Just a quick highlight of why you should be looking into Microsoft SQL Server 2014.

The new platform facilitates:

• ‘SQL Server 2014 Velocity’ –  In-memory databases (or just some of the tables, if you prefer) – Take advantage of the every decreasing price of RAM and enjoy 10x-40x uplift in database performance, with no code changes. Totally achievable and totally baked into Microsoft SQL Server 2014. Make your storage HW do more for you by handling more in the pizza box/blade/sled…
• Back-up straight to Azure – Easily create secure offsite backups of your critical databases
• Cloud SQL Disaster Recovery capability – Recover your SQL platform onto the Azure platform
• Cloud bursting into Azure – extend On-Premise solutions into Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure during seasonal peaks
• A consistent management and operating platform between your on-premise and off-premise database solution

If you are paying for SA and ignoring this release, all I can ask is: What are you thinking? In my opinion, you’re leaving liquid gold on the table…

Ask yourself: Can your business afford to ignore these developments?

vCHS beta program participants can currently subscribe one of two options: Virtual Private Cloud (shared infrastructure based) or Virtual Dedicated Cloud (partly dedicated infrastructure).

The biggest differentiator is the Dedicated Cloud consumers get dedicated physical infrastructure, including hosts, datastores & VCD. They also get a dedicated vShield Manager too among, other things that the dedicated tin facilitates. Of course, some elements of the offering are still multi-tenancy, as it would be cost prohibitive to run the offering any other way. I suspect that will include storage arrays and networking hardware. By the time you get to dedicated everything, if that is what you are after, it ceases being a cloud offering, in my opinion. It becomes common or garden dedicated hosting. Other guys can do that for you

The VPC mode is more akin to regular, public cloud ‘Share Everything’ multi-tenancy models. Think of the Azure operational model, and you wont be far off.

Speaking of Azure, the interface on vCHS looks pretty sweet. It’s not quite as swanky as Azure’s, but it isn’t far off!