Microsoft-certified Consultants

SQL Server 2022 is significantly more Azure-connected than earlier on-prem versions of Microsoft's flagship relational database platform. Headline features of SQL Server 2022 for configuring and managing hybrid deployments include:

• Bi-directional link between SQL Server and Azure SQL Managed Instance offers high availability and disaster recovery (HA/DR)
• Azure Synapse Link integration with SQL Server enables fast real-time reporting and analytics over your operational data without requiring ETL
• Microsoft Purview access policies for SQL Server 2022 powered by Arc-Enabled SQL Servers provide visibility into your data assets across on-prem and multi-cloud data centers. You can have access to your data and protect sensitive data across apps deployed in multiple clouds.

Why and How to Upgrade to SQL Server 2022
As earlier versions of SQL Server reach end of support (EOS) status, migrating to a modern version of SQL Server makes sense not only to benefit from an enhanced feature set but also to address concerns about security, compliance, and liability issues. Progent has over twenty years of experience planning, deploying, tuning, managing, and troubleshooting SQL Server environments and can help organizations of any size to prepare and execute an efficient migration to a current version of SQL Server. Progent's Microsoft-certified SQL Server experts can help you evaluate the business case for upgrading to SQL Server 2022, and Progent offers fast online or onsite access to experts in system design, application programming, database administration, and cybersecurity. Progent can help you deploy SQL Server 2022 on premises, in private or public clouds, or in a hybrid network architecture.

You can engage Progent's consultants on an as-needed basis for tasks like design review or troubleshooting or you can receive comprehensive project management and co-management services to ensure your SQL Server 2022 initiative is completed on time and on budget. Progent offers the help of certified network security consultants, disaster recovery and business continuity planners, and database application developers to make sure your SQL Server 2022 deployment consistently delivers maximum business value.

Progent's seasoned software developers can assist you to plan, create, pilot test, install, and troubleshoot applications that utilize SQL Server 2022 databases and Progent can provide expertise in data modeling, OLTP, Data Warehousing, Data Mining, ETL, tuning, availability, backup/recovery, analytics and reporting, and integration with Amazon Marketplace Web Service.

SQL Server 2022 Editions
SQL Server 2022 is available in five basic editions distinguished by price, feature set, performance, scale, and licensing rules. Progent can help you decide which editions make sense for your needs, and Progent can also help you simplify license management.

SQL Server 2022 Enterprise is the high-end edition of SQL Server 2022 and is intended for critical business applications requiring the most advanced levels of scale, availability, and performance. Compute power and memory supported per database match the operating system maximum, virtualization is unlimited, and relational database size can be up to 524 PB. High availability features unique to the Enterprise edition include Always On availability groups, online page and file restore, online index create and rebuild, resumable online index rebuilds, online schema change, fast recovery, mirrored backups, and hot add memory and CPU. Scalability and performance features for the Enterprise edition include in-memory database, resource governance, partitioned table parallelism, read ahead, automatic tuning, batch mode adaptive joins, plus row mode and memory grant feedback. The Enterprise edition of SQL Server 2022 also supports a richer set of Master Data Services, Data Warehousing, Analysis Services, Reporting Services, and Advanced Integration Services than other editions.

SQL Server 2022 Standard edition is designed for departments and small organizations who require a basic, low-overhead platform for data management and business intelligence (BI). SQL Server 2022 Standard edition supports all the security features of SQL Server 2022 Enterprise, but compute capacity is limited to the smaller of 4 sockets or 24 cores. For each instance of SQL Server Database Engine, maximum memory for buffer pool is 128 GB and maximum memory-optimized data size is 32 GB. Unlike the Enterprise edition, the Standard edition of SQL Server 2022 does not support advanced R and Python integration and does not include Machine Learning Services, but supports the other programmability features as well as the management tools available with the Enterprise edition. Advanced features like transparent data encryption, accelerated database recovery, and Big Data Clusters are included with the Standard edition.

SQL Server 2022 Web edition is an inexpensive option intended for web hosting companies. Compute capacity is limited to the lesser of 4 sockets or 16 cores, max buffer pool memory is 64 MB, and memory-optimized data size is 16 GB. Unlike the Standard edition of SQL Server 2022, SQL Server 2022 Web edition does not support Always On failover cluster instances, basic availability groups, hybrid backup or transactional replication to Windows Azure, or accelerated database recovery. The Web edition also does not support transparent database or backup encryption. You can profile SQL Server Web by using SQL Server Enterprise or SQL Server Standard editions, and SQL Server Web includes the other management tools included with the Standard edition. Data warehousing, Analysis Services, tabular and multidimensional models, BI Services, and some Reporting Services are not included.

SQL Server 2022 Developer edition is essentially identical to the Enterprise edition, but its license restricts its use to development and testing. The Developer edition is not licensed for use as a production server. SQL Server 2022 Developer supports only a single client for SQL Server Distributed Replay.

