Home > Articles > Data > SQL Server

📄 Contents

  1. SQL Server Reference Guide
  2. Introduction
  3. SQL Server Reference Guide Overview
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Microsoft SQL Server Defined
  6. SQL Server Editions
  7. SQL Server Access
  8. Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
  9. Online Resources
  10. Microsoft SQL Server Features
  11. SQL Server Books Online
  12. Clustering Services
  13. Data Transformation Services (DTS) Overview
  14. Replication Services
  15. Database Mirroring
  16. Natural Language Processing (NLP)
  17. Analysis Services
  18. Microsot SQL Server Reporting Services
  19. XML Overview
  20. Notification Services for the DBA
  21. Full-Text Search
  22. SQL Server 2005 - Service Broker
  23. Using SQL Server as a Web Service
  24. SQL Server Encryption Options Overview
  25. SQL Server 2008 Overview
  26. SQL Server 2008 R2 Overview
  27. SQL Azure
  28. The Utility Control Point and Data Application Component, Part 1
  29. The Utility Control Point and Data Application Component, Part 2
  30. Microsoft SQL Server Administration
  31. The DBA Survival Guide: The 10 Minute SQL Server Overview
  32. Preparing (or Tuning) a Windows System for SQL Server, Part 1
  33. Preparing (or Tuning) a Windows System for SQL Server, Part 2
  34. Installing SQL Server
  35. Upgrading SQL Server
  36. SQL Server 2000 Management Tools
  37. SQL Server 2005 Management Tools
  38. SQL Server 2008 Management Tools
  39. SQL Azure Tools
  40. Automating Tasks with SQL Server Agent
  41. Run Operating System Commands in SQL Agent using PowerShell
  42. Automating Tasks Without SQL Server Agent
  43. Storage – SQL Server I/O
  44. Service Packs, Hotfixes and Cumulative Upgrades
  45. Tracking SQL Server Information with Error and Event Logs
  46. Change Management
  47. SQL Server Metadata, Part One
  48. SQL Server Meta-Data, Part Two
  49. Monitoring - SQL Server 2005 Dynamic Views and Functions
  50. Monitoring - Performance Monitor
  51. Unattended Performance Monitoring for SQL Server
  52. Monitoring - User-Defined Performance Counters
  53. Monitoring: SQL Server Activity Monitor
  54. SQL Server Instances
  55. DBCC Commands
  56. SQL Server and Mail
  57. Database Maintenance Checklist
  58. The Maintenance Wizard: SQL Server 2000 and Earlier
  59. The Maintenance Wizard: SQL Server 2005 (SP2) and Later
  60. The Web Assistant Wizard
  61. Creating Web Pages from SQL Server
  62. SQL Server Security
  63. Securing the SQL Server Platform, Part 1
  64. Securing the SQL Server Platform, Part 2
  65. SQL Server Security: Users and other Principals
  66. SQL Server Security – Roles
  67. SQL Server Security: Objects (Securables)
  68. Security: Using the Command Line
  69. SQL Server Security - Encrypting Connections
  70. SQL Server Security: Encrypting Data
  71. SQL Server Security Audit
  72. High Availability - SQL Server Clustering
  73. SQL Server Configuration, Part 1
  74. SQL Server Configuration, Part 2
  75. Database Configuration Options
  76. 32- vs 64-bit Computing for SQL Server
  77. SQL Server and Memory
  78. Performance Tuning: Introduction to Indexes
  79. Statistical Indexes
  80. Backup and Recovery
  81. Backup and Recovery Examples, Part One
  82. Backup and Recovery Examples, Part Two: Transferring Databases to Another System (Even Without Backups)
  83. SQL Profiler - Reverse Engineering An Application
  84. SQL Trace
  85. SQL Server Alerts
  86. Files and Filegroups
  87. Partitioning
  88. Full-Text Indexes
  89. Read-Only Data
  90. SQL Server Locks
  91. Monitoring Locking and Deadlocking
  92. Controlling Locks in SQL Server
  93. SQL Server Policy-Based Management, Part One
  94. SQL Server Policy-Based Management, Part Two
  95. SQL Server Policy-Based Management, Part Three
  96. Microsoft SQL Server Programming
  97. An Outline for Development
  98. Database
  99. Database Services
  100. Database Objects: Databases
  101. Database Objects: Tables
  102. Database Objects: Table Relationships
  103. Database Objects: Keys
  104. Database Objects: Constraints
  105. Database Objects: Data Types
  106. Database Objects: Views
  107. Database Objects: Stored Procedures
  108. Database Objects: Indexes
  109. Database Objects: User Defined Functions
  110. Database Objects: Triggers
