Microsoft targets Big Data with SQL Server 2012

The latest version of Microsoft's data platform, SQL Server, brings enhanced scalability and flexibility, the company claimed today as it released the software to manufacturing.

SQL Server 2012 will also help customers manage and analyse more data than ever before, according to Microsoft.

"Data is being generated faster than ever before, and organisations need a way to process and analyse all that data," said Ted Kummert, corporate vice president at Microsoft.

"Whatever the type or size of data, SQL Server 2012 delivers the platform and familiar tools to manage data, generate actionable insights and help drive business impact."

With SQL Server 2012 and integrated business intelligence tools, we're processing massive volumes of data queries in near-real time.

Those tools include PowerPivot for Excel 2010 and Power View, and Microsoft said that by the end of June they will also include an Apache Hadoop-based service for Windows Azure.

Early users of SQL Server 2012 said that the software has lived up to its promise.

"Our business depends on delivering customers fast, detailed insight into hundreds of terabytes of social-network data," said David Mariani, vice president of engineering at influence measurement specialist Klout.

"With SQL Server 2012 and integrated business intelligence tools, we're processing massive volumes of data queries in near-real time."

"SQL Server 2012 Enterprise with AlwaysOn gives us exactly the performance we need," added Thomas Pullen, database administrator at BETONSOFT.

"We can sustain 1,500 game rounds per second that gives our players a much faster, better gaming experience."

Microsoft said that next month it would introduce new data warehousing solutions that build on SQL Server 2012.

These include a major software update and new half-rack form factors for Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse appliances, as well as availability of SQL Server Fast Track Data Warehouse reference architectures for SQL Server 2012.

Partners have already begun announcing support for SQL Server 2012. One of the first was EMC, which said it had optimised its storage hardware and software to work with the new Microsoft platform.

It claimed that combining SQL Server 2012 with its unified storage, storage tiering and flash caching capabilities could quadruple database performance and yield 80 per cent faster server provisioning.