifies provisioning. You’ll see estimated costs during the provisioning process, giving you clear visibility and confidence to plan ahead. Plus, you can take advantage of the free Azure SQL Managed Instance offer to evaluate at no cost, making it easier to get started. 

Real-time database replication is also integrated into the new migration capability. This new method, built on top of distributed availability groups, enables near real-time database replication from SQL Server to Azure SQL Managed Instance. Setting up real-time replication manually can be a complex multi-step process, but Azure Arc simplifies the entire process while providing best-in-class monitoring. If a customer decides to go back to on-premises, Azure SQL Managed Instance Link also supports seamless failback (if the source SQL Server instance is SQL Server 2022 and above). 

Migrate with confidence 

The new capability empowers customers to migrate with confidence. Before officially cutting over, you can validate that the target Azure SQL Managed Instance meets your business requirements by using the target instance as a read-only replica.  

In addition, the client connection summary feature in SQL Server, enabled by Azure Arc, automatically and continuously captures and displays which clients are connecting to each instance. This replaces the previous manual and time-consuming process of tracing applications to their databases, giving customers clear visibility and helping ensure a smooth transition to Azure.

Get started today 

If you’re looking to simplify and accelerate your migration to Azure, this new connected capability can help you get there faster—with less downtime, lower overhead, and more confidence. 

• Learn more on our Tech Community blog.
• Learn more about the new migration capability in Azure Arc on Microsoft Learn.
• Onboard your SQL Server to Azure Arc today.
• Learn more about continuous migration assessment from SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc.

Frequently asked questions 

1. What is SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc?  

SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc extends Azure services to SQL Server instances hosted outside of Azure: in your data center, in edge site locations like retail stores, or any public cloud or hosting provider. 

Azure Arc enables you to consistently manage SQL Server instances across hybrid and multicloud environments, bringing cloud innovations such as automated updates, unified policy, best practices assessment, and advanced security to SQL Server running anywhere.

2. What’s the continuous migration assessment from Azure Arc?  

Microsoft has announced the general availability of continuous migration assessments for SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc, marking a step forward in simplifying cloud migration planning. This release introduces a redesigned assessment experience that provides deeper insights and more intuitive navigation, especially for single Arc-enabled instances. 

One of the standout features is the integration of retail pricing visibility across all Azure savings options, including Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB), reserved instances, and Azure savings plans. These pricing insights are now available for Azure SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (VMs), helping users make informed cost decisions.  

3. What is Azure Database Migration Service? 

Azure Database Migration Service is a fully managed service designed to seamlessly migrate databases to Azure with minimal downtime. It supports both homogeneous migrations (such as SQL Server to Azure SQL) and heterogeneous migrations (such as Oracle to Azure PostgreSQL).

4. What are the migration methods in the new migration capability? 

The following methods are built into the migration process. Azure SQL Managed Instance link enables near real-time database replication using distributed availability groups. Log Replay Service uses SQL Server log-shipping technology and requires a brief planned cutover. Review the Microsoft Learn page to understand the differences between these two migration methods and choose the option that best suits your needs.

The post Accelerate SQL Server Migration to Azure with Azure Arc  appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

We are allowing the cloud provider to handle hardware resource allocation and maintenance so that our staff focus on program development. This strategy ensures that during system operation we no longer need to worry about hardware failures, power instability or information security issues, greatly improving the system’s operational reliability.

—Ching-Lung Chang, CIO, Library and Information Services Office at YunTech .

Modernize to Azure, a smooth path, a more powerful destination  

Migrating to a cloud platform is an essential step on the journey to modernization, and there are many choices. What makes SQL Server and Microsoft Azure SQL unique is that it’s built on the same engine, no matter where you deploy, which means you can build on your existing SQL experience while gaining the layered security, intelligent threat detection, and data encryption that Azure provides.  

Modernizing to Microsoft Azure SQL Managed Instance offers cost savings, scalability, security, seamless migration, productivity, and always up-to-date features. Now in preview, Azure SQL Managed Instance next generation general purpose delivers improved performance and scalability, making migration and modernization faster and easier across more customer scenarios.  

