Microsoft's Database Landscape

Microsoft’s database landscape has broadened over the past few years and now includes on-premises products and Microsoft-hosted services that enable ingestion, management, integration, and analysis of relational, nonrelational, and Big Data data sources. Organizations can still use SQL Server on-premises for all workloads, but they can also choose from Azure-based services that deliver other popular solutions to collect, process, and analyze data types other than relational data. By understanding which technologies Microsoft supports, architects can simplify design and integration of systems. However, architecting and deploying a comprehensive solution with multiple data types is complex and may require additional resources and skills.

Understanding Microsoft’s Database Landscape

Microsoft’s database landscape can best be understood by examining an illustration showing the products and services Microsoft offers for each major data type: relational, nonrelational, and Big Data; what function they provide: data ingestion, database management, transformation, and analysis; and where they are available: on-premises and Microsoft hosted. (See the illustration “Visualizing Microsoft’s Database Landscape“.)