Microsoft SQL Server 2017 introduced something absolutely new. It can run on Linux! SQL Server is no longer “Windows only.” Whether you’re into using Linux or Windows, it’s interesting to see where Microsoft is going with SQL Server. The background of why/how Microsoft decided to create a SQL Server version that runs on Linux is intriguing in itself. This blog post is a review of my dear friend Benjamin Nevarez‘s latest book, “Microsoft SQL Server 2017 on Linux.”
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 on Linux by Benjamin Nevarez
The 270 page book is spread over 8 chapters. I will list the chapters below with a brief description of what’s in each:
- SQL Server on Linux: Getting Started: This chapter starts off by creating a VM, installing/configuring SQL Server and connecting to it. It shows you how to install it on Ubuntu, SUSE Linux, and running SQL Server on Docker..
- How SQL Server on Linux Works: This chapter goes into the history on how SQL Server works on Linux. It dives into “Project Helsinki” and Drawbridge.
- Linux for the SQL Server Professional: If you’re not much of a Linux user (like myself), this chapter is great. It goes into the UNIX file system, files/directories, permissions etc..
- SQL Server Configuration: This chapter goes into the mssql-conf utility and what it is/does, Linux settings as well as SQL Server configuration like MAXDOP, Cost Threshold for Parallelism and Statistics.
- SQL Server Query Tuning and Optimization: This chapter goes into Query performance, architecture, execution plans query troubleshooting, indexes, parameter sniffing, etc.
- New Query Processing Features: This chapter goes into Adaptive Query Processing, and automatic tuning.
- High Availability and Disaster Recovery: Can you configure SQL Server on Linux for HA/DR? Sure! This chapter goes into Availability Groups on Windows vs Linux, Pacemaker on Red Hat Linux and Ubuntu, and more.
- Security: This chapter talks about TDE, Always Encrypted, Row-Level security and Dynamic Data Masking.
About the Author
Benjamin Nevarez (b | t) is a database professional based in Los Angeles, California who specializes in SQL Server query tuning and optimization. He is the author of numerous books, “High Performance SQL Server”, “SQL Server 2014 Query Tuning & Optimization” and “Inside the SQL Server Query Optimizer” and has also coauthored other books including “SQL Server 2012 Internals.” Benjamin has also been a speaker at many SQL Server conferences and events around the world including the PASS Summit, SQL Server Connections and SQLBits.