Next Version of SQL Server in Public Preview

The next release of SQL Server, currently called vNext, became available for public preview in Nov. 2016. The preview focuses on performance, compatibility, and management improvements for in-memory technologies, machine learning, and integration features. The improvements should simplify migrating existing applications and enable developers to make better use of new capabilities. The preview also can run the database engine on Linux, which may allow customers to standardize on SQL Server across Windows Server and Linux. This is the first public preview, and customers should expect subsequent preview releases to change, add, and remove features prior to the final release.

Performance and Compatibility Improvements

The preview brings improvements to key areas of the product, including the following:

In-Memory tables, used for transactional workloads that need high throughput and low latency, introduce several performance and compatibility enhancements. In-Memory OLTP technology uses memory-optimized tables, natively compiled stored procedures, and other database technologies to substantially improve transactional performance by taking advantage of large memory and multicore processors. Recovery of In-Memory tables after a failover and modifications to table schema are faster than previous versions, an enhancement that could benefit administrators. Limitations such as the number of indexes allowed on In-Memory tables have been eliminated, which should allow developers to use In-Memory tables for more workloads.