  111. Database Design: Requirements, Entities, and Attributes
  112. Business Process Model Notation (BPMN) and the Data Professional
  113. Business Questions for Database Design, Part One
  114. Business Questions for Database Design, Part Two
  115. Database Design: Finalizing Requirements and Defining Relationships
  116. Database Design: Creating an Entity Relationship Diagram
  117. Database Design: The Logical ERD
  118. Database Design: Adjusting The Model
  119. Database Design: Normalizing the Model
  120. Creating The Physical Model
  121. Database Design: Changing Attributes to Columns
  122. Database Design: Creating The Physical Database
  123. Database Design Example: Curriculum Vitae
  124. NULLs
  125. The SQL Server Sample Databases
  126. The SQL Server Sample Databases: pubs
  127. The SQL Server Sample Databases: NorthWind
  128. The SQL Server Sample Databases: AdventureWorks
  129. The SQL Server Sample Databases: Adventureworks Derivatives
  130. UniversalDB: The Demo and Testing Database, Part 1
  131. UniversalDB: The Demo and Testing Database, Part 2
  132. UniversalDB: The Demo and Testing Database, Part 3
  133. UniversalDB: The Demo and Testing Database, Part 4
  134. Getting Started with Transact-SQL
  135. Transact-SQL: Data Definition Language (DDL) Basics
  136. Transact-SQL: Limiting Results
  137. Transact-SQL: More Operators
  138. Transact-SQL: Ordering and Aggregating Data
  139. Transact-SQL: Subqueries
  140. Transact-SQL: Joins
  141. Transact-SQL: Complex Joins - Building a View with Multiple JOINs
  142. Transact-SQL: Inserts, Updates, and Deletes
  143. An Introduction to the CLR in SQL Server 2005
  144. Design Elements Part 1: Programming Flow Overview, Code Format and Commenting your Code
  145. Design Elements Part 2: Controlling SQL's Scope
  146. Design Elements Part 3: Error Handling
  147. Design Elements Part 4: Variables
  148. Design Elements Part 5: Where Does The Code Live?
  149. Design Elements Part 6: Math Operators and Functions
  150. Design Elements Part 7: Statistical Functions
  151. Design Elements Part 8: Summarization Statistical Algorithms
  152. Design Elements Part 9:Representing Data with Statistical Algorithms
  153. Design Elements Part 10: Interpreting the Data—Regression
  154. Design Elements Part 11: String Manipulation
  155. Design Elements Part 12: Loops
  156. Design Elements Part 13: Recursion
  157. Design Elements Part 14: Arrays
  158. Design Elements Part 15: Event-Driven Programming Vs. Scheduled Processes
  159. Design Elements Part 16: Event-Driven Programming
  160. Design Elements Part 17: Program Flow
  161. Forming Queries Part 1: Design
  162. Forming Queries Part 2: Query Basics
  163. Forming Queries Part 3: Query Optimization
  164. Forming Queries Part 4: SET Options
  165. Forming Queries Part 5: Table Optimization Hints
  166. Using SQL Server Templates
  167. Transact-SQL Unit Testing
  168. Index Tuning Wizard
  169. Unicode and SQL Server
  170. SQL Server Development Tools
  171. The SQL Server Transact-SQL Debugger
  172. The Transact-SQL Debugger, Part 2
  173. Basic Troubleshooting for Transact-SQL Code
  174. An Introduction to Spatial Data in SQL Server 2008
  175. Performance Tuning
  176. Performance Tuning SQL Server: Tools and Processes
  177. Performance Tuning SQL Server: Tools Overview
  178. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Defining Components
  179. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Evaluation Part One
  180. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Evaluation Part Two
  181. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Interpretation
  182. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Developing an Action Plan
  183. Understanding SQL Server Query Plans
  184. Performance Tuning: Implementing Indexes
  185. Performance Monitoring Tools: Windows 2008 (and Higher) Server Utilities, Part 1
  186. Performance Monitoring Tools: Windows 2008 (and Higher) Server Utilities, Part 2
  187. Performance Monitoring Tools: Windows System Monitor
  188. Performance Monitoring Tools: Logging with System Monitor
  189. Performance Monitoring Tools: User Defined Counters
  190. General Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Performance Tuning, Part 1
