Microsoft got more specific March 10 with its plans
to enhance database capabilities in the cloud for users of SQL Data
Services.
The company announced that later this year, SQL Data Services (SDS)
will be fine-tuned to connect to database applications via Tabular Data Stream
(TDS). TDS
is the network protocol used by SQL Server. The move, Microsoft officials said,
will aid developers as they move code developed in T-SQL into the cloud.
“Think of this as providing a relational data model accessed by customers’
applications via T-SQL over TDS,” a
Microsoft spokesperson said. “It delivers a familiar development experience for
customers currently using an on-premises SQL Server database, and in turn
enables them to use existing knowledge, skills, tools and applications.”
SDS with TDS
support will be unveiled first in the form of a community technology
preview in the middle of the year, and will be commercially available in the
second half of 2009.
Online Media 
