Episode 108
| September 06, 2017
| 56 minutes
The Future of the Relational Database
After a brief hiatus, we are back on the air to continue the conversation and let me tell you–we have a great conversation lined up for this episode. The discussion around what will happen to the relational database, and by extension us as administrators continues to get quite a bit of traction. Even within SQL Server, we are starting to see more features that don’t fit the traditional relational mode and a podcast listener inquired about getting our thoughts. As I thought about a guest for this episode, I didn’t want to get someone tied to a product. They, like me, would be biased and I wanted to get someone a bit removed from the situation.
Our guest today is Andrew Snodgrass, the research vice president at Directions and we chat about the future of the relational database and what the future of the data environment we manage might look like. I hope you will find his insights valuable as an outsider. While we don’t get into the specifics of what databases are mostly like to be around, Andrew does give us administrator some ideas on what technologies we should start exploring.
What are your thoughts around the future of the relational database? Join the conversation and let us know!
Episode Quotes
“So these things have come out as a natural result of trying to solve a problem that we weren’t able to actually do with SQL Server.”
“I think what’s going to happen is SQL Server is going to be there for traditional structured applications and database.”
“The great thing is that we can operationalize an R script in SQL Server.”
“If you’re SQL Server and you want to look at big data… you’re going to learn Hadoop.”
Listen to Learn
01:41 Thoughts about database evolution and transactional system
02:05 Ideas about big data and database tools and services
05:40 Single platform for data: is it a fair approach?
12:00 JSON data, storage cost and compute cost
12:48 Effect on the Data Team
14:15 R script on SQL Server
14:46 Role of the Express version increasing in organizations
16:44 Azure services, data lake analytics, U-SQL on organizations
19:05 Technical skills that are robust in line with big data and data warehousing
21:33 Segway about Power BI
22:28 Azure vs Containers
27:13 Andrew’s advice for executives investing in their data platform
30:57 SSIS, SSAS, Power BI
35:56 SQL Family questions
Our Guest
Andrew Snodgrass
Andrew Snodgrass is the vice president of research for Directions, a organization that help guides IT executives on technologies, strategies, product roadmaps, and licensing policies. Andrew leads the research and analysis of emerging trends in enterprise applications (primarily ERP and collaboration tools) and database management technologies with a focus on Big Data, business intelligence solutions, cross-platform mobile application development, and cloud hosting services. Her is currently and adjunct professor for the Albers school of business and Economics at Seattle University.
Meet the Hosts
Carlos Chacon
With more than 10 years of working with SQL Server, Carlos helps businesses ensure their SQL Server environments meet their users’ expectations. He can provide insights on performance, migrations, and disaster recovery. He is also active in the SQL Server community and regularly speaks at user group meetings and conferences. He helps support the free database monitoring tool found at databasehealth.com and provides training through SQL Trail events.
Eugene Meidinger
Eugene works as an independent BI consultant and Pluralsight author, specializing in Power BI and the Azure Data Platform. He has been working with data for over 8 years and speaks regularly at user groups and conferences. He also helps run the GroupBy online conference.
Kevin Feasel
Kevin is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and proprietor of Catallaxy Services, LLC, where he specializes in T-SQL development, machine learning, and pulling rabbits out of hats on demand. He is the lead contributor to Curated SQL, president of the Triangle Area SQL Server Users Group, and author of the books PolyBase Revealed (Apress, 2020) and Finding Ghosts in Your Data: Anomaly Detection Techniques with Examples in Python (Apress, 2022). A resident of Durham, North Carolina, he can be found cycling the trails along the triangle whenever the weather's nice enough.
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