  191. General Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Performance Tuning, Part 2
  192. General Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Performance Tuning, Part 3
  193. Performance Monitoring Tools: An Introduction to SQL Profiler
  194. Performance Tuning: Introduction to Indexes
  195. Performance Monitoring Tools: SQL Server 2000 Index Tuning Wizard
  196. Performance Monitoring Tools: SQL Server 2005 Database Tuning Advisor
  197. Performance Monitoring Tools: SQL Server Management Studio Reports
  198. Performance Monitoring Tools: SQL Server 2008 Activity Monitor
  199. The SQL Server 2008 Management Data Warehouse and Data Collector
  200. Performance Monitoring Tools: Evaluating Wait States with PowerShell and Excel
  201. Practical Applications
  202. Choosing the Back End
  203. The DBA's Toolbox, Part 1
  204. The DBA's Toolbox, Part 2
  205. Scripting Solutions for SQL Server
  206. Building a SQL Server Lab
  207. Using Graphics Files with SQL Server
  208. Enterprise Resource Planning
  209. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
  210. Building a Reporting Data Server
  211. Building a Database Documenter, Part 1
  212. Building a Database Documenter, Part 2
  213. Data Management Objects
  214. Data Management Objects: The Server Object
  215. Data Management Objects: Server Object Methods
  216. Data Management Objects: Collections and the Database Object
  217. Data Management Objects: Database Information
  218. Data Management Objects: Database Control
  219. Data Management Objects: Database Maintenance
  220. Data Management Objects: Logging the Process
  221. Data Management Objects: Running SQL Statements
  222. Data Management Objects: Multiple Row Returns
  223. Data Management Objects: Other Database Objects
  224. Data Management Objects: Security
  225. Data Management Objects: Scripting
  226. Powershell and SQL Server - Overview
  227. PowerShell and SQL Server - Objects and Providers
  228. Powershell and SQL Server - A Script Framework
  229. Powershell and SQL Server - Logging the Process
  230. Powershell and SQL Server - Reading a Control File
  231. Powershell and SQL Server - SQL Server Access
  232. Powershell and SQL Server - Web Pages from a SQL Query
  233. Powershell and SQL Server - Scrubbing the Event Logs
  234. SQL Server 2008 PowerShell Provider
  235. SQL Server I/O: Importing and Exporting Data
  236. SQL Server I/O: XML in Database Terms
  237. SQL Server I/O: Creating XML Output
  238. SQL Server I/O: Reading XML Documents
  239. SQL Server I/O: Using XML Control Mechanisms
  240. SQL Server I/O: Creating Hierarchies
  241. SQL Server I/O: Using HTTP with SQL Server XML
  242. SQL Server I/O: Using HTTP with SQL Server XML Templates
  243. SQL Server I/O: Remote Queries
  244. SQL Server I/O: Working with Text Files
  245. Using Microsoft SQL Server on Handheld Devices
  246. Front-Ends 101: Microsoft Access
  247. Comparing Two SQL Server Databases
  248. English Query - Part 1
  249. English Query - Part 2
  250. English Query - Part 3
  251. English Query - Part 4
  252. English Query - Part 5
  253. RSS Feeds from SQL Server
  254. Using SQL Server Agent to Monitor Backups
  255. Reporting Services - Creating a Maintenance Report
  256. SQL Server Chargeback Strategies, Part 1
  257. SQL Server Chargeback Strategies, Part 2
  258. SQL Server Replication Example
  259. Creating a Master Agent and Alert Server
  260. The SQL Server Central Management System: Definition
  261. The SQL Server Central Management System: Base Tables
  262. The SQL Server Central Management System: Execution of Server Information (Part 1)
  263. The SQL Server Central Management System: Execution of Server Information (Part 2)
  264. The SQL Server Central Management System: Collecting Performance Metrics
  265. The SQL Server Central Management System: Centralizing Agent Jobs, Events and Scripts
  266. The SQL Server Central Management System: Reporting the Data and Project Summary
  267. Time Tracking for SQL Server Operations
  268. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server
  269. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Model the System
  270. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Model the System, Continued
  271. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Decide on the Destination
