More on Microsoft's database-in-the-cloud service

LAS VEGAS--While Internet Explorer 8 demos, Silverlight progress and a Monkey Boy reprise from Steve Ballmer captured much of the attention at Mix 08--it was a database announcement that could be the sleeper announcement of the show.

Dave Campbell

(Credit: Microsoft)

What Microsoft announced was a database-in-the-cloud service where Web developers can store their data. Those attending the Mix show here were able to sign up for a beta test that is set to begin in three or four weeks, with a final version aimed to be launched by the end of the year, according to Dave Campbell, a technical fellow in Microsoft's SQL Server division.

"We're taking SQL Server we're pulling pieces of it apart and we're putting it back together," Campbell said in an interview. One of the challenges is taking software designed to run highly reliable servers and storage and turning it into a commodity service.

But, Campbell said, that's also where the opportunity lies. "In this world, dumb and fast rules."

"If you give up a tiny bit in terms of the degree of consistency in the architecture, you can get tremendous resiliency and scale, but you want to retain enterprise-class quality around data service," he explained. Factoring data into classes of data or tiers is one way to improve the class of service using commodity gear, he said.

What Microsoft is doing in this case with its database is also the kind of thing it makes sense to imagine the company doing with a variety of "building block" services.

"SQL Data Services is a building block for Microsoft's longer term vision of a services fabric for developing and deploying applications," Campbell said. "Imagine at some point a version of Visual Studio with a services palette in the toolbox and wiring up and composing services."

Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff said that it's important for Microsoft to be a player in this area.

"A lot of computing and storage is going to be moving online," he said. "For them not to get into this game would be suicidal at some level."

Campbell downplayed the notion that Microsoft was competing with Amazon.com's S3 service.

Haff said that there are some differences, since Amazon targets largely unstructured data and Microsoft is aimed more at structured and semi-structured data, but said it's not like the two don't overlap.

"They are targeting a somewhat different market, but everyone competes at some level," he said.

Campbell wouldn't get into how Microsoft would price the service, but said it some type of usage model that takes into account both the amount of data stored in the cloud as well as the bandwidth used in transferring information.

CNET News.com's Dan Farber contributed to this report.

[bbbcase]

Competes with Amazon Simple DB

This doesn't compete with Amazon S3 (yet), but it does compete directly with Amazon SimpleDB:<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.amazon.com/simpledb" target="_newWindow">http://www.amazon.com/simpledb</a><br />see also..<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://blog.jungledisk.com/2008/03/06/microsoft-gets-serious-about-cloud-computing-and-competing-with-amazon/" target="_newWindow">http://blog.jungledisk.com/2008/03/06/microsoft-gets-serious-about-cloud-computing-and-competing-with-amazon/</a>

[Penguinisto]

Not new news, nor an innovation.

Quicken has been rendting DB's online for (literally) years.<br /><br />Also, somebody in C|Net's news department should Google for <br />"Salesforce" and "CRM". They've been doing it for awhile too <br />(albeit for a specific purpose). ;)<br /><br />MSFT has no claim here... they're just following in others' <br />footsteps (err, again).<br /><br />/P

[jamie.p.walsh]

Good for you

You must have taken one of those speed reading courses. Of course, when you do that, you occasionally (and in this case, obviously) miss some key elements of the article now don't you.<br /><br />SQL Data Services are not the same as Salesforce in that they are application independent. I've developed using Salesforce Apex and it's more of a utility or value-add-feature platform than a true application platform aside from the initial application of CRM.<br /><br />SQL Data Services is renting the database rather than the application. The difference from Quicken is that Quicken's offering is to host Quicken databases. <br /><br />So, yes, it would be a little more newsworthy. Now mend your broken arm once patting yourself on the back, re-read the article, and come back when you have something constructive to say that actually has merit in criticizing the article.

[Vegaman_Dan]

So... they shouldn't bother?

Why are you so against Microsoft doing anything good? <br /><br />What financial interest do you have in seeing Microsoft fail? Your comments in other postings clearly indicate you have something to gain personally from this.

[TheSmellyMoa]

Duncan Heinz !

Show us how you learned about software development baking cakes, Monkeyboy !