“Test-Drive SQL Server Data Services” Article Published

My “Test-Drive SQL Server Data Services” cover article for the July 2008 issue of Visual Studio Magazine is available from the above link or by clicking the cover image.

Here’s the deck: Microsoft readies its new "cloud database" by hosting beta versions of REST and SOAP protocols for performing CRUD operations on clustered, customized SQL Server 2008 instances. These instances are organized as massively scalable, super-reliable, highly available Web services.

According to a post by the SSDS team’s Gary Li to the “Questions about SSDS and sparse columns” thread in the SQL Server Data Services (SSDS) - Getting Started forum started by Jamie Thompson:

The back end database used by SSDS is Cloud Database, which is developed on top of SQL Server 2005.

My request for clarification of that statement fell on deaf ears, as expected.

Soumitra Sangupta’s Roger Jennings talks about SSDS in a Visual Studio Magazine Article post of July 2, 2008 added a correction to the article, but the topic wasn’t a correction to my reference to “SQL Server 2008” in the deck. (It related to SSDS and Astoria being developed independently.)

Here’s a screen capture of the SSDS test harness described in the article:

You can download the sample code here, and then use it to create and upload data to container(s) of the authority you’re assigned when the SSDS team admits you to the currently closed beta program. According to SSDS Evangelist Dave Robinson’s Still waiting for your golden ticket? of June 26, 2008, the SSDS team is “adding hundreds and hundreds [of new SSDS beta testers] each day.”

Technorati tags: SQL Server Data Services, SSDS, ADO.NET Data Services, Astoria, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, Cloud Computing