Azure is the destination, but we know the journey matters just as much. A new SQL Server migration experience is now under preview in Azure Arc. It is powered by Azure Database Migration Service and offers seamless, end-to-end migration capabilities including continuous migration assessments, simplified provisioning, and real-time database replication, assisted by Copilot in Azure. What once took months can now be accomplished in just days, with confidence, continuity, and control.

In-place upgrade to SQL Server 2025  

Another way to stay protected is to upgrade your SQL Server to  SQL Server 2025. Built on SQL Server’s legacy of best-in-class security, performance and availability, SQL Server 2025 empowers you to develop modern AI applications using your data. It provides built-in, extensible AI capabilities, enhanced developer productivity, and seamless integration with Azure and Fabric, all within SQL Server engine using the familiar T-SQL language. 

The upgrade experience has been streamlined. With the retirement of Azure Data Studio and Data Migration Assistant, migration capabilities are now integrated directly into SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). This eliminates the need for separate tools, reducing complexity and effort. In SSMS 21, a new migration extension allows DBAs and partners to assess and upgrade SQL Server instances from older to newer versions, all within the same management environment. 

Stay protected on-premises or in multi-cloud environments with Azure Arc  

Extended Security Updates for SQL Server 2016 offers an enhanced cloud experience through Azure Arc. With this customer-centric approach, security updates will be natively available in the Azure portal through Azure Arc. Enabling your SQL Server with Azure Arc also unlocks Azure benefits and flexible subscription billing for SQL Server 2016 workloads on-premises or across multi-cloud environments.  

If you enable Extended Security Updates subscription in your production environment through Azure Arc, you have access to SQL Server Extended Security Updates subscription in the non-production environment for free, through SQL Server Developer edition or an Azure Dev/Test subscription.  

We encourage all our customers running SQL Server 2016 to start planning for the end of support. We have migration resources, best practices, and more, as well as a rich ecosystem of partners ready to help. To get started, please visit the following pages to learn more: 

• Why migrate Windows Server and SQL Server to Azure: ROI, innovation, and free offers.
• Get the full return on investment (ROI) and total cost ownership (TCO) reports from IDC: The Business Value of Microsoft Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance Workload and The Business Value of Microsoft Azure for SQL Server and Windows Server Workloads.
• Onboard your SQL Server to Azure Arc.

Frequently asked questions 

What does end of support mean? 

Microsoft Lifecycle Policy offers 10 years of support (five years for mainstream support and five years for extended support) for business and developer products (such as SQL Server and Windows Server). After the end of the extended support period, there are no patches or security updates, which might cause security and compliance issues, and expose your applications and business to serious security risks. 

What do Extended Security Updates include? 

Extended Security Updates include provision of security updates and bulletins rated critical by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), for a maximum of three years after the end of extended support.  

Extended Security Updates are distributed if and when available. Extended Security Updates don’t include technical support. Customers must purchase a paid support plan (Pay Per Incident, Unified, and Premier Support for Partners) to leverage technical support. Extended Security Updates don’t include new features, functional improvements, nor customer-requested fixes. However, Microsoft might include non-security fixes as deemed necessary. 

Why do Extended Security Updates only offer “critical” updates? 

For end of support events in the past, SQL Server provided only critical security updates, which meets the compliance criteria of our enterprise customers. SQL Server doesn’t ship a general monthly security update.

The post Protect and modernize SQL Server 2016 workloads with Microsoft  appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

Monitor SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc 

Simplifying deployment and cost management in multi-cloud environments.

Learn more

The traditional method of paying for SQL Server is buying license and software assurance. Now, you can connect your SQL Server to Azure Arc and pay only for the hours when your VM with SQL Server is online and your SQL instance is active. For the pricing information, see SQL Server 2022—Pricing | Microsoft.

While SQL Server 2022 integrates a pay-as-you-go billing option in the setup, the older versions require a product key to install any production edition. This blog provides instructions on how to install a pay-as-you-go image of any SQL Server version starting from SQL Server 2012 without purchasing a license and providing a product key.

