Meeting

Data, applications, and IT services are central to success for many companies today. For small and midsize businesses with their own databases, the resulting explosive information growth can be hard to handle. Without the capital to rapidly scale out data infrastructure locally, they need other ways to get a handle on the problems of increasing capacity, managing business data and keeping that data secure.

With advances in data management technology, they now have the option of using a hybrid data infrastructure combining on-premises technology and the cloud. In such as solution, mission-critical, recent, or latency-sensitive data can remain on-premises, while backups and archival or less-frequently-used data can seamlessly move to cloud storage. With the right approach, the experience of accessing the data remains the same regardless of where it’s stored. Using practices such as data management in the cloud enables companies to manage data growth without buying, deploying, and managing new infrastructure, enabling them to focus on their core business activities.

Microsoft is investing in building hybrid capabilities across its product portfolio to help organizations take advantage of all that hybrid has to offer, simply and cost effectively. Two technologies in SQL Server 2016 are at the forefront of these efforts, providing customers with new ways to manage business data without losing control of their IT budget.

Stretch to fit

In the past, companies often opted to store data exclusively on-premises because of the complexity of connecting applications to cloud services. Traditional “cold” data storage methods made data difficult and time-consuming to access. Now, organizations can dynamically “stretch” their data to the cloud with SQL Server Stretch Database Service, an Azure companion service available in SQL Server 2016.

This data infrastructure means data is always online and available to query. No changes are required to existing applications or queries. SQL Server handles the movement of data based on policies set by the administrator. Security is also built in to the solution: SQL Server Stretch Database works with Always Encrypted technology, which encrypts data before sending to Azure. The encryption key remains on-premises. With Stretch Database, you can be in control of your data management in the cloud, and keep more of your data accessible for longer, at lower cost than storing it all on local infrastructure.

Replication rocks

Keeping data safe from disaster means backing it up and replicating it to a secure location. And there are few more secure options than Azure datacenters. While replication has been an option in previous versions of SQL Server, with SQL Server 2016, organizations can now replicate directly to Azure SQL database, a fully managed service. This gives them more options for protecting their valuable information, and provides a simple way to migrate data to the cloud from SQL Server on-premises to the cloud without downtime. With high availability built-in and very simple administration requirements, SQL Database provides reliable, predictable performance at affordable cost.

Cloud forward

In addition to these improvements, Azure SQL Database overall now has greater parity with on-premises SQL Server. This makes it simpler to port on-premises applications to Azure and support business requirements with cloud services. And that means dealing with the data explosion just got a whole lot easier.


 

For more tips on thriving with small business technology, check out the other blog posts at DWP Blogs. Thanks for reading this post. I am also available at dwpia on LinkedIn, at dwpia on Facebook,and @dwpia on Twitter.

Cloud Computing Expert | Small Business Technology Consultant | IT Services Provider | 866.995.4488

Denis S Wilson

I am President and Principal Consultant for DWP Information Architects: specializing in IT services and support for successful, fast-growth companies in Los Angeles. And have created cost-effective information technology solutions for small business for over 20 years, specializing in cybersecurity. I am also a published author and speaker, working extensively with the SBA and its partners, and business and professional associations, providing business technology education programs.

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