(MS)SQL Server on Linux: Runs well in spite of internal quirks. Why? (Preview review)

The Register ^ | Nov 24, 2016 | Tim Anderson

[dayglored]

First Look Microsoft has released a public preview of SQL Server for Linux, and I took it for a spin.

There are three supported platforms for SQL Server on Linux, these being Red Hat Enterprise 7.2, Ubuntu 16.04, and a Linux-based Docker engine. Installation on other versions of Linux may also work, although unsupported. The Docker image enables installation on Mac or Windows. Microsoft specifies a minimum of 3.25GB of RAM.

I installed on a modest 8GB dual-processor VM running Ubuntu 16.04 "Xenial" for testing. Setup involves agreeing a licence and setting an SA (system administrator) password. I then installed command-line tools, sqlcmd (execute SQL queries) and bcp (bulk copy). The install script prompts you to enable automatic start-up.

What is SQL Server on Linux? It appears to be essentially the same code as Windows SQL Server running on a compatibility layer, called the SQL Platform Abstraction Layer (SQLPAL), which maps Windows API calls to OS system calls. Also in the mix is a piece called SQL OS, described as a "user mode operating system", which abstracts the hardware and provides services such as task scheduling, memory management and exception handling. SQL OS has been in SQL Server since 2005; it was not developed for Linux, but has now been extended.

[...much more at the link...]

[dayglored]

This looks pretty interesting to those of us who need to support one or more big business applications that require MS-SQL, but who prefer to run on Linux platforms and don't want to screw around with an odd-man-out Windows Server just for the SQL. More important, perhaps is that Linux rules the cloud, and if Microsoft wants SQL Server in the cloud, they know they have to support running on Linux.

Some more from the article:

...Despite running the same code as on Windows, the Linux product does not have all its features. Unsupported features in the current preview include:

• full-text search
• replication
• Stretch DB (extend a database to Azure)
• Polybase (query data warehouses)
• always on availability groups
• Active Directory authentication
• SQL Server Agent
• SQL Server R Services
• Analysis Services
• Reporting Services
• Integration Services
• Data Quality Services
• Master Data Services.

CLR (.NET Runtime) stored procedures are not enabled, according to Kumar, but the team is looking at future integration with the cross-platform .NET Core.

Some of these features may be enabled before general release.

[dayglored]

Microsoft SQL Server on... Linux! ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

Ping to ShadowAce for the Linux list...

[Pikachu_Dad]

Why?

And why use a microdoze product instead of mysql?

That is just begging for problems.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Firebird.

Performance smokes mysql.

[DaxtonBrown]

Pretty interesting. The cost of MSSQL was stifling. I was on MYSQL, now MariaDB. I’ve gone all Linux and Java so I already have a ton of connection and data handling code.

In other words, I don’t need ya Microsoft.

[Dalberg-Acton]

I thought about trying it, but the preview is 180 days and then what?
I’m certain there are better alternatives.

[DeltaZulu]

I have to say, that is a stifling amount of missing features. It’s basically bare-bones SQL server. I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that the SQL Agent isn’t available.

[bluejean]

“stifling amount of missing features. It’s basically bare-bones SQL server”

Yes, SQL Server missing a ton of functionality: SQL Express. Not quite ready for prime time. But perhaps if there is a lot of interest they’ll improve it.

[dayglored]

> It’s basically bare-bones SQL server ... SQL Express. Not quite ready for prime time. But perhaps if there is a lot of interest they’ll improve it.

That's probably what will happen, assuming interest appears.

Microsoft is shifting all their product offerings to "subscriptions", meaning they can screw with the product continually forever and you pay for it all along the way.

Consider Windows 10, which is also "not quite ready for prime time" in a number of critical respects. The underlying OS is fine, but there are so many things missing in the UI that it's incredibly frustrating at times.

I suspect the SQL offering for Linux will be like that. A slow evolution toward what it should have been at release.

But this is only a preview. I'll cut them slack for that. :-)

[Hardastarboard]

I suspect the SQL offering for Linux will be like that. A slow evolution toward what it should have been at release.

You're almost certainly correct. It's the first thought that crossed my mind. The question you have to entertain is, "Why would MSFT release it if it can't be credibly positioned as an enterprise tool to begin with"? What CIO in his right mind would buy that? They're not much in the habit of buying "toys" for their staff to play with any more.

[dayglored]

> "Why would MSFT release it if it can't be credibly positioned as an enterprise tool to begin with"?

They'll have to get the missing features into the real release; it's worthless without many of those.

That said, I have a smartphone with about 20 downloaded apps, which is a very modest number by today's standards. Yet every day, one or more of them have an "update" available. New capabilities, added features, security enhancements, bug fixes. I've gotten used to the idea that software needs to be constantly updated.

I suspect Microsoft had two rationales:

1. We have to get this product out ASAP or we'll miss a critical market window. Ship the preview!
2. People won't care if we issue updates on a regular basis, we do that already for everything else.

They are probably right on the first. Time will tell if the second is acceptable to the enterprise. If a company has switched to Windows 10, and/or Server 2016, it won't be any shock to their system at all.

[Hardastarboard]

We have to get this product out ASAP or we'll miss a critical market window. Ship the preview!

I'm sure you're right on this. People won't care if we issue updates on a regular basis, we do that already for everything else.

Nobody but the IT department, and who cares about them. Why can't they just make it work? /sarc

On another note - you seem knowledgeable. Do you think many companies have adopted Windows 10 for the enterprise (my company hasn't)?

[dayglored]

> On another note - you seem knowledgeable. Do you think many companies have adopted Windows 10 for the enterprise (my company hasn't)?

I suspect most have not. Frankly, that's just my opinion, but I think it's true.

I read headlines and some articles. but I don't follow the multitudinous industry blogs and pollsters who claim to know who's doing what. Not that I would necessarily believe them, as they all have an agenda, an axe to grind, or are flat-out being paid to say this or that.

I know that Microsoft made some silly public forecasts and they've already backed off quite a bit. There's a clue there.

And an awful lot of businesses I know are adamant about not taking chances with Win10 until it's stable.

But now that Microsoft no longer allows purchase of a computer with Win7 pre-installed, that means even the staunch holdouts will be slowly infiltrated by Win10, as old computers are replaced and the new ones come pre-loaded with Win10.

[zeugma]

That said, I have a smartphone with about 20 downloaded apps, which is a very modest number by today's standards. Yet every day, one or more of them have an "update" available. New capabilities, added features, security enhancements, bug fixes. I've gotten used to the idea that software needs to be constantly updated.

That works for 'apps', but not for production software.

[dayglored]

> That works for 'apps', but not for production software.

No kidding. The overhead of testing updates and patches, for stability and non-breakage of required functionality is a major PITA.

There are days when I think one of the requirements for getting a degree as a software engineer should be to spend 6 months as an intern system admin for a business. It's a "learning experience" par excellence.