NOTE: if you have access to a SQL Server image that does not require a product key, for example from a hosting provider, you should install it, follow the documented Azure Arc onboarding process for SQL Server and then set the License type to pay-as-you-go in SQL Server configuration.

The process in a nutshell

The deployment of a pay-as-you-go image on a virtual or physical machine running in any cloud, edge, or on-premises datacenters consists of three steps:

1. Installing the prerequisites on the target machines
2. Creating a support ticket with Microsoft Azure to request and download a pay-as-you-go image
3. Running the installation script

Prerequisites

Make sure your target machine meets the following requirements.

On target VMs:

• Windows Server instance is running, and you have a local administrator account.
• Azure PowerShell is installed and updated.
• For SQL Server version 2014, you will need to install .NET. For more information on this prerequisite, visit here.
• You have a remote desktop connection to connect to Windows Server as a local administrator.
• You copied the script from here to a local folder. Follow the download instructions in the readme file.
• Important: If your target VM runs Windows Server 2016, you must make sure that your Transport Layer Security (TLS) configuration is compatible with Azure. Follow the instructions in the readme file on how to mitigate the TLS version issue on Windows Server 2016.

On Microsoft Azure:

• You have an Azure account, subscription, and a target resource group.

Opening a support ticket

You can open the support ticket using a Support + Troubleshooting entry from the subscription which the newly installed SQL Server instance will be connected to. The following screenshots illustrate the flow. Make sure to use the answers as highlighted in the screenshots.

After you complete the support ticket creation process, Azure support will email you a private link to a workspace with the zip file you need to download.

Download the file to the VM where you want to install SQL Server, and unzip it to the same folder that contains the installation script.

Note: For SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2022 images, the keys are not required, and the .zip file will contain only the ISO file. For other SQL Server versions, the .zip file includes a product key and the ISO file. The script will recognize these differences.

Running the script

Follow the instructions in the readme file on how to launch the script. An Azure sign-in screen will prompt you to enter your Azure credentials or identify the account you’re already signed into. After this, the script proceeds unattended to carry out the following steps:

• Installing Azure PowerShell modules if they’re not already installed
• Logging into Azure with your assistance
• Onboarding the VM to Azure Arc
• Installing SQL Server on the Windows Server from the file you identified in the previous step
• Mounting the ISO file as a volume
• Installing SQL Arc Extension with a pay-as-you-go license type
• Displaying the status of the Azure resource for the connected SQL Server Instance

Disclaimer: The script has been tested on several combinations of VM products available on AWS and Google Cloud Platform with different versions of Windows Server and SQL Server, but it is not specific to these platforms, and you are welcome to try it on other clouds.

Supercharge SQL Server with Azure Arc

You can use this process to streamline the installation of pay-as-you-go images of SQL Server versions and editions of your choice to machines across different clouds, on-premises datacenters, and edge. By doing so, you can maintain control over the SQL Server compliance and optimize the cost based on the resource’s utilization.

The post Save money on Microsoft SQL Server licensing with Microsoft Azure Arc appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

To generate a production-ready schema-only copy of a database, it’s highly recommended to utilize tools such as Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT); the Generate and Publish scripts Wizard; or data-tier application extraction, which includes either the Extract Data-tier Application (DAC) Wizard or a PowerShell script. These tools provide a reliable way to create a copy of a database for use in production environments.

Learn more about

• DBCC CLONEDATABASE (Transact-SQL) – SQL Server
• Clone an Existing Database – SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT)
• Generate and Publish Scripts Wizard – SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
• Create a statistics-only database using a generated statistics script – SQL Server
• Extract a DAC from a Database – SQL Server

Frequently asked questions

What is SSDT?

SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) is a modern development tool that integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio and provides design, debugging, and deployment capabilities for building SQL Server relational databases, databases in Azure SQL, Analysis Services (AS) data models, Integration Services (IS) packages, and Reporting Services (RS) reports. With SSDT, developers can perform necessary tasks without needing the admin-focused SQL Server Management tool on their developer computer. Essentially, Visual Studio removes unnecessary features like admin tools, and focuses on tools that are useful for developers, like database and schema comparison tools.

What is the Generate and Publish Scripts Wizard?

The Generate and Publish Scripts Wizard is a feature in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) that allows you to create scripts for transferring a database between instances of the SQL Server Database Engine or Azure SQL Database. You can generate scripts for a database on an instance of the Database Engine in your local network, or from SQL Database. The generated scripts can be run on another instance of the Database Engine or SQL Database. You can also use the wizard to publish the contents of a database directly to a Web service created by using the Database Publishing Services. You can create scripts for an entire database or limit it to specific objects.

What is a data-tier application (DAC)?

A data-tier application (DAC) is a logical database entity that defines all of the SQL Server objects—such as tables, views, and instance objects, including logins—associated with a user’s database. A DAC is a self-contained unit of the entire database model and is portable in an artifact known as a DAC package, or .dacpac. Tooling support for data-tier applications enables developers and database administrators to deploy dacpacs to new or existing databases. Deployments to an existing database update the database model from the existing state to match the contents of the dacpac. Developers build DACs from SQL database projects, a declarative development concept for building SQL objects that enables source control on the database schema.

A .bacpac is a related artifact that, by default, encapsulates the database schema and the data stored in the database. The primary use case for a BACPAC is to move a database from one server to another—or to migrate a database from a local server to the cloud—and archiving an existing database in an open format.

What is DBCC CLONEDATABASE command?

DBCC CLONEDATABASE creates a new database that contains the schema of all the objects and statistics from the specified source database. Cloned databases copy all schema and metadata of the source database without copying any data.

How do I use Schema Compare to compare different database definitions?

SSDT includes a Schema Compare utility that you can use to compare two database definitions. The source and target of the comparison can be any combination of connected database, SQL Server database project or snapshot, or .dacpac file. The results of the comparison appear as a set of actions that must be taken with the target to make it the same as the source. Once the comparison is complete, you can update the target directly (if the target is a project or a database) or generate an update script that has the same effect.

The differences between source and target appear in a grid for easy review. You can drill into and review each difference in the results grid or in script form. You can then selectively exclude specific differences.

You can save comparisons either as part of an SQL Server Database project or as a standalone file. You can also set options that control the scope of the comparison and aspects of the update. Then you can save the comparison so that you can easily repeat the same comparison later or use it as the starting point for a new comparison.

Why do I need to generate a schema-only clone of a database with statistics in SQL Server?

You will need to generate a schema-only clone of a database with statistics to investigate performance issues.

The query optimizer in SQL Server uses the following types of information to determine an optimal query plan:

• Database metadata
• Hardware environment
• Database session state

Typically, you must simulate all these same types of information to reproduce the behavior of the query optimizer on a test system.

Microsoft Customer Support Services might ask you to generate a schema script of the database along with statistics to investigate a query optimizer issue.

The post Update on the support of DBCC CLONEDATABASE for production use appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

In SQL Server 2016 through 2019, we added R and Python language support, which enable secure execution of R and Python programs in the context of a SQL Server query. This enables a wide range of scenarios such as performing advanced text and data preparation tasks, and reaching out to external APIs to get data and also training machine learning models and model scoring.

Previously, we announced a Java extension. Today, we are sharing that we are open sourcing the R and Python language extensions for SQL Server for both Windows and Linux on GitHub.

These extensions are the latest examples using an evolved programming language extensibility architecture which allows integration with a new type of language extension. This new architecture gives customers the freedom to bring their own runtime and execute programs using that runtime in SQL Server, while leveraging the existing security and governance that the SQL Server programming language extensibility architecture provides.

Choosing which runtime to use does provide the flexibility to choose different distributions of R and Python, and as newer versions of the R and Python runtimes get released, this architecture will make it easier to upgrade the R and Python runtime. Enterprises need to have a support contract in place for their R and Python runtime.

