The new SQL Server 2025 is ready to tackle AI-powered applications

Microsoft has announced the preview release of SQL Server 2025, the next iteration of the popular SQL Server 2022 database management system. SQL Server 2025 is designed to power AI applications in the cloud and on-premises, with Microsoft promising improved performance and security over SQL Server 2022.

In a blog post, Microsoft says the new release introduces native vector support, making it easier to store and query vector data in SQL Server. This, in turn, should enable more efficient AI-powered applications.

With SQL Server 2025, Microsoft is introducing Fabric Database Mirroring, which replicates data between SQL Server and Microsoft’s OneLake data lake for analytics workloads. The company also allows customers to manage SQL Server 2025 deployments using its Azure Arc hybrid cloud management service.

SQL Server 2025 also includes “pay-as-you-go” licensing, where customers pay for the software on a subscription basis rather than buying perpetual licenses. Microsoft says it will offer SQL Server 2025 through its new Azure Private Servers program, allowing customers to run the software on dedicated Azure servers.

Regarding performance, Microsoft says SQL Server 2025 is faster than SQL Server 2022 for analytics workloads, machine learning inference, and data loading. The company has also improved SQL Server 2025’s in-memory database performance and scalability and implemented several optimizations to reduce query execution time.

Other improvements in SQL Server 2025 include better support for managing large numbers of users, with Microsoft promising to support more concurrent transactions and users than the previous version. The new release also includes what Microsoft describes as the “most comprehensive” set of security features in SQL Server to date, with enhancements to encryption and data protection, among other areas.

Following a private preview, SQL Server 2025 will enter public preview in the “coming months” ahead of a general availability release, Microsoft says.

At the Ignite 2024, the Redmond-based tech giant made other announcements for IT developers, including the Windows 365 Link device, and groundbreaking capabilities coming to Azure, which now is part of the Azure AI Foundry.