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SQL Server Team
Published 
6 min read

Using Natively Compiled Stored Procedures in SQL Server 2014 

The new In-Memory OLTP feature in SQL Server 2014 greatly optimizes the performance of certain OLTP applications. By using the new memory-optimized tables you can speed up data access, in particular in concurrency situations, due to the lock- and latch-free architecture of the In-Memory OLTP Engine. This means that applications which suffer from a lot
Published 
1 min read

New Article: Application Patterns and Development Strategies for SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines 

We are very happy to announce that a new guidance for SQL Server in Windows Azure Infrastructures Services is now available online. The article, Application Patterns and Development Strategies for SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines, provides solution architects and developers with a foundation for good application architecture and design, which they can follow
Published 
2 min read

Congrats to Our #pass24HOP Challenge Winners! 

Last week we enjoyed some fantastic sessions from PASS Business Analytics Conference speakers during the 24 Hours of PASS Business Analytics event! In addition to all the great content, we had a little fun during the #pass24HOP Challenge that we played alongside with you on Twitter! Near the end of each session, we asked you
Published 
1 min read

Windows Azure HDInsight Supporting Hadoop 2.2 in Public Preview 

Earlier this week, we announced at the O’Reilly Strata Conference that Windows Azure HDInsight now supports Hadoop 2.2 clusters in preview. This is the next release of our 100 percent Apache Hadoop-based distribution for Windows Azure. In conjunction with Hortonworks recent release of HDP 2.0 for Windows, this release on Azure continues our strategy of making
Published 
4 min read

Differential Database Backup with Memory-Optimized Tables 

This blog describes how differential database backup is taken on database with one or more memory-optimized tables. For full database backups, please refer to Database Backup with Memory-Optimized Tables. For disk-based tables, the differential database backup includes only the pages that have changed since the last full database backup.  SQL Server 2014 supports differential backup
Published 
7 min read

Database Backup with Memory-Optimized Tables 

The memory-optimized tables are backed up as part of regular database backups so you don’t need to do anything special to manage backups on databases with memory-optimized tables. Like for disk-based tables, the CHECKSUM of data/delta files is validated as part of database backup to proactively detect any storage corruption. However, as described in the
Published 
6 min read

In-Memory OLTP Index Troubleshooting, Part II 

With the In-Memory OLTP feature in SQL Server 2014 we introduce two new types of indexes for memory-optimized tables: the memory-optimized NONCLUSTERED indexes, and the memory-optimized HASH indexes. Memory-optimized NONCLUSTERED indexes behave similar to traditional NONCLUSTERED indexes from an application point-of-view. The main difference being that memory-optimized indexes are always covering (i.e. all columns are
Published 
1 min read

New Data Science – What’s Next? 

While every organization is different, their “big data” is often very similar.  It typically comprises massive amounts of data across sources such as social media, clickstream, server logs, financial transactions, videos, and sensor data to name a few. This data was once thought of as low to medium value or even ‘exhaust data’ – too
Published 
6 min read

Merge Operation in Memory-Optimized Tables 

In the Storage Allocation and Management for Memory-Optimized Tables, we had briefly touched upon the Merge operation. This blog describes Merge operation in detail. We also recommend you to refer to implementing durability for memory-optimized tables for a good understanding of data/delta files and CFPs The metadata of all Checkpoint File Pairs (i.e. CFP) that
Published 
1 min read

Hortonworks Makes HDP 2.0 for Windows Server Generally Available 

Today, Hortonworks announced the general availability of the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) 2.0 for Windows.  This is the next release of the industry’s only 100% Apache Hadoop-based distribution for Windows. With Windows Server leading all operating system  in usage share (two out of every three servers run Windows Server), HDP 2.0 for Windows dramatically broadens the
Published 
6 min read

Storage Allocation and Management for Memory-Optimized Tables 

As described in implementing durability for memory optimized tables, the storage requirements and its management for memory optimized tables is very different compared to the disk-based tables. If you are migrating a subset of your disk-based tables to memory-optimized tables or are just developing a new application with memory-optimized tables, you will notice these differences.
Published 
4 min read

SQL Server 2014 In Memory OLTP: Memory-Optimized Table Types and Table Variables 

SQL Server 2014 In-Memory OLTP introduces two new widely advertised kinds of database objects: memory-optimized tables for efficient data access, and natively compiled stored procedures for efficient query processing and business logic execution. However, there is a third kind of object introduced by In-Memory OLTP: the memory-optimized table type. The use of memory-optimized table variables