Now that support is not an issue, let’s look at what use cases R and Python can enable inside SQL Server. Bringing R and Python workloads closer to the data opens a variety of possibilities:

• Run R and Python scripts to do data preparation and general purpose data processing.
• Train machine learning models in database.
• Deploy your models and scripts into production in stored procedures.
• Furthermore, this will help avoid unnecessary data movement and latency when data must be retrieved from SQL Server and moved into the app tier to do the business logic processing.
• Data Security Model of database logins and roles extend to external scripts.
• Avoid impersonation attempts.
• Prevent the installation of malware.

Why Open Source?

The R and Python language extension leverages the Extensibility Framework API for SQL Server to communicate and exchange data with SQL Server. This API has been publicly documented. The API in combination with the open source code of the R and Python language extension provides an end to end example implementation of how a programming language extension can be built. This makes it easier for additional programming language extensions to be built for SQL Server by the community. What language extensions would you like to see?

Get started

Whether you are interested in creating your own language extension or just using the R and Python language extension for SQL Server, here is some more information to get you started.

The post Open sourcing the R and Python language extensions for SQL Server appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

This year myself and other members of the Microsoft SQL Server Engineering and support teams will be at the PASS Summit again in a major way with keynotes, a pre-conference session, conference sessions, theater sessions, a great booth, and the always popular Data Clinic.

We have already received great interested in our pre-conference session called Modernize Your SQL Server with Bob Ward, the Tiger Team, and CSS Escalation Engineers on Tuesday, November 6th. You can read more about this session at the PASS Summit Session webpage.

Whether you have registered or not, it is not too late to register for this pre-conference seminar. It has been awhile since I have participated in a pre-conference seminar at the PASS Summit. I’m excited what this one is about. We know that many of our customers are still using legacy releases of SQL Server like 2005, 2008, and 2008R2. If you are in this situation and wondering should I make the move to something new, something more modern, then this session is for you.

This session is not just an upgrade session! Sure we will show you how to migrate but our intention is to provide you with everything you need on how to modernize. Now you can learn the capabilities of SQL Server 2016, 2017, 2019, SQL Server on Linux, containers, Azure Virtual Machine, and Azure SQL Database in a way to know what features make a migration compelling. Our day also includes pre and post migration advice to maximize your investments and architectural guidance for key areas like performance, security, and HADR (the “meat and potatoes” of SQL Server).

The team of folks I have lined up to train you this day is nothing short of amazing. Every person that will be there to train you all have extensive customer experience and practical knowledge. This includes members of the Tiger Team such as Amit Banerjee, Pam Lahoud, Pedro Lopes, Argenis Fernandez, Sourabh Agarwal, and Vin Yu. In addition, we want you to be able to diagnose and troubleshoot problems with new technologies in a modern way so I’m bringing in some of the top talent of CSS including Suresh Kandoth and Sean Gallardy. It will be a packed day but also an opportunity when you can talk to us 1:1 about your SQL Server installation base and what and how modernization will help you.

You will walk away from this session with the resources you need including all of our content and demo scripts and examples. We look forward to everyone coming to this session and I would love to meet each and every one of you personally to talk about your modernization plans for SQL Server.

Stay tuned for future blog posts where I’ll show you the other great session and content the Microsoft SQL Server team has available at the PASS 2018 Summit.

The post Modernize your SQL Server at the PASS Summit 2018 appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

Customers will get significantly improved query performance and enhanced security features with this release. APS AU7 builds on appliance update 6 (APS 2016) release as a foundation. Upgrading to APS appliance update 6 is a prerequisite to upgrade to appliance update 7.

Faster performance

APS AU7 now provides the ability to automatically create statistics and update of existing outdated statistics for improved query optimization. APS AU7 also adds support for setting multiple variables from a single select statement reducing the number of redundant round trips to the server and improving overall query and ETL performance time. Other T-SQL features include HASH and ORDER GROUP query hints to provide more control over improving query execution plans.

Better security

APS AU7 also includes latest firmware and drivers along with the hardware and software patch to address the Spectre/Meltdown vulnerability from our hardware partners.

