Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2015. Read them in this VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed article by Don Boxley, Co-Founder and CEO of DH2i Company
2015 – The Year of Microsoft SQL Server Containers
It would be difficult to miss that the talk around containers
has gained significant momentum over the past year. Most of it has been spurred on by the much-hyped
Silicon Valley startup, Docker, which is focused on Linux containers (i.e.,
Linux application virtualization technology). Of course, containers aren't a new idea. A simple Google search tells us that Docker
isn't the only company working on containers, and that containers take many
different forms, to solve many different problems.
In 2013, Oracle introduced a container for Oracle 12c, called
Oracle
Multitenant, designed to enable a multitenant container to hold many
pluggable databases. An existing
database can simply be adopted with no application changes required.
So what about the Microsoft SQL Server world? In 2015, I
predict that users will be able to likewise leverage container technology for
the management of SQL Server. The
driving business motive is the promise of significant and measureable results for
business agility. Let's take a look at a
couple agility definitions from the experts to see what that means:
"The ability of
an organization to sense environmental change and respond efficiently and
effectively to that change." Gartner
"The quality that
allows an enterprise to embrace market and operational changes as a matter of
routine." Forrester
So, what does business agility look like specifically for
the SQL Server user? And, what part can
containers play? In this regard, I must
give credit to Oracle because many of the measurable results of Oracle
containers re: business agility will be the same for SQL Server users, but
without Oracle pricing (another prediction J).
Business agility for the SQL Server user is a function of five
key attributes. Let's take a closer look
at each of them:
- Rate of
instance/server expansion: The ratio of instances to servers, regardless of
type. When a new instance is deployed, a new server is required.
-
Speed of service
deployment: This is all about DevOps, or more specifically, measuring the
speed and reliability of continuous deployment by eliminating inconsistencies
between development, test and production. How long does it take to move a
workload (i.e., instance) from development to test to production?
-
Time to
patch/upgrade: How long does it take to patch/upgrade your SQL Server
environment? How much planned downtime is required to complete a patch cycle?
-
Service
level attainment: Are you meeting your service level agreements? How much
unplanned downtime are you experiencing per year? How long does it take to
restore service after an outage event?
-
Technology
refresh cycle-time: The question isn't if you'll move to a new platform,
but when. The platform you're on today isn't the platform you were on seven
years ago or the platform you'll be on in three years. How long does it take to
complete a technology refresh? How long does it take to migrate services from an
exiting technology platform to a new one? How long does it take to move
workloads (i.e., instances) from one server to another?
In 2015, like an Oracle container, a SQL Server container
will increase business agility and reduce IT costs by simplifying
consolidation, service deployment, patch/upgrade management and technology
refresh, while increasing availability and resiliency. And, those critical business outcomes are what
will make 2015 the year for SQL Server containers.
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About the Author
Don Boxley Jr is a Co-Founder and CEO of DH2i Company.
This is Don's third technology startup. Prior to DH2i held senior
marketing roles at Hewlett-Packard where he was instrumental in sales
and marketing strategies that resulted in significant revenue growth in
the Scale-out NAS business. Don spent more than 20 years in a range of
management positions for leading technology companies, including
Hewlett-Packard, CoCreate Software, Iomega, TapeWorks Data Storage
Systems and Colorado Memory Systems.
Don earned his MBA from Johnson
School of Management, Cornell University.