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The video of the presentation that I did at SQLBits Goes West is online.  You can view it from the session details page : ‘SQL, NoSQL, SomeSQL - A look at non-relational databases’. I listened to the presentation this morning to check where I need to improve my delivery (answer: a lot of places) and to check if it is indeed a good ...

In future, more and more solutions will have data that is not stored directly in a SQL database but rather in cloud EAV (Entity Attribute Value) data stores, caches, client storage, document databases and so on.  Usually it is the existing DBA’s and other SQL biased database experts that are the custodians of corporate data and, in general, ...

On Thursday this week Jamie Thomson (of SSIS Junkie fame) and I will be presenting at the London SQL Server User Group which will be held at Microsoft’s offices in Cardinal Place and you can still register for the event online.  The pre-planned topic is ‘SQL Server in the Cloud’ and JRJ, who normally organizes the event, is out of town – so ...

By scratching deep enough into available material on SQL Data Services (SDS) you will uncover the limitations of the platform that make it very difficult to scale. It does not scale upwards because of the size limitation of the instance and it does not scale outwards because the SQL model does not handle partitions very well. The data has been ...

Earlier this week The Register posted an article “'Full' SQL Server planned for Microsoft's Azure cloud” which included a few unsurprising comments about the feedback cycle that SQL Data Services (SDS), which is still in beta, is going through.  An interesting read, but not much news – and besides, The Register, could be called the IT Tabloid ...

There is no doubt that SQL Data Services (SDS) looks, feels and smells very different to the SQL Server that we have grown accustomed to over the years.  The model is obviously different but there is little formal and clear description by Microsoft on what that model is – the pros and cons and the reasons for the change within the context of ...

With direct access to relational databases being marginalised we need to question the next evolution of ORMs.  Now our architectures have to be more considerate of other ways accessing data as relational models hide behind services, sit on the cloud or are even replaced with non-relational storage. I have been involved in, and a spectator ...