Installation of the latest version of SQL Server

Download the latest version of SQL Server from here.

There are a couple of download options as you can see on this page from the above link.

If you are a developer, the best option is the Developer version which provides:

• Full featured free edition
• Licensed for use as a development and test database
• It is for non-production use

However, most purposes the SQL Server 2022 Express is adequate. It provides:

• Free edition of SQL Server
• Good fit for desktop development
• Best fit for small server applications.

The SQL Server editions may be installed on Windows, Linux and Docker Containers.

In this blog for purposes of demonstration and use, the Developer edition will be installed on a Surface Laptop 5 with the following features.

Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, OS build 22631.3593. It has 16GB installed RAM

Downloading the developer edition begins by clicking the Download button in the above screen. In response you download the executable, SQL2022-SSEI-Dev.exe (4191 KB)file. This file gets displayed as shown.

If you want a quick installation use the BASIC option. 

In blog the Custom option will be used. If you want to differ to another time, you may just download the installation files by choosing Download Media.

Read the details of the SQL Server 2022 Installation Center

Add a SLICER and filter your data to Visualize

SLICER control provides filtering capability to the report, both Basic and Advanced.

Here is a clustered column chart from one of my previous posts.
The data of Male/Female/Total populations for several states in India is shown.

This uses a Clustered Column chart shown.

The next image shows the data behind the above report.

Only very few of the Indian States haven been chosen for the report and if you had had all of the States in this view it will be more crowded. Now how do I just filter a State from this report. You can do this by adding a SLICER (shown in the next image and you find thiss under VISUALIZATIONS).

You click and add the SLICER. The SLICER gets added to the report as shown. Here is a List of all STATES in the report. Instead of a List , you could also opt for a Drop-down list.

Now using the Basic filtering you can manipulate the report to show the one for the STATE you choose in the LIST as shown (Herein PUNJAB is chosen).

In addition to Basic you also have Advanced filtering where you can impose further conditions on your choice for the states.

Using the condition that the STATE name starts with 'C', the number of States is reduced. Now you can choose from this reduced LIST.

Details of Azure SQL Database Service Tiers and assoicated throughputs

Basic Guide to choosing Azure SQL Databases.

Let us begin with the new acronym DTU. DTU stands for Database Throughput Unit. DTU includes many of the measures such as CPU, memory and read/write rates to a database. DTU provides a guide for the customer to assess the new SQL Database performance levels - Basic, S1, S2, P1, P2,P3. Each of these is designed to provide higher throughput measured as a function of time (Basic in throughputs/hour, Standard(S1,S2) in throughput/minute and Premium (P1,P2 and P3) in throughput/sec.

I wonder whether Microsoft has something for me like throughputs/week!

The following table is from Shawn Bice's blog post.

Here are some throughput/time values tied to service levels:

Microsoft appears to not to say that these are not transaction guarantees for customers but provided to assist  making choices.

 

Web and Business editions of Azure SQL Databases will be replaced soon

As of today there are two editions of SQL Azure databases you can create in the Windows Azure portal: 1GB for WEB edition and 10 to 150GB in the BUSINESS edition. This is going to change so that you can choose the edition that suits your business.

The Web and Business editions will be replaced within a year with three levels tailored and better suited to business needs. You do not need to wait for a year as it is already in Preview.
The objectives were made clear in this email notice (quote):

New service tiers

In response to customer feedback, Azure SQL Database is introducing new service tiers to help you more easily innovate with cloud-designed database workloads. The new tiers help deliver predictable performance across six performance levels for lightweight to heavyweight transactional application demands. Additionally, the new tiers offer a spectrum of business continuity features, a stronger uptime service-level agreement (SLA), larger database sizes for less money, and an improved billing experience.

  •    Basic: Designed for applications with a light transactional workload. Performance objectives for Basic provide a predictable, hourly transaction rate.

  •    Standard: Standard is the go-to option for getting started with cloud-designed business applications. It offers mid-level performance and business continuity features. Performance objectives for Standard deliver predictable, per-minute transaction rates.

  •    Premium: Designed for mission-critical databases, Premium offers the highest performance levels and access to advanced business continuity features. Performance objectives for Premium deliver predictable, per-second transaction rates.

I tried to create a Basic tier database minutes ago (4/24/2014) but the interface still shows Web and Business:

I think there is a Preview portal to which I have to go....