SQL Server 2019 community technology preview 2.3 is now available

At the SQL bits keynote today, we announced the release of SQL Server 2019 community technology preview 2.3, the fourth in a monthly cadency of preview releases. Previewed in September 2018, SQL Server 2019 is the first release of SQL Server to closely integrate Apache Spark and HDFS with SQL Server in a unified data platform.

This CTP 2.3 preview brings the following new features and capabilities to SQL Server 2019:

  • Big data clusters
    • Seamlessly access data from SQL Server or Apache Spark in Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) Gen 2 via HDFS Tiering
    • Submit Spark jobs on SQL Server big data clusters from IntelliJ. Using Azure toolkit for IntelliJ, you can connect and submit Spark jobs to SQL Server Big Data Cluster.
    • Application deployment and management experience for deploying a variety of data-related apps including operationalizing machine learning models using R and Python, running SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) jobs, and more
  • Database engine
    • Accelerated database recovery to provide constant time recovery and instant rollback for long running transactions
    • Performance enhancements in query plan recompilations, transaction log management, and Query Store
    • SQL Graph enhancement to enable cascaded deletion of edges upon the deletion of nodes
  • SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS)
    • Calculation groups in tabular models that reduce the number of measures by reusing calculation logic

Getting started

Ready to learn more?  Here are some ways to get started with SQL Server 2019: