Microsoft SQL Server

The product is an enterprise relational database that stores and manages Tier 1 data workloads with security, performance, and availability, and adds built-in AI capabilities such as vector embedding and semantic search to support AI application development. It is for developers, data and IT teams in businesses and government organizations, including mid-tier and enterprise workloads. It is delivered as an on-premises database with editions for production and non-production use and cloud agility through Azure Arc and integration with Azure services.

Key features

• Authentication via Microsoft Entra Managed Identity
• Optimized locking for app concurrency
• Batch mode and faster query processing
• Reliable failover enhancements for uptime
• Semantic search with full-text search
• Flexible interfaces for AI models
• Integrated vector embedding
• LangChain and Semantic Kernel integration
• Entity Framework Core integration
• Native JSON type with index and functions
• Connect data to any REST interface
• Regular Expression (RegEx) querying
• Change event streaming for real-time apps
• Zero-ETL replication to Microsoft OneLake
• Centralized management via Azure Arc
• Disaster recovery and read scale-out to Azure SQL
• Azure Arc pay-as-you-go licensing