  272. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Design the ETL
  273. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Design the ETL, Continued
  274. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Attach the Front End, Test, and Monitor
  275. Tracking SQL Server Timed Events, Part 1
  276. Tracking SQL Server Timed Events, Part 2
  277. Patterns and Practices for the Data Professional
  278. Managing Vendor Databases
  279. Consolidation Options
  280. Connecting to a SQL Azure Database from Microsoft Access
  281. SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part One
  282. SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part Two
  283. SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part Three
  284. Querying Multiple Data Sources from a Single Location (Distributed Queries)
  285. Importing and Exporting Data for SQL Azure
  286. Working on Distributed Teams
  287. Professional Development
  288. Becoming a DBA
  289. Certification
  290. DBA Levels
  291. Becoming a Data Professional
  292. SQL Server Professional Development Plan, Part 1
  293. SQL Server Professional Development Plan, Part 2
  294. SQL Server Professional Development Plan, Part 3
  295. Evaluating Technical Options
  296. System Sizing
  297. Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan
  298. Anatomy of a Disaster (Response Plan)
  299. Database Troubleshooting
  300. Conducting an Effective Code Review
  301. Developing an Exit Strategy
  302. Data Retention Strategy
  303. Keeping Your DBA/Developer Job in Troubled Times
  304. The SQL Server Runbook
  305. Creating and Maintaining a SQL Server Configuration History, Part 1
  306. Creating and Maintaining a SQL Server Configuration History, Part 2
  307. Creating an Application Profile, Part 1
  308. Creating an Application Profile, Part 2
  309. How to Attend a Technical Conference
  310. Tips for Maximizing Your IT Budget This Year
  311. The Importance of Blue-Sky Planning
  312. Application Architecture Assessments
  313. Transact-SQL Code Reviews, Part One
  314. Transact-SQL Code Reviews, Part Two
  315. Cloud Computing (Distributed Computing) Paradigms
  316. NoSQL for the SQL Server Professional, Part One
  317. NoSQL for the SQL Server Professional, Part Two
  318. Object-Role Modeling (ORM) for the Database Professional
  319. Business Intelligence
  320. BI Explained
  321. Developing a Data Dictionary
  322. BI Security
  323. Gathering BI Requirements
  324. Source System Extracts and Transforms
  325. ETL Mechanisms
  326. Business Intelligence Landscapes
  327. Business Intelligence Layouts and the Build or Buy Decision
  328. A Single Version of the Truth
  329. The Operational Data Store (ODS)
  330. Data Marts – Combining and Transforming Data
  331. Designing Data Elements
  332. The Enterprise Data Warehouse — Aggregations and the Star Schema
  333. On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
  334. Data Mining
  335. Key Performance Indicators
  336. BI Presentation - Client Tools
  337. BI Presentation - Portals
  338. Implementing ETL - Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
  339. Building a Business Intelligence Solution, Part 1
  340. Building a Business Intelligence Solution, Part 2
  341. Building a Business Intelligence Solution, Part 3
  342. Tips and Troubleshooting
  343. SQL Server and Microsoft Excel Integration
  344. Tips for the SQL Server Tools: SQL Server 2000
  345. Tips for the SQL Server Tools – SQL Server 2005
  346. Transaction Log Troubles
  347. SQL Server Connection Problems
  348. Orphaned Database Users
  349. Additional Resources
  350. Tools and Downloads
  351. Utilities (Free)
  352. Tool Review (Free): DBDesignerFork
  353. Aqua Data Studio
  354. Microsoft SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer
  355. Utilities (Cost)
  356. Quest Software's TOAD for SQL Server
  357. Quest Software's Spotlight on SQL Server
  358. SQL Server on Microsoft's Virtual PC
  359. Red Gate SQL Bundle
  360. Microsoft's Visio for Database Folks
  361. Quest Capacity Manager
  362. SQL Server Help
  363. Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals
  364. Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator
  365. Aggregating Server Data from the MAPS Tool

