This means that any machine running SQL Server is automatically licensed for not just SQL Server, but for the entire Microsoft BI platform. This includes SSRS, SSAS, SSNS, and SSIS.

In the months that followed, .NET core was open sourced, Microsoft and Red Hat formed an alliance, and plans to port SQL Server to Linux were announced.

Also interesting is a new pay-as-you-go billing model for SQL server through Azure Arc, Microsoft’s platform for managing cloud and on-premises resources. Using a connection to Azure Arc, which ...