Virtual Data

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Virtual Data

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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February 19, 2018 at 8:01 pm

#336190

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Virtual Data

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pauls 72822 Ten Centuries Points: 1049 More actions · Answer 1

Steve, containers don't virtualize data, but as you correctly note SQL Server containers without data offer limited utility. You imply that SQL Server containers aren't supported with database cloning. This isn't accurate.

Windocks is a SQL Server container solution (all editions of SQL Server 2008 onward), that includes database cloning using the same APIs as Red Gate SQL Clone. Windocks supports use of clones with all SQL Server instances (Microsoft containers, both Linux and Windows, and conventional instances). We see growing interest in containers as light-weight instances, when combined with SQL Server cloning is an awesome environment for dev/test, and reporting/BI. Many customers also want to use clones with conventional instances, including developers workstations and servers. Just wanted to ensure that readers have the complete picture!

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736255 More actions · Answer 2

Didn't mean to imply that containers don't support cloning, nor do I think I did. Containers supplied from MS are separate items, and each has separate data needs to be kept separate, which does cause a scale issue in amount of data.

Windocks does seem to solve some of these issues. I'll let you talk about how well that works for people, and certainly containers can be a great way to separate out dev environments.

pauls 72822 Ten Centuries Points: 1049 More actions · Answer 3

Thanks Steve, I was reacting to your statement that containers are or should be limited to smaller data sets. We see Fortune 500 companies adopting containers as a light-weight instances, combined with clones that scale from a single database to scores of databases, in multi-terabyte sizes. Containers are becoming mainstream proven tooling for anyone who wants to modernize SQL Server operations.

"If you can work with a smaller data set, and maintain that, then containers might provide a fantastic way for you to learn to build, teardown, and rebuild databases in seconds."