Microsoft has released SQL Server 2017 Editions to the public for general availability. Its predecessor, SQL Server 2016 has been widely successful. SQL Server 2016 was a significant upgrade from SQL Server 2014, and we expect the same with SQL Server 2017.
Even though SQL Server 2017 is released for both Linux and Windows platforms, the editions remain mostly the same. Check them out!
SQL Server 2017 Editions
All the significant editions remain unchanged, which is a good thing. It maintains an easy upgrade path for customers willing to upgrade to the new version without much confusion. It is particularly true for Software Assurance (SA) customers who typically get a free upgrade to the next major release. So here they are!
- Enterprise: Comprehensive, high-end capacities for commanding database and business intelligence essentials.
- Standard: Core data management and business intelligence abilities for non-critical workloads with minimal IT support.
- Express: Easy to get started, unrestricted to use for ISV redistribution and embedding.
- Developer: Free (for MSDN subscribers) version where customers can build, test, and demo apps in non-production environments. All Enterprise Editions are included as usual.
The SQL Server 2017 Standard is useful for mid-segment customers, running medium workloads.
Some of the most notable features are as follows:
- End-to-end database security with Always Encrypted
- Enhanced in-memory performance
for all workloads - Basic reporting
- Basic analytics
- Hybrid scenarios: Stretch Database, backup
The SQL Server 2017 Edition is targeted at the top-tier segment where performance is critical.
Here are some of its features:
- Mission critical high availability on both Windows and Linux based servers.
- Enhanced in-memory performance for both OLTP and Data warehousing workloads.
- Faster performance with ‘Adaptive-Query‘ Processing
- Unmatched data security
- Petabyte-scale data warehousing scalability.
- End-to-end mobile BI with rich visualizations available on all major platforms including iOS and Android.
- In-database advanced analytics built-in at scale with R and Python
- Enhanced hybrid scenarios including
- Stretch Database, HA, DR, and backup
- Software Assurance (SA) benefits include unlimited virtualization, Machine Learning (ML) Server for Hadoop, and Power BI Report Server
Conclusion
SQL Server 2017 Editions for both Linux and Windows is a massive shift for Microsoft. We expect many Enterprise customers to jump on the SQL Server bandwagon with this release.