FAQ: Microsoft's SQL Server Data Services

Web 2.0 loves MySQL. So is the open-source database Microsoft's real target with SSDS Maybe, though Microsoft hasn't said as much. For MySQL's part, it says it has partners to host MySQL for more than three years. But it hasn't waded into cloud databases yet, according to vice-president for marketing, Zack Urlocker.

"We aren't ready to make any new announcements at this time, but it's an area that's being evaluated as we integrate with Sun Microsystems," Urlocker wrote in an e-mail, tantalizingly adding, "Sun certainly has the expertise in massive scale and cloud computing that could make for an interesting story."

Will using SSDS lock me into a Microsoft infrastructure Not in an obvious way, as SSDS seems to support key, relevant standards, SOAP and REST being the most important. On the other hand, Microsoft does hint that at some favoritism : "We will provide a great experience working with Microsoft products and development tools. In addition, we will provide support for development on other platforms and will invest in a strong development ecosystem around our service." In practice, it's likely SSDS will for a long time mostly be taken up by users who are already heavy into Microsoft.

What are the disadvantages of using SSDS Since information remains scarce, we can only infer that SSDS will at the least share the typical issues associated with SaaS apps. While startup costs are low, larger users may find the cost of subscribing to SSDS over time eclipsing the cost of running SQL Server in-house. That's especially true if you include the bandwidth costs associated with relying on SSDS.

Also, sophisticated users may find SSDS' features too sparse. For instance, users can't store videos and other large unstructured data objects (BLOBs) inside SSDS -- a common advantage of relational databases. Finally, there is the lack of control over the security and availability of your data, despite Microsoft's Service Level Agreements (SLAs). However, Microsoft says that it will create an on-premise version of SSDS that can ameliorate those concerns.