The Latest Name for SQL Services Is a Cosmetic Change -- Visual Studio Magazine

Data Driverby David Ramel

The Latest Name for SQL Services Is a Cosmetic Change

Microsoft once again is renaming its forthcoming data-oriented cloud services. The company's SQL Services will be called SQL Azure, while SQL Data Services are now called the SQL Azure Database. It's the third name for the platform originally known as SQL Server Data Services.

The company made the announcement today on its SQL Server Blog. The new names do not reflect any changes to the underlying services, Microsoft said. "By standardizing our naming conventions, we're demonstrating the tight integration between the components of the services platform," according to the blog posting.

SQL Azure is the forthcoming set of services that let users conduct relational queries, search, reporting, and synchronization, while the SQL Azure Database will provide the cloud-based relational database platform.

Oakleaf Systems' Roger Jennings described the move as purely cosmetic. "The change from entity-attribute-value to relational tables for SQL [Server] Data Services has been in the works for months," said Jennings, who wrote this month's cover story in Visual Studio Magazine, "Targeting Azure Storage."

Meanwhile, Microsoft this week released the July Community Technology (CTP) of its PHP SDK for Windows Azure. The CTP provides Windows Azure support for the Zend Framework and it also includes PHP-based Windows Azure Table Storage APIs, according to Microsoft's Interoperability@Microsoft blog.

Microsoft has indicated it will announce Azure pricing and licensing terms at its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans next week.

Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 07/08/2009

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