SQL Server technical documentation

Technical documentation to help you get started, administer, develop, and work with SQL Server and associated products.

SQL on Azure

Overview

• Azure SQL Database
• Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Azure Synapse Analytics
• SQL Server on a Windows VM
• SQL Server on a Linux VM
• Azure Database Migration Service

Migration

Overview

• Migration content
• Data migration guide
• Database compatibility certification
• Data Migration Assistant (DMA)
• SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA)

SQL Server

What's new

• SQL Server 2022 Preview
• SQL Server 2019
• SQL Server Big Data Clusters
• Azure Data Studio
• SQL Server on Linux
• SQL Server on Azure Arc-enabled servers

Quickstart

• Connect & query (SSMS)
• Connect & query (Azure Data Studio)

Download

• SQL Server
• SQL Server Management Studio
• Azure Data Studio

Reference

• Transact-SQL (T-SQL)
• SQL Server 2014 docs
• Educational SQL resources
• Sample databases
• Internals & architecture guides
• Previous versions 2005-2012

Business continuity

Overview

• Backup & restore
• Always On availability groups
• Always On failover cluster instance
• Database mirroring
• Log shipping
• Replication

Security

Overview

• SQL Vulnerability Assessment
• Access management
• Always Encrypted
• Auditing
• Enclaves
• Dynamic data masking
• Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
• Row-level security

Database Design

Overview

• Collation
• Databases
• Graph
• Indexes
• Views
• User-defined functions
• Tables
• Stored procedures

Manage & monitor

Overview

• Transaction log management
• Maintenance plans
• SQL Server Agent
• Track changes
• Data compression
• Extended events

Tune

Overview

• Performance center
• Intelligent Query Processing
• Automatic tuning
• Database Tuning Advisor
• In-memory OLTP

Concept

• Cardinality estimation
• Statistics
• Indexes

Query data

Overview

• Transact-SQL (T-SQL)
• SQL PowerShell
• Scripting
• Joins
• Full-text search
• Synonyms

Big data & machine learning

Overview

• Analytics Platform System
• SQL Server Machine Learning (R & Python)
• Data virtualization with PolyBase

Business Intelligence

Overview

• SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)
• SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS)
• SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
• Azure Data Factory