The word "Cloud Computing" is thrown around so much these days that, like most buzzwords, it's lost all meaning. In this article I'll explain "the cloud" for data professionals and other technical folks using some industry-standard terms, and by explaining the places where each form of cloud computing fits. Before I begin, it's important to remember that no single technology or methodology is a panacea for all computing needs. The cloud — just like any other computing technology — should be used to solve a problem, not to make a single approach your only strategy.

Instead of using the (hopefully soon to be outdated) term "cloud", I prefer the term "Distributed Computing" because it more accurately reflects how these technologies are actually arranged. The general concept of "the cloud" is that some part of the computing or storage is out of your direct control. The other part of distributed computing that makes it a cloud is that the organization providing it has some sort of automated provisioning of the resources. In other words, it's treated more as a service than something you have to build in a case-by-case fashion.

But even within this definition there are multiple ways to create a good distributed architecture. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses; each has a good use-case set. There are lots of companies that sell systems in these designs, called a "public cloud" and you can implement this yourself, called a "private cloud". Those terms merely refer to who owns the artifacts, not how they are implemented.

In this article, I'll describe these paradigms. Like all categories, they aren't absolute — you might have a mixture of one in another and so on. I'll also mention only Microsoft's implementation of these architectures — I'll leave other companies to describe their own implementations. While the terms I'll use are industry standard, each vendor implements them in their own way.

Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas)

In this paradigm, the hardware is abstracted away.

Figure 1

This is one of the simplest paradigms to understand an implement. In an IaaS arrangement, you simply virtualize a server, and run the Virtual Machine (VM) somewhere else.

There are other parts of infrastructure that can be hosted by someone else as well, such as remote storage, remote security devices as so on. Anything that removes the hardware portion of your infrastructure to another location and provisions it is considered an IaaS "cloud".

Use-Cases

In an IaaS situation, the IT team for the most part treats each VM just like it would any other server in a Data Center building or room. You have complete control of the operating system, virus scanners, drivers, patch-levels and even drive letters.

This makes it pretty easy to move just about any application you have on-premise to an IaaS provider — even if you are that provider (private cloud). It's quick, simple and easy to understand.

Using IaaS is easiest to think of in terms of installation. If you need to run SETUP.EXE, or an INSTALL.CMD, then IaaS should be an option. For instance, if you need to run SQL Server in another location, IaaS is a good candidate. Of course, you can also use IaaS when you write software as a target for distribution as well.

