More agility. Fast deployment. Cloud economics.

More agility.
Fast deployment.
Cloud economics.
Take your business to the cloud with
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Database
as a Service.
Scalability: Match databases to resources.
Quickly and cost-effectively scale up and down to accommodate development,
testing, seasonal, and business needs.
› Purchase just the memory, storage, and backup capacity you need,
without having to increase your capital investment.
› Scale down to micro-instances, or scale up to 1 terabyte (depending on
service provider capacity), eliminating excess spending on improperly
sized resources.
• <1ms Latency
• 99.99% Network Uptime
• 99.99% Server Uptime
• 30 minute support response
Flexibility: Enable rapid deployment.
Capitalize on new opportunities and respond to dynamic business conditions
with immediate access to enterprise-level database resources.
As a leader among cloud
computing providers, Dimension
Data’s Cloud Business Unit is a
cloud services provider with a
comprehensive portfolio of cloud
and managed cloud services for
enterprises, midsize
businesses, service providers,
SaaS ISVs and software
developers. Built on our
experience in virtualization, data
centre, public cloud, private
cloud, security and networking,
our Cloud Services were
designed with enterprise
requirements in mind.
› Manage databases based on business needs instead of procurement
and deployment cycles.
› Load-test applications availability without concern, using production-caliber
resources.
› Take advantage of the economics of pooled cloud resources for more
predictable, efficient budgets.
• Hourly pricing on infrastructure units.
Simplicity: Upload your data, and start working.
Enjoy continuous access to your data and applications, freeing you up from
routine database management.
› Speed up time-to-market from application development through deployment
by enabling non-DBAs to set up a database instance.
› Simplify database and application administration with SQL Server
Management Studio and CloudControl™.
› Reduce operating expenses by letting your service provider handle necessary
patches and updates.
› Take advantage of service provider expertise for cloud deployment of
databases, plus security and maintenance.
› Focus more on innovation and less on infrastructure, enhancing business
success.
What is Database as a Service (DBaaS)?
DBaaS is a subscription to a set of resources that allows an organization to create and manage a database for as long as their subscription
is maintained. It is a multi-tenant application hosting environment, which means several subscribers may share some hardware, software,
or bandwidth resources, but each subscriber can only “see” the database(s) that they own, and their minimum hardware resources and
access levels are guaranteed by a DBaaS provider’s Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Subscribers define, load, and access their data; administer and tune it; and can allocate additional compute and storage resources ondemand via a self-service portal. Because their database functionality is abstracted from the underlying infrastructure on which it runs,
subscribers do not need to concern themselves with the physical provisioning or software licensing details.
DBaaS allows customers to purchase access to the database engine platform and offload the administrative overhead of the operating
system, hardware, and physical environment. The DBaaS provider supplies the database management system (DBMS) license and
maintains the software, the operating system, the hardware, and all other aspects of the host environment. With DBaaS, customers don’t
have to build it, they just use it.
How is it different from Database in the Cloud?
DBaaS simplifies the maintenance, monitoring, etc. of a SQL Server database because hosters manage these activities on the behalf of
customers. With Database in the Cloud, customers rent servers and related services from a hoster, and can run applications as an
administrator. But the customer is responsible for installing and maintaining SQL Server or any other application software. Configuration,
backups, and upgrades are all up to the customer.
How does High Availability work with DBaaS?
High Availability (HA) uses SQL Server 2012 features to create a database-level Business Continuity offer for customers. SQL Server 2012
DBaaS utilizes key HA features including data replicas to ensure availability of data, even in the event of a failure.
Does DBaaS mean that I automatically have a Disaster Recover (DR) solution?
No. This depends on your unique DR needs. Dimension Data’s global cloud footprint along with globally routable networks, allow for full
use of SQL resiliency technologies, such as AlwaysOn.
What are some of the differentiations between SQL Server 2012 and other solutions?
1
Return on investment
SQL Server 2012 delivers an ROI of up to 189 percent with one-year payback period.
Total cost of ownership
SQL Server delivers a 460 percent difference in annual cost of administration per database over Oracle.
Mission-critical
Microsoft DBAs run more mission-critical databases, when compared to Oracle DBAs. Also offers flexible
deployment across on-premises, private, and public cloud.
Security
SQL Server is the most secure of any of the major database platforms, with significantly fewer security
vulnerabilities than competing platforms.
Reporting
Cut reporting time with enhanced capabilities and self-service business intelligence tools out-of-the-box.
“Total Economic Impact of SQL Server 2012 Upgrade,” A Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study Prepared for Microsoft, March 2012 (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/product-info/top-twelve.aspx)
“Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle® Database: A Comparative Study on Total Cost of Administration (TCA), Alinean, January 2010 (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/product-info/top-twelve.aspx)
Ibid.
4
“SQL Server Most Secure Database; Oracle Least Secure Database Since 2002,” ITIC, September 2010 (http://itic-corp.com/blog/2010/09/sql-server-most-secure-database-oracle-least-secure-database-since-2002)
2
3