SQL Server 2022 Express, available in several variants, is a free entry-level version of SQL Server designed for training or for creating desktop, small-server, and client applications that do not require an industrial-strength database. Compute capacity is limited to the lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores, max buffer pool memory is 1.41 MB, and memory-optimized data size is 352 MB. If applications created with SQL Server 2022 Express grow to require more capacity or additional features, you can upgrade seamlessly to more powerful editions of SQL Server. SQL Server 2022 Express with Advanced Services adds Basic R and SQL Graph integration, the distributed replay management tool, and SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT). SQL Server 2022 Express with Advanced Services can also host a SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) database. SQL Server Express LocalDB is a trimmed down version of Express that runs in user mode and can be installed without configuration and with virtually no prerequisites. SQL Server Express LocalDB shares all the programmability features of other Express variants but does not support in-memory OLTP.

Components of SQL Server 2022
The SQL Server 2022 Installation Wizard allows you to select which of the SQL Server components you want to include in your deployment. These components include:

SQL Server Database Engine
The Database Engine is the heart of SQL Server's services for processing, storing, and securing data. The Database Engine is responsible for replication, full-text search, management of relational and XML data, performing in-database analytics, integrating PolyBase for accessing external data sources like Hadoop, and running Machine Learning Services for processing SQL Server's relational data with Python and R scripts.

Analysis Services
SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) is an online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining tool set for extracting useful information from data scattered across multiple databases or in various files or tables.

Reporting Services
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) provides a set of tools that allow you to build, share, manage, and deploy tabular, matrix, graphical, and free-form reports. both mobile and paginated. You can also create responsive-design mobile reports with the Mobile Report Publisher app and use native Power BI apps for mobile devices to access the data you have in SQL Server Reporting Services.

Integration Services
Integration Services is a collection of programmable objects and zero-code graphical tools for moving, copying, and transforming data. ETL operations can be performed on XML data files, flat files, and relational data sources. These services can be used for copying or downloading files, populating data warehouses, cleansing and mining data, and managing SQL Server objects and data. This also includes the Data Quality Services (DQS) component for Integration Services.

Master Data Services
Master Data Services (MDS) is SQL Server's Master Data Management (MDM) platform that enables you to create a centralized view of enterprise data, synchronizing data sources to eliminate redundancies and versioning models to maintain consistency. MDS can be configured to manage any domain and includes hierarchies, granular security, transactions, data versioning, and business rules. An Excel add-in for Excel simplifies data management.

In-Database Machine Learning Services
In-Database Machine Learning Services allows you to execute Python and R scripts with relational data sources without moving data outside SQL Server or across the network. The Microsoft Python and R packages can be used for predictive analytics and machine learning.

Data Virtualization with PolyBase
With SQL Server PolyBase, you can query data from virtualized external SQL Server, Oracle, Teradata, MongoDB, and ODBC data sources without having to move or copy the data.

Azure Connected Services and Features
SQL Server 2022 extends Azure connected services and features such as Azure Synapse Link, Microsoft Purview access policies, Azure extension for SQL Server, and the link feature for SQL Managed Instance.

New or Enhanced Features of SQL Server 2022
SQL Server 2022 introduces or improves features covering a range of key areas including analytics, availability, security, performance, query store and intelligent query processing, and management. These new or enhanced features include:

Analytics

• Azure Synapse Link for SQL provides seamless integration between operational stores in SQL Server 2022 and Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL pools. This allows you to run analytics, business intelligence, and machine learning scenarios on your operational data with minimum effect on source databases. Azure Synapse Link for SQL allows nearly real time reporting and analytics over operational data in Azure SQL Database or SQL Server 2022 without requiring ETL or data integration logic.

Availability

• Link to Azure SQL Managed Instance allows you to replicate your data in real-time from SQL Server hosted anywhere to Azure SQL Managed Instance, or from Azure SQL Managed Instance to SQL Server 2022 hosted anywhere. The link enables online disaster recovery with fail back to SQL Server, as well as processes such as migrating to Azure, using Azure services without migrating to the cloud, offloading read-only workloads to Azure, and other activity.
• The ability to use multiple TCP connections offers better network bandwidth utilization across a remote link with long TCP latencies.

• You can apply Microsoft Purview access policies to any SQL Server instance enrolled in both Azure Arc and the Microsoft Purview Data Use Management.
• The Ledger feature can provide tamper evidence capabilities in your database. You can cryptographically attest to other parties, such as auditors or other business parties, that your data was not tampered with.
• You can use authentication with Microsoft Entra ID (previously branded Azure Active Directory) to connect to SQL Server and you can configure transactional replication with Microsoft Entra authentication.
• SQL Server 2022 supports import and export of PFX file formatted certificates and private keys. You can backup and restore master keys to Azure Blob Storage.

• Modified virtual log file (VLF) algorithms improve the performance of operations like recovery.
• Internal adjustments to the Database Engine make spinlocks more efficient.

• Query Store on secondary replicas enables the same Query Store functionality on secondary replica workloads that is available for primary replicas.
• Query Store hints use the Query Store to provide a method to shape query plans without changing application code.
• Parameter sensitive plan optimization enables multiple active cached plans for a single parameterized statement.

