Microsoft on Board with SQL Server for Linux

After resisting the idea for years, Microsoft now appears to be on board with open source computing. In a blog post, Redmond announced that companies will soon be able to run portions of its SQL Server database software on Linux.

Microsoft will at least offer SQL Server’s core capabilities, with the later addition of other components depending on customer demand and feedback. About 25 percent of all the servers running in Microsoft’s Azure cloud service are powered by Linux, the open source operating system. Previously, though, users couldn’t run most Microsoft software on their Linux servers. This week’s announcement should change that.

New Philosophy

Not many Microsoft applications have been able to run on Linux to this point, and most of the ones that could were acquired from other companies such as Skype. But increasingly, the company has toyed with the idea of supporting software on other platforms. Microsoft recently said it was buying Xamarin, a company that develops a cross-platform version of Microsoft’s .NET programming framework, which helps developers use Microsoft’s C# programming language to build applications that run on Linux and Apple as well as Windows.

Matt Aslett, research director, data platforms and analytics, at 451 Research, told us that Microsoft’s announcement was notable because it indicates ongoing changes in Microsoft's overall strategy. He said that it illustrates the impact that cloud has had on the relative importance of the operating system, and it spices up Microsoft's ongoing competition with its database rivals Oracle, IBM and SAP.

"The launch of SQL Server on Linux is a symbol of the fact that this is no longer the same Microsoft that was previously run by Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, who famously once described Linux as a 'cancer,'" said Aslett.

Turf Battle

In October, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that Microsoft loved Linux, perhaps signaling a change in company philosophy, Aslett noted. "While it has supported Linux-based virtual machines on Azure for several years and in late 2015 made Red Hat the preferred supplier of Linux on Azure, the company is now for the first time putting its own software where Nadella's mouth is," Aslett said.

Enabling users to run SQL Server on Linux is another step toward that objective, although it remains to be seen whether users want to run SQL Server on Linux, since such open source options, such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, are very popular on Linux. But companies might be more inclined to pay for Microsoft SQL Server licenses if they can use it on Linux.

"SQL Server on Linux can be seen as a reaction to widespread Linux adoption, but it is also indicative of the fact that the OS is decreasingly important in clouds made up of virtual instances and containers," Aslett told us. "Launching SQL Server on Linux will also enable Microsoft to take the database battle to Oracle and IBM for the first time whereas its Windows-only strategy meant that it was constantly defending its own turf.