Microsoft constantly releases new features and products in the data platform space. Many of us have seen the SQL Server product grow in new ways, some of which are very useful to us. As an example the changes from log shipping to clustering to Availability Groups has improved our HA/DR options as well as the capabilities available to us in different situations.

With that in mind, I saw someone recently that wanted to deploy SQL Server on Kubernetes, which is something that could be a very interesting way of managing your different systems. However, this individual wanted to know when Microsoft would release their own supported solution with a Microsoft operator to manage the instance. There is guidance from Microsoft, but no official operator.

I saw a recommendation to use DH2i, which has a solution with an operator that can help here. In fact, in the MS docs, there are articles on using DH2i with SQL Server. However, the docs note that DH2i is responsible for supporting their product. The person asking about support didn’t want another vendor and wanted a Microsoft solution.

Is that something you want? Do you want a Microsoft solution for most (or all) things? Or do you think third parties or bespoke solutions are acceptable? This could be your opinion or a policy/guideline from your employer, but let us know.

To me, I think third parties are necessary. Microsoft can’t do everything, and they might not provide the support or flexibility that someone else can. Many of us sp_whoisactive, which isn’t an official Microsoft solution. There is a First Responder kit, diagnostic queries, a pressure detector, and plenty of other resources that people have created and shared. There are plenty of tools for SQL Server (and most other products) that various vendors have produced and sell which meet the needs of their customers.

My view isn’t to choose a Microsoft solution for everything because their solutions aren’t always the best choice for my problem. Even when they work well, they are often incomplete and I need to do some work to get them to fit into my environment. To be fair, most anything often needs a little work (or time) to fit into many environments.

Let us know today. Do you want official Microsoft solutions for your data platform? Or Oracle ones for Oracle? Who makes you comfortable with PostgreSQL, Aurora, Redshift, Databricks, or other platforms? Or do you only use tools and capabilities inside the platforms?

Steve Jones

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