SQL Database Engine Blog
This is the blog of the engineering team managing and developing the Database Engine for SQL Server and Azure SQL Database
In-Memory OLTP Performance Demo Available for Download
In-Memory OLTP is a performance feature available in SQL Server (since 2014) and Azure SQL Database...
Author: Jos de Bruijn [MSFT] Date: 06/06/2016
Query Optimizer Additions in SQL Server 2016
In SQL Server 2016 we have introduced a number of new Query Optimizer improvements. This article...
Author: Gjorgji Gjeorgjievski Date: 05/23/2016
Improved Query Performance with Compatibility Level 130 in Azure SQL Database
Improved Query Performance with Compatibility Level 130 in Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Database is...
Author: Alain Lissoir Date: 05/06/2016
Database Scoped Configuration
This release now supports a new database level object holding optional configuration values to...
Author: Mirek H Sztajno Date: 05/02/2016
Using DB Compatibility Level 130 with Old CE in SQL Server 2016
In SQL Server 2014 we introduced a revamped Cardinality Estimator (CE), which we further improved in...
Author: Jos de Bruijn [MSFT] Date: 04/27/2016
Increased nonclustered index key size with SQL Server 2016
SQL Server 2016 and Azure SQL Database have increased the maximum size for index keys with...
Author: Jos de Bruijn [MSFT] Date: 04/26/2016
JSON is available in Azure SQL Database
JSON functionalities that are added in SQL Server 2016 are also available in Azure SQL Database...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 04/09/2016
A Technical Case Study: High Speed IoT Data Ingestion Using In-Memory OLTP in Azure
In this post we look at a customer case study of an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, where large...
Author: Jos de Bruijn [MSFT] Date: 04/07/2016
What's new for In-Memory OLTP in SQL Server 2016 since CTP3
SQL Server 2016 is making a lot of enhancements to In-Memory OLTP to make it easier to use and...
Author: Jos de Bruijn [MSFT] Date: 03/25/2016
Generate stored procedure that imports array of JSON object in table
OPENJSON function enables you to easily write simple statement that loads array of JSON objects in...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 03/25/2016
Loading JSON files from Azure File Storage
Azure File Storage supports SMB protocol, so you can map your local virtual drive to the Azure File...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 03/23/2016
Moving data from relational to JSON columns and vice versa
Moving data from relational to JSON columns and vice versa Unlike other pure relational or...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 03/23/2016
Loading line-delimited JSON files in SQL Server 2016
Loading Line-Delimited JSON files in SQL Server One of the problem with JSON is the fact that you...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 03/23/2016
SQL Server in Windows Containers
Windows Containers are an isolated, resource controlled, and portable operating environment. An...
Author: Perry Skountrianos - MSFT Date: 03/21/2016
Improving temp table and table variable performance using memory optimization
In-Memory OLTP is a technology introduced in SQL Server 2014 that can provide phenomenal (up to...
Author: Jos de Bruijn [MSFT] Date: 03/21/2016
JSON support in SQL Server - Details, tips and tricks
JSON on Channel 9 Here is an overview of JSON functionalities that are available in SQL server. In...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 03/20/2016
Columnstore Index: A short video showcasing enhancements in SQL Server 2016
I recently did a short video on columnstore index as part of the SQL Server 2016 launch. Hope you...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/18/2016
Real-Time Operational Analytics: A short video on the value proposition in SQL Server 2016
I recently did a video on real-time operational analytics as part of the SQL Server 2016 launch....
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/18/2016
Columnstore Index: How does SQL Server delivers Industry leading performance for Analytic Queries?
Most commercial database vendors now offer some implementation of columnstore technology. The...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/14/2016
Columnstore Index: What is new in SQL Server 2016?