Virtualizing into an IaaS service allows agility as well. If you need a server, you can simply use the provisioning process provided by the IaaS vendor (or your own processes in the case of a private cloud) to instantly obtain a new "server". Normally these are pre-staged images with the desired patches, configurations and sometimes even other software (such as SQL Server) installed.

Another use-case for IaaS is when the software to be installed is not designed to scale outward — meaning that the original intent of the package was to be installed on one system at a time. In the case of SQL Server, although you can install the individual parts of the server such as the database engine and the Reporting Services components, each of those is "atomic" — each must be installed on a single server. In other words, you can't install the SQL Server database engine component on multiple servers under one name, in a load-balancing configuration. It's designed to be installed on one system at a time. This holds true for other software packages such as Exchange and so on.

Considerations

Since you're only moving the servers, memory and other physical components away, you still have to either pay for, configure and certainly maintain and upgrade operating systems, drivers, run-times (such as Java or .NET) and so on in an IaaS configuration. And the more of these you have, the more configurations and systems you need to keep in synch at one time.

There's also an issue of latency to consider. Although everything is self-contained on a single Virtual Machine and the performance may be quite good, the applications that use these systems may be located far away from the systems. If the application is designed from the outset to understand this latency and deal with it, then you may not have an issue. But if the application normally expects the server to be on a private network, you either need to make changes to it (if possible) for retry logic and so on, or consider using IaaS in a private cloud configuration.

Virtual Machines only scale "up" to a certain extent. That means you can only add so many processors, so much memory and so on to make the server "bigger" in an IaaS configuration. If you are writing your own software, you can compensate by using a scale-out development paradigm, reducing this issue.

Another consideration is how you implement High Availability and Disaster Recovery (HA/DR) in an IaaS configuration. You will need to work closely with your public or private cloud provider to ensure that you have whatever geographical fault-domains specified that the server needs.  Not all virtualization software supports the use of Windows or Linux clustering, since some of those technologies require direct hardware attachments that may not be possible for some VM Hypervisors.

Implementation

There are many companies that offer IaaS. Microsoft uses a mix of the Windows Server operating systems, their Hyper-V technology for VM's, and a new add-in to Microsoft's System Center to allow you to provision and manage a private cloud. They do not host Virtual Machines in an IaaS configuration, but they do allow you to work with several hosting facilities that provide this function. You can read more about how they do that here.

Software as a Service (Saas)

In this paradigm, everything is abstracted away.

Figure 2

It's actually pretty simple to grasp this concept — you log on to a system, use it, and then log off. There's nothing to install, configure, control, patch, or even understand — the only thing you focus on is the user interface provided to you by the SaaS provider.

If you think about it, this is the way our users view us as the IT staff. They log on to their e-mail server, use a CRM client that hits SQL Server or any number of other software services we provide for them each day. The only difference is that in our case, the business is footing the bill — when you or I decide to use a SaaS provider we pay for it.

Use-Cases

If a software offering is a perfect fit for the uses you need, then you should consider a SaaS. In many cases you can simply bypass buying hardware and software, learning it, configuring and maintain it when there is something out there that will already provide the software service we need. In fact, most organizations already use a SaaS provider for things like payroll and even human resources software.

Another use-case is when an organization has limited IT staff available. In very small shops, say less than 15 or 20 users, there's no way to afford a full-time IT person to run the organization's technology needs. The organization can purchase everything from word processing to e-mail, finance, and even business operations online.

Considerations

Of course, there are drawbacks. One is that you may be locked-in to the vendor. Often the vendor doesn't allow you to bring the data your applications to another vendor, or even back on site.

Which brings up a matter of trust. Will the vendor still be in business in a year? Five years? Twenty? How do they protect that data you're storing there? Who has access to it?

