Trends in Docker SQL Server containers in 2022
"Containers have emerged as standard tooling for enterprise application development, and Kubernetes for container operations at scale. As a result, enterprises are increasingly evaluating how to apply containers for databases. This paper provides a comprehensive update on Docker SQL Server containers for Windows and for Azure SQL."
SQL Server containers are SQL Server named instances delivered in seconds via a REST API, web application or command line. Enterprises with lower level SQL Server environments gain agility while reducing SQL Server maintenance and support, and gain efficiencies and infrastructure savings. Novartis, American Family Insurance, and others use SQL Server containers for development, test/QA, DevOps, and Machine Learning model training and testing. Containers are also used for scale-out SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), and dev/test using Azure SQL.
Up to 50 Docker SQL Server containers are easily supported on a single server, enabling up to a 10:1 reduction in lower level environment VMs. On demand SQL Server containers support faster and higher quality software releases, and automated Continuous Integration and Deployment pipelines (CI/CD). Customer responsiveness improves with on demand production database debug/support. Containers also contribute to improved data governance and security.
Enterprises enjoy the choice of Linux and Windows SQL Server containers, but this paper focuses on Windows as the preferred SQL Server platform. The paper is authored by Windocks, the sole provider of Windows SQL Server containers based on Docker’s open source project.
