In today’s world of interconnected devices and broad access to more and more data, the ability to glean ambient insight from the variety of data sources has been made quite hard by the variety and speed with which data is being delivered. Think about it for a minute, your servers continue to provide interesting data Read more
The last couple months have seen the addition of several new products that extend Microsoft’s data platform offerings. At the end of January, Quentin Clark outlined his vision for the complete data platform, exploring the various inputs that are driving new application patterns, new considerations for handling data of all shapes and sizes, and ultimately Read more
Last week, we highlighted a whitepaper that focused on the performance benefits of SQL Server PDW and how it differs from traditional SQL Server. We’ve seen many SQL Server customers evolve to this latest PDW as their next generation platform for their data warehouse infrastructure for many of the reasons noted in that whitepaper and Read more
Last week, we introduced you to SQL Server PDW, the version of SQL Server built specifically for high performance data warehousing that delivers performance gains of up to 50x compared to traditional data warehouses. The next logical question we often get is “how is this possible?” Is it just SQL Server running on special hardware? Read more
If your business relies on data, you know that it is a constant challenge to store, manage, and analyze it effectively as your data continues to grow. It’s also expensive to keep enough data on “hot” storage where it is readily available for analysis. Even when you have the data you need on hot storage, it Read more
SQL Server 2012 PDW has a feature called PolyBase, that enables you to integrate Hadoop data with PDW data. By using PDW with PolyBase capabilities, a user can: Use an external table to define a table structure for Hadoop data. Query Hadoop data by running SQL statements Integrate Hadoop data with PDW data by running Read more
As the PASS Business Analytics Conference approaches, we are excited to host this new blog series featuring content from some of the amazing speakers that you will experience at PASS BAC, April 10-12 in Chicago. This new conference is the place where Business Analytics professionals will gather to connect, share and learn in world class Read more
With the growth of the consumer goods industry, sales and marketing campaigns have created large and complex databases that are hard to sift through without the right tools. As retailers approach the busy holiday shopping season, they need to have insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns. Retailers need to know what market trends are Read more
In the fast evolving new world of Big Data, you are being asked to answer a new set of questions that require immediate responses on data that has changed in volume, variety, complexity and velocity. A modern data platform must be able to answer these new questions without costing IT millions of dollars to deploy Read more
Hot on the heels of our big data announcements at the O’Reilly Strata + Hadoop World conference last month, my colleague, Ted Kummert, will take the stage at the Professional Association of SQL Server (PASS) Summit 2012 today in Seattle and make a number of announcements that further Microsoft’s vision for the modern data platform. Read more
We’ve recently been talking about what goes on behind the scenes with SQL Server. While we love to share stories about the nuts and bolts of what we do, our favorite stories are those showing how customers are using our technology to tackle business challenges and achieve their goals. A great example is Hy-Vee, one Read more
SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) is a highly scalable appliance for enterprise data warehousing that enables massive scalability, predictable performance, and complete BI solution at low cost. PDW ships with a web based management console for monitoring the health of PDW appliance and resolving issues. The appliance model and this web based tool simplify Read more