An then there's the cost. It's not just a simple matter of paying for the initial cost of each seat or person that uses the software — you have to ensure that you understand the way the vendor can raise prices. After all, once your entire business is running on a vendor's SaaS offering, and especially if you can't easily transfer it to another vendor or simply bring the data to your location, the vendor might want to raise the price of your access to that data. It's the same concern most people (including myself) have with Home Owner's Associations here in the United States. Many of the contracts that govern those have no written "cap" — meaning that theoretically they could raise fees immensely and there's little you could do about it.

Implementation

The Microsoft solutions for SaaS are Office 365 and Hotmail, along with Office Online. These are offerings you can pay a subscription to access, and then you can use typical Microsoft Office applications without installing or configuring servers. Since the formats are standard Microsoft documents, you can bring much of this data back, but the other caveats still apply. You can read more about these here.

Platform as a Service (Paas)

In this paradigm, the hardware, operating system, virtualization and code runtime is abstracted away, as is the High Availability to some degree. Scale is also handled by the PaaS provider.

Figure 3

It's easiest to think of a PaaS system as one single computing resource. You can write code that will scale outward as you pay for more capacity. Of course, there is a specific way to write this type of code, called "stateless programming", but it's a well-understood and not specific to any one vendor. In fact, at its core, good web development is usually written in a stateless fashion.

Use-Cases

A PaaS system starts with writing code. PaaS is not meant to host 3rd party software — that's the job of IaaS. In PaaS you write code, deploy that to the PaaS provider, and your users access that. In this case your users might be internal to your company or they may be customers accessing a website. An example is the http://LoveCleanLondon.org site. This website is running on the Windows Azure and SQL Azure PaaS, and the users are actually the citizens of the city of London, England in the UK.

Another use-case for PaaS is when you have no desire or need to control the underlying components such as the operating system or the scaling technology. Your desire is to have a place that will run your code and be available for your users or customers.

Considerations

The first considerations for a PaaS provider are the platforms available. That normally equates to a programming language, but may include underpinnings such as .NET, Java runtimes, environments and so on.

Once again, you need to be able to trust the vendor. This time you not only have to trust that they will be around in a few years, but you need to trust their security, facilities, global reach, bandwidth, and even their upgrade procedures. This means you need to learn what those are, and operated within them.

The cost model for a PaaS provider often has multiple factors. For instance, there may be a charge for the computing power, the storage, and the network bandwidth or connections — or all of the above. This is a different way of thinking about computing, since we're often used to paying a large fee up-front when we purchase a technology and then using it "for free" from then on. Of course, we're always renewing software contracts, buying new servers, hiring new people to learn and run those systems and so on, but we tend to forget those costs. You'll need to factor those in when you're comparing the costs of a PaaS offering, and you may even need to restructure accordingly.

Implementation

Microsoft implements PaaS in two systems: Windows Azure and SQL Azure.

Windows Azure is composed of three parts. The first is the "Computing" function, which provides the ability to write web sites using .ASPX or PHP or Tomcat servers. You can also write .NET code, Java, Ruby on Rails, C++ and other code using the compute function.

The second component of Windows Azure is storage. Windows Azure has multiple types of storage, from Binary Objects (Blobs) to Key-Value Pair C++-like "HashTables" which can be quite large in size — often used in a fashion similar to "NoSQL" systems. There are queues that allow the compute functions to maintain a stateless paradigm as well.

The third component of Windows Azure is the "Application Fabric". This component provides a security layer so that you can use Windows Authenticated logins to your applications, OpenID systems such as Windows Live, Facebook and Yahoo logins. It also has a "Service Bus" layer that you can use for message-queue type communications both in and out of your own organization, which you could use to make a "Hybrid Cloud", using applications in your organization on the web. It also has a cache component, so that you applications can perform better.

SQL Azure is essentially a version of SQL Server running on the web — and I've described it in more detail here.

You can use any or all of these components (compute, storage, application fabric, SQL Azure) together or separately. You pay for what you use in different ways for each of them.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020