SQL Server 2022 GA: Azure-Focused but Useful On-Premises

• SQL Server 2022 can leverage Azure services to consolidate user-authentication, meet offsite recovery requirements, and improve compliance controls.
• Core database engine updates are mostly incremental but still provide good reasons to adopt SQL Server 2022.
• Business intelligence and integration improvements are minimal and designed to push customers toward Power BI and Azure.

SQL Server 2022 became generally available in Nov. 2022. It is promoted as the most “Azure-enabled” version ever, with new features that use Azure services for authentication, replication, analytics, and compliance. Most of the features will benefit Azure customers in hybrid deployments or attempting to manage multiple clouds. The new version also adds value for customers who are not using SQL Server with Azure, although many of the updates are incremental as compared to groundbreaking. Importantly, for traditional customers, none of the Azure-connected features replace on-premises capabilities.

Azure Connection Required for Some Features

A key part of SQL Server 2022 is its ability to leverage selected Azure services, which can help customers take advantage of Azure services that offer quick deployment and scaling, ease of management, and advanced features. Leveraging Azure services can help customers consolidate user-authentication platforms, meet offsite storage requirements, reduce on-premises cost, and provide companywide compliance controls that may be missing or too expensive to deploy otherwise. However, connecting to Azure services should be approached realistically, as doing so limits the useful life of SQL Server versions and introduces new management tasks and complexities. Most of the features are limited to Standard and Enterprise edition, and some are still in preview.

The following Azure-connected features were