Free ebook: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Mission-Critical Applications, Deeper Insights, Hyperscale Cloud, Preview 2

June 3, 2016 update: The final ebook can be downloaded from the SQL Server website. Note: you will be required to complete a form to download the ebook.


Greetings! The second preview of Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2016: Mission-Critical Applications, Deeper Insights, Hyperscale Cloud is now available for download. Enjoy!

With Microsoft SQL Server 2016, a variety of new features and enhancements to the data platform deliver breakthrough performance, advanced security, and richer, integrated reporting and analytics capabilities. In this Preview 2 ebook, we introduce three new security features: Always Encrypted, Row-Level Security, and dynamic data masking; discuss enhancements that enable you to better manage performance and storage: TempDB configuration, query store, and Stretch Database; review several improvements to Reporting Services; and also describe AlwaysOn Availability Groups, tabular enhancements, and R integration. This book is a preview edition because it’s not complete; the final edition will be available Spring of 2016.

Here’s a little bit about the ebook’s talented authors:

Stacia Varga is a consultant, educator, mentor, and writer who has specialized in business- intelligence solutions since 1999. During that time she authored or coauthored several books about BI as Stacia Misner. Her last book was Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (Microsoft Press, 2014). She has also written articles for SQL Server Magazine and Technet and has produced multiple BI video courses available through Pluralsight. In addition, she has been recognized for her contributions to the technical community as a Microsoft Data Platform MVP since 2011. Stacia provides consulting and custom education services through her company, Data Inspirations; speaks frequently at conferences serving the SQL Server community worldwide; and serves as the chapter leader of her local PASS user group, SQL Server Society of Las Vegas. She holds a BA in social sciences from Washington State University. Stacia writes about her experiences with BI at blog.datainspirations.com and tweets as @_StaciaV_.

Joseph D'Antoni is a principal consultant for Denny Cherry and Associates Consulting. He is well versed in SQL Server performance tuning and database infrastructure design, with more than a decade of experience working in both Fortune 500 and smaller firms. Joseph is a frequent speaker at major technical events worldwide. In addition, he blogs about a variety of technology topics at joeydantoni.com and tweets as @jdanton. Joseph holds a BS in computer information systems from Louisiana Tech and an MBA from North Carolina State University.

Denny Cherry is the owner, founder, and principal consultant for Denny Cherry and Associates Consulting. His primary areas of focus are system architecture, performance tuning, and data replication. Denny has been recognized in the technical community as a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, VMware vExpert, and EMC Elect. He holds certifications for SQL Server from the MCDBA for SQL Server 2000 up through Microsoft Certified Master for SQL Server 2008. He is also a Microsoft Certified Trainer. Denny has written dozens of articles for SQL Server Magazine, Technet, and SearchSQLServer.com, among others. In addition, he has authored and coauthored multiple books, including The Basics of Digital Privacy: Simple Tools to Protect Your Personal Information and Your Identity Online (Syngress, 2013) and Securing SQL Server: Protecting Your Database from Attackers, 2nd Edition (Syngress, 2012). Denny speaks at events worldwide, blogs at www.dcac.co/blogs, and tweets as @mrdenny.