Management enhancements

Customers already on APS2016 will experience an enhanced upgrade process to APS AU7 allowing a shorter maintenance window with the ability to uninstall and rollback to a previous version.
AU7 also introduces a section called Feature Switch in configuration manager giving customers the ability to customize the behavior of new features.

Flexibility of choice with Microsoft’s data warehouse portfolio

The latest update is an addition to already existing data warehouse portfolio from Microsoft, covering a range of technology and deployment options that help customers get to insights faster. Customers exploring data warehouse products can also consider SQL Server with Fast Track for Data Warehouse or Azure SQL Data Warehouse, a cloud-based fully managed service.

Next Steps

For more details about these features, please visit our online documentation.

The post Microsoft releases the latest update of Analytics Platform System appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 2 (“SP2”) contains a roll-up of released hotfixes as well as multiple improvements centered around performance, scalability, and supportability based on feedback from customers and the SQL community. These improvements enable SQL Server 2016 to perform faster and with expanded supportability and diagnostics. It also showcases the SQL Server product team’s commitment to providing continued value into in-market releases.

SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 2 includes:

• Performance and scale improvements for SQL Server, such as improved database backup performance on large memory machines and added backup compression support, which helps performance of almost all databases.
• Supportability and diagnostics enhancements, such as improved troubleshooting and additional information about statistics used during query plan optimization.
• New improvements based on Connect feedback items filed by the SQL Server Community.
• Some improvements originally introduced in SQL Server 2014 SP2 and SQL Server 2012 SP4.

Find more information on SQL Server 2016 SP2 in our KB article and Release Notes, and download today by visiting the links below:

• SQL Server 2016 SP2
• SQL Server 2016 SP2 Express
• SQL Server 2016 SP2 Feature Packs

If you have a question or would like to make a suggestion, you can let us know through UserVoice. We look forward to hearing from you!

The post SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 2 is now available appeared first on Microsoft SQL Server Blog.

Efficient data management keeps goods flowing smoothly in Denmark. Danske Fragtmaend, the country’s largest national transport and distribution firm, has been moving freight for more than a century. Today, Danske Fragtmaend delivers more than 40,000 consignments each day throughout Denmark, and businesses from small mom-and-pop operations to factories rely on its services.

The firm handles logistics in a central location, where 200 dispatchers keep an eye on the movement of thousands of trucks and their cargo. Both drivers and dispatchers need the latest information to operate efficiently, so they rely on a data platform based on SQL Server 2016. The storage system includes 160 terabytes of flash memory for fast I/O and high uptimes. Throughout the day, drivers continually scan transactions with PDAs and send shipping information including GPS coordinates to the data platform. Fast access to information is essential. Ulf Preisler, chief information officer at Danske Fragtmaend, says, “When it comes to short-term logistics, you’ve got to think like an air traffic controller more than a traditional radio dispatcher.”

Because the data changes rapidly, asynchronous replication between geographically disparate datacenters was inadequate. Instead, Danske Fragtmaend runs SQL Server on Windows 2016. Windows Server 2016 introduces a new disaster recovery and preparedness feature, Storage Replica, which enables storage-agnostic, synchronous replication of data across geographically diverse datacenters. Even if disaster strikes one location, all the data exists elsewhere, so there is no possibility of loss.

Best of all, companies that combine flash storage with the latest versions of SQL Server and Windows Server can achieve a multiplying effect on performance. Danske Fragmaend’s lead software developer, Morten Vinther, ran several tests to compare the old storage stack with the new one. “After combining the new all-flash infrastructure and the features from SQL Server 2016 on Windows Server 2016, one of our BI queries ran 9,521 times faster than on the prior infrastructure. That is much more than we expected.”

To find out more about Danske Fragtmaend’s SQL Server 2016 implementation, read the customer story.

Customer Name: Danske Fragtmaend
Industry: Transportation and logistics
Country or Region: Denmark
Customer Website: www.fragt.dk
Employee Size: 900

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