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Microsoft Releases Windows Azure SQL Reporting
The service is free until Aug. 1.
Microsoft has released another cloud-based development tool with the general availability of Windows Azure SQL Reporting.
The service, formerly known as SQL Azure Reporting Services, is being offered for free until Aug. 1. It was part of Microsoft’s Spring Azure update, which included a host of new capabilities.
Microsoft is positioning SQL Reporting as part of its business analytics suite of products, which also includes Hadoop for big data, the Windows Azure Marketplace and Windows Azure Virtual Machines. SQL Reporting allows developers to create tables, charts, maps, gauges and other data visualizations in public or private clouds, or both.
Microsoft also touts typical cloud advantages such as elasticity and high availability as SQL Reporting benefits. SQL Reporting reports can be produced in most popular formats, including Excel, Word, HTML, PDF, XML, and CSV. They can also be viewed in any Web browser.
After the free period ends on July 31, SQL Reporting will cost $0.88 per hour per reporting instance. Microsoft listed an example of what the cost would be for a single reporting instance:
“If you deployed 1 reporting instance for 1 day during the billing cycle and during that 1 day you stayed within 200 reports per hour except for one hour, where you initiated 250 reports, you would pay $22.00. Below are the calculations:
- ($0.88 per hour x 24 hours) + ($0.88 per hour x 1 hour) = $22.00”
A Windows Azure subscription is required to use SQL Reporting.
About the Author
Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.