• Integrated setup experience for the Azure extension for SQL Server 2022.
• SQL Server Configuration Manager allows you to manage the Azure extension for SQL Server service. This is required in order to create a SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc instance and for other Azure-connected features.

Progent can assist you to migrate your data and applications, set up pilot systems to verify SQL Server 2022's ability to run your business-critical applications, streamline management, design and implement a company-wide cybersecurity strategy that meets government and industry requirements, integrate mobile devices, and create a disaster recovery or business continuity plan that takes advantage of the advanced high-availability technology integrated into SQL Server 2022.

Consulting services available from Progent for SQL Server 2022 include:

• Project Management: Progent offers project management services to help you adhere to leading practices to make sure your SQL Server 2022 initiative is carried out on schedule and within budget. Project can provide fast access to experts to help with any phase of project management including requirements analysis, preparedness assessment, system design, migration planning, configuring test environments, deployment, optimization, documentation, training, administration, and as-needed online or onsite consulting and debugging.
• Database Migration: Progent's seasoned DBA consultants offer consulting expertise for all releases of SQL Server, including end-of-support (EOS) versions such as SQL Server 2012 R2. Progent can also provide Oracle expertise, MySQL software design and programming, and Microsoft Access consulting. Progent has 20 years of experience delivering database solutions and can help you move your databases and applications to SQL Server 2022 quickly and affordably.
• Integration with Other Microsoft Products: Microsoft's extensive catalog of enterprise applications, operating systems, development platforms, management tools, and technologies rely on SQL Server as their core database engine. Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can help you integrate SQL Server 2022 efficiently with other Microsoft products by offering services that include Windows Server 2022 configuration support, Windows Server 2019 migration expertise, SharePoint Server 2019 application design, Power BI reporting expertise, Exchange Server SE consulting and Microsoft 365 Exchange Online integration, and Active Directory and Azure Entra planning and troubleshooting.
• Reporting and Business Intelligence: Progent's Business Intelligence (BI) reporting consultants can help you use Microsoft's BI stack to build and share BI reports that can be accessed securely from any authorized endpoint. Progent can help you create PowerPivot models and use SQL Server 2022 Analysis Services to manage tabular databases. Progent's Power BI experts can help you connect to Power BI datasets using Microsoft Report Builder or SQL Server Data Tools and publish reports to SQL Server Reporting Services by using SQL Server Analysis Services connections.
• Network Infrastructure: Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE network architecture consultants can help you plan, configure, manage, and protect a high-availability and high-performance network infrastructure for your SQL Server 2022 environment. Progent can help you design and deploy an optimal solution for any network model including on-premises, local or public cloud, or hybrid.
• Security and Compliance: Progent's cybersecurity and compliance experts have earned prestigious security certifications including CISA, CISM, CISSP, ISSAP, CRISC, and GIAC. Progent offers organizations of any size a variety of cybersecurity assessment, enhancement, response, and remote monitoring services to protect against known and zero-day cyber attacks such as ransomware and to validate compliance with regulatory and industry requirements.
• Virtualization Expertise: Progent can assist you to plan and configure a cost-effective and manageable virtualization solution for SQL Server 2022 and offers the expertise of certified Windows Hyper-V consultants, VMware vSphere and vCloud experts, VMware NSX-certified virtualization consultants, and Citrix XenServer consultants to assist your organization to deploy and manage a virtualized ecosystem.
• ProSight Remote Monitoring and Management Services: Progent's ProSight family of remote monitoring and management (RMM) services offer an affordable way for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) to benefit from modern tools and technologies for network management. ProSight services offer comprehensive remote monitoring at a low monthly cost and include management of key areas including network and device security, backup/restore, VM hosting, and documentation management. To find out more about how Progent's ProSight ProSight services can help you monitor and manage your SQL Server deployment, visit ProSight remote network management services.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Planning: Progent's disaster recovery planning consultants can help you create, test, and document a disaster recovery plan that incorporates SQL Server 2022's high-availability technology to maximize uptime and minimize recovery time for business-critical applications and services. Progent's business continuity planning consultants can help you develop and validate a comprehensive plan to keep your core business processes operating in case of a catastrophic event. The business continuity plan deals with IT infrastructure but also addresses the logistics associated with issues like emergency notification systems and procedures, temporary office space and transportation, and regulatory mandates for reporting. For enterprises, Progent offers the expertise of a VMware VCDX-certified VMware Site Recovery Manager expert and VMware NSX network virtualization consultant to help you plan, implement, and manage an advanced disaster-recovery/application-mobility solution for private cloud and hybrid-cloud environments.
• Online Consulting and Troubleshooting: Progent has more than two decades of background providing advanced consulting, application development, and debugging services remotely. Access to online expertise allows you to minimize the costs and duration of network downtime. Progent has successfully delivered remote IT support to organizations of all sizes in every state in the U.S. (See Progent's customer testimonials.) Progent can also provide on-premises support in most metropolitan areas throughout the United States and Canada.

If you need immediate online help from a Microsoft-certified consultant, see Progent's Online Network Support.