Background The columnstore index was first introduced in SQL Server 2008R2 with PowerPivot...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/13/2016
Columnstore Index: Overview and Value Proposition
Overview: Most of us are familiar with data stored as rows. A row stores all the columns either by...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/13/2016
Columnstore Index Merge Policy for REORGANIZE
In the blog...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/08/2016
Columnstore Index Defragmentation using REORGANIZE Command
Columnstore index, both clustered and nonclustered, can get fragmented like any other index. SQL...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/07/2016
Real-Time Operational Analytics: Memory-Optimized Tables and Columnstore Index
SQL Server 2016 supports real-time operational analytics both for disk-based (i.e. traditional...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/07/2016
Real-Time Operational Analytics: Compression Delay option with NCCI and the performance
The previous blog...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/06/2016
Real-Time Operational Analytics: Compression Delay Option for Nonclustered Columnstore Index (NCCI)
The previous...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/06/2016
Real-Time Operational Analytics: Filtered nonclustered columnstore index (NCCI)
The previous...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/06/2016
Real-Time Operational Analytics: DML operations and nonclustered columnstore index (NCCI) in SQL Server 2016
In the previous blog...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/04/2016
Upsert JSON documents in SQL Server 2016
In Sql Server 2016 you can easily insert or update JSON documents by combining OPENJSON and MERGE...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 03/03/2016
SQL Server 2016 - Making DBCC CHECKDB Faster
SQL Server 2016 has introduced several improvements to DBCC CHECKDB to make it faster. Please refer...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 03/01/2016
Real-Time Operational Analytics: Simple example using nonclustered clustered columnstore index (NCCI) in SQL Server 2016
The previous...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 02/29/2016
Real-Time Operational Analytics - Overview nonclustered columnstore index (NCCI)
The blog...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 02/29/2016
Clustered columnstore Index: Data Load Optimization - Parallel Bulk Import
In the previous blog...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 02/28/2016
Columnstore Index: Scan and parallelism
When you query a table with clustered columnstore index, it is run in parallel unless you force it...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 02/28/2016
JSON parsing - performance comparison
One of the first questions that people asked once we announced JSON support in SQL Server 2016 was...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 01/14/2016
Returning spatial data in GeoJSON format - Part 2
In the previous post Returning spatial data in GeoJSON format - Part 1, I have described how you can...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 01/13/2016
Clustered Columnstore Index: Data Load Optimizations - Minimal Logging
When bulk importing large number of rows, you want to make sure it can be done efficiently with...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 01/10/2016
Loading GeoJSON data into SQL Server
GeoJSON is popular format for spatial data representation. If you receive text formatted as GeoJSON...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 01/05/2016
Returning spatial data in GeoJSON format - Part 1
GeoJSON is popular format used to represent spatial data. An example of GeoJSON text that represents...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 01/05/2016
Indexing data in JSON product catalogs
In the previous post Designing Product Catalogs in SQL Server 2016 using JSON, I have described how...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 12/21/2015
Designing Product Catalogs in SQL Server using JSON
Product catalog is a common pattern in retail and e-commerce. The products in retail and e-commerce...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 12/21/2015
WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER - New important change in FOR JSON
In SQL Server 2016 CTP3.2 is added new option in FOR JSON clause - WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER see...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 12/21/2015
Columnstore Index: Real-Time Operational Analytics using In-Memory Technology
Starting with SQL Server 2016, you can implement real-time operational analytics by combining the...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 12/09/2015
CHECKSUM and BINARY_CHECKSUM might not return unique values for different inputs
CHECKSUM and BINARY_CHECKSUM create checksums for text inputs. Checksum values should be different...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 12/09/2015
Create relational view over JSON text
SQL Server 2016 enables you to use JSON_VALUE, JSON_QUERY, and OPENJSON functions to fetch data from...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 12/09/2015
Columnstore Index: Speeding up analytics in SQL Server 2016
Please refer to the...
Author: Sunil Agarwal Date: 12/08/2015
Built-in functions for compression/decompression in SQL Server 2016
SQL Server 2016 provides built in functions for compression and decompression: COMPRESS - compress...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 12/08/2015
AdventureWorksCTP3 JSON Sample
New database and samples for AdventureWorks 2016 CTP3 database are published on AdventureWorks...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 12/07/2015
Using non-relational models in SQL Server
In this post I will explain how you can use both relational and non-relational data models in your...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 11/30/2015
De-normalize database schema using JSON
In this post I will talk about de-normalization - transforming complex relational structures into...
Author: Jovan Popovic (MSFT) Date: 11/28/2015