In this blog post, I’ve implemented two example environments for using SQL Server 2022’s s3 object integration. One for backup and restore to s3 compatible object storage and the other for data virtualization using Polybase connectivity to s3 compatible object storage. This work aims to get you up and running as quickly as possible to work with these new features. I implemented this in Docker Compose since that handles all the implementation and configuration steps for you.

Introduction In this post, I will walk you through how to set up MinIO, so you can use it to work with SQL Server 2022’s s3 object integrations. Working with s3 and SQL Server requires a valid and trusted TLS certificate. This can be a pain for some users and environments. So I’m writing this post so you can get off the ground running with this new feature set in SQL Server 2022.

Introducing S3 in SQL Server 2022 S3 compatible object storage integration is a new feature introduced in SQL Server 2022. There are two significant areas where SQL Server leverages this: backup and restore and data virtualization. This article will focus on getting started with using S3 compatible object storage for backups. Now let’s unpack that phrase ‘S3 compatible object storage’ a bit. AWS Simple Cloud Storage Service (S3) is a storage service AWS provides in their cloud.

My new course “Deploying and Managing Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Networking” is now available on Pluralsight here! If you want to learn about the course, check out the trailer here, or if you’re going to dive right in, check it out here! Azure Kubernetes Service is a platform-as-a-service that provides Kubernetes Services in the Azure Cloud. This course will teach you to design, configure, and manage networking, services, and disaster recovery in Azure Kubernetes Service.

Background If you’ve been using Availability Groups, you’re familiar with the replica seeding (sometimes called initializing, preparing or data sychronization) process. Seeding is a size of data operation, copying data from a primary replica to one or more secondary replicas. This is required before joining a database to an Availability Group. You can seed a replica with backup and restore or automatic seeding, each with its own challenges. Regardless of which method you use, the seeding operation can take a long amount of time.

My updated course “Configuring and Managing Kubernetes Security” is now available on Pluralsight here! If you want to learn about the course, check out the trailer here, or if you’re going to dive right in, check it out here! This course will teach you the fundamentals needed to configure and manage security in Kubernetes clusters. This course targets IT professionals who design and maintain Kubernetes and container-based solutions. The course can be used by the IT pro learning new skills and the system administrator or developer preparing to use Kubernetes both on-premises and in the Cloud.

My updated course “Maintaining, Monitoring and Troubleshooting Kubernetes” is now available on Pluralsight here! If you want to learn about the course, check out the trailer here, or if you’re going to dive right in, check it out here! This course will teach you to maintain, monitor, and troubleshoot production Kubernetes clusters. This course targets IT professionals who design and maintain Kubernetes and container-based solutions. The course can be used by the IT pro learning new skills and the system administrator or developer preparing to use Kubernetes both on-premises and in the Cloud.

I’m super proud to announce that Ben E. Weissman and I have published Azure Arc-Enabled Data Services Revealed - Second Edition available now at Apress and your favorite online booksellers! Buy the book now or keep reading below if you need to be more convinced :) A couple of notes about the book first, I enjoyed working with this bleeding-edge tech and collaborating with the SQL Server Engineering Team at Microsoft on this.

At work, I get to work with some fantastic tech that pushes the boundaries of performance. I needed to do some performance testing from a Windows server into a FlashBlade using s3. I reached out to a colleague of mine, Joshua Robinson, who told me about s5cmd. s5cmd is a very fast, parallel s3 compatible command-line client. Check out Joshua’s post for some performance numbers. Here’s a direct quote from his post.

I’m proud to announce that I will be speaking at SQLBits! I had the absolute pleasure of speaking at SQLBits in the past, both in person and virtual, and experienced first hand how great this event is and cannot wait to get back and speak again (in person)! And this year, I have several sessions with some of my best friends on our data community!!! One on building and deploying container based applications in Kubernetes and the other on deploying SQL Server in Kubernetes