Joey D'Antoni

Malvern

Writer at Redmond Magazine

Native New Orleanian, Data, Lover of food & wine, cyclist. Data Platform MVP. @redmondmag. he/him, Black Lives Matter

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Articles

Why Microsoft Is Still Betting Big on SQL Server in a Cloud-First World

2 weeks ago | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server Microsoft's continued focus on SQL Server 2025 highlights the lasting demand for on-premises and hybrid deployments that prioritize performance, control and flexibility for enterprise workloads. In the cloud era, you may wonder why Microsoft is investing big into an "on-premises" product like SQL Server. It is a complex question I wanted to answer through the lens of some of the new features in SQL Server 2025.
Microsoft Build: SQL Server 2025 Is (Almost) Here

2 weeks ago | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server At Microsoft Build, SQL Server 2025 enters public preview with major enhancements in AI integration, performance, reliability and developer tools -- reaffirming Microsoft’s continued investment in its flagship on-premises database platform. Today, at Microsoft Build, Microsoft announced the public preview of SQL Server 2025 -- the latest release of their premier database product.
Microsoft Rethinks EU Cloud Strategy as Geopolitics Roil Global IT

1 month ago | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server Facing rising trade tensions and anxiety over data sovereignty, Microsoft unveils a plan to shore up its European cloud footprint -- one that could reset how U.S. cloud giants operate abroad. One of the benefits of cloud computing has been how easy it is to geolocate workloads close to your customers and development teams or to manage regulatory concerns, but recent policy changes seem poised to complicate that.
Microsoft Boosts Azure Disk Efficiency With 'Performance Plus' Tier

1 month ago | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server A recent update to Azure Managed Disks offers improved storage throughput and IOPS, but testing shows Premium V2 still leads in consistency under heavy load. Suppose you are a technology professional dealing with data-intensive workloads. In that case, storage performance is always on your mind. Even more so in the public cloud, where storage typically has lower performance limits than the best on-premises arrays from vendors like Pure Storage and NetApp.
Why SQL Server Is Still Worth It

2 months ago | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server Despite its steep licensing costs, SQL Server continues to prove its worth over open-source alternatives in some key areas. SQL Server is an expensive part of your IT stack -- SQL Server Enterprise Edition costs roughly $7,000 per CPU core (plus the likely cost of 23 percent for Software Assurance).
Is AI Really the Next Tech Gold Rush?

Feb 25, 2025 | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server Tech giants are betting big on AI. But Is the $325 billion investment chasing real growth or just hype? Depending on who you talk to, AI is an economic boon that will grant the workforce never-before-seen levels of productivity or an evil, job-killing technology unworthy of usage. The truth, like most things, lies somewhere in the middle.
Fabric's Growing Pains: Meeting the Needs of Power BI and Enterprise Customers

Jan 22, 2025 | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server Microsoft's challenge with Fabric lies in balancing the needs of data engineers and smaller Power BI-focused users, while addressing concerns around feature gaps, security and usability in its expansive analytics suite. A firmly held opinion is that as technology professionals, we don't look to our history enough -- both recent and very past. I can understand why this is the case, as technology always wants to move forward.
The Unheralded Announcements of Ignite

Dec 9, 2024 | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server While they might not have made Nadella's keynote, these upcoming enhancements to Azure and Microsoft security are worth paying attention to. Every year at Microsoft Ignite, big, high-profile announcements are the focus of keynote presentations and articles. At about the same time, there are also a bunch of significant product announcements and enhancements that don't make the front page.
Microsoft Bolsters Fabric at Ignite

Nov 19, 2024 | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server While Fabric has improved in the year since its release, there are still some glaring issues with the platform. Today at Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft introduced SQL database in Fabric. This relational database service runs in the context of a Fabric capacity. SQL database in Fabric is built on the Azure SQL Database platform, running in pools using Fleet Management, allowing Fabric users to deploy a database in their Fabric environment in seconds.
SQL Server 2025 Announced at Microsoft Ignite 2024

Nov 19, 2024 | redmondmag.com | Joey D'Antoni

Joey on SQL Server Expect the next generation of Microsoft's database platform to show up in preview sometime next year. At today's kickoff for Microsoft Ignite, the company announced that SQL Server 2025 is finally coming. No timing was announced for the release, but based on prior versions, I would expect to see a publicly available preview in the spring of next year.