{"id":1440,"date":"2019-04-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-06-20T01:22:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T08:22:49","slug":"smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/","title":{"rendered":"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, we want to call attention to the exciting news that <a href=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/services\/sql-data-warehouse\/compare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Azure SQL Data Warehouse has <em>again<\/em> outperformed other cloud providers in the most recent GigaOm benchmark report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the result of relentless innovation and laser-focused execution on providing new features our customers need, all while reducing prices so customers get industry-leading performance at the best possible value. <strong>In just the past year, SQL Data Warehouse has released 130+ features<\/strong> focused on providing customers with enhanced speed, flexibility, and security. And today we are excited to announce three additional enhancements that continue to make SQL Data Warehouse the industry leader:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">Unparalleled query performance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">Intelligent workload management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">Unmatched security and privacy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this blog, we\u2019ll take a closer look at the technical capabilities of these new features and, most importantly, how you can start using them today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"unparalleled-query-performance\">Unparalleled query performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In our March 2019 release, a collection of newly available features<strong> improved workload performance by up to 22x compared to previous versions of Azure SQL Data Warehouse<\/strong>, which contributed to our leadership position in both the TPC-H and TPC-DS benchmark reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This didn\u2019t just happen overnight. With decades of experience building industry-leading database systems, like SQL Server, Azure SQL Data Warehouse is built on top of the world\u2019s largest cloud architectures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Key innovations that have improved query performance include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">Query Optimizer enhancements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">Instant Data Movement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">Additional advanced analytic functions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"query-optimizer-enhancements\">Query Optimizer enhancements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Query Optimizer is one of the most critical components in any database. Making optimal choices on how to best execute a query can and does yield significant improvement. When executing complex analytical queries, the number of operations to be executed in a distributed environment matters. Every opportunity to eliminate redundant computation, such as repeated subqueries, has a direct impact to query performance. For instance, the following query is reduced from 13 down to 5 operations using the latest Query Optimizer enhancements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image has-custom-border\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif\" alt=\"Animated GIF displaying Query Optimizer enhancements\" style=\"border-radius:0px\" title=\"Query Optimizer enhancements\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"instant-data-movement\">Instant Data Movement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a distributed database system, having the most efficient data movement mechanism is also a critical ingredient in achieving great performance. Instant Data Movement was introduced with the launch of the second generation of Azure SQL Data Warehouse. To improve instant data movement performance, broadcast and partition data movement operations were added. In addition, performance optimizations around how strings are processed during the data movement operations yielded <strong>improvements of up to 2x<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"advanced-analytic-functions\">Advanced analytic functions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having a rich set of analytic functions simplifies how you can write SQL across multiple dimensions that not only streamlines the query, but improves its performance. A set of such functions is GROUP BY ROLLUP, GROUPING(), GROUPING_ID(). See the example of a GROUP BY query from the online documentation below:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code \"><pre class=\"brush: plain; auto-links: false; gutter: false; title: ; quick-code: false; notranslate\" title=\"\">\nSELECT Country\n,Region\n,SUM(Sales) AS TotalSales\nFROM Sales\nGROUP BY ROLLUP(Country, Region)\nORDER BY Country\n,Region\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"intelligent-workload-management\">Intelligent workload management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new workload importance feature in Azure SQL Data Warehouse enables prioritization over workloads that need to be executed on the data warehouse system. Workload importance provides administrators the ability to prioritize workloads based on business requirements (e.g., executive dashboard queries, ELT executions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"workload-classification\">Workload classification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It all starts with workload classification. SQL Data Warehouse classifies a request based on a set of criteria, which administrators can define. In the absence of a matching classifier, the default classifier is chosen. SQL Data\u202fWarehouse supports classification at different levels including at the SQL query level, a database user, database role, Azure Active Directory login, or Azure Active Directory group, and maps the request to a system defined\u202fworkload group classification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"workload-importance\">Workload importance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each workload classification can be assigned <strong>one of five levels of importance<\/strong>:\u202f<em>low, below_normal, normal,\u202fabove_normal,\u202fand\u202fhigh<\/em>. Access to resources during\u202fcompilation, lock acquisition, and execution are prioritized based on the associated importance of a request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The diagram below illustrates the workload classification and importance function:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/96fb3703-c009-4d34-9b69-412ebe0bc624.gif\" alt=\"ADW_GIF2_v3H\" title=\"ADW_GIF2_v3H\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"classifying-requests-with-importance\">Classifying requests with importance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Classifying requests is done with the new\u202fCREATE WORKLOAD CLASSIFIER\u202fsyntax. Below is an example that maps the login for the ExecutiveReports role to\u202fABOVE_NORMAL\u202fimportance and the AdhocUsers role to\u202fBELOW_NORMAL\u202fimportance. With this configuration, members of the ExecutiveReports role have their queries complete sooner because they get access to resources before members of the AdhocUsers role.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code \"><pre class=\"brush: plain; auto-links: false; gutter: false; title: ; quick-code: false; notranslate\" title=\"\">\nCREATE WORKLOAD CLASSIFIER ExecReportsClassifier\n\u202f\u202f WITH (WORKLOAD_GROUP = 'mediumrc'\n\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f ,MEMBERNAME\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f = 'ExecutiveReports'\n\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f ,IMPORTANCE\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f =\u202f above_normal);\n\u202f\nCREATE WORKLOAD CLASSIFIER AdhocClassifier\n\u202f\u202f\u202f WITH (WORKLOAD_GROUP = 'smallrc'\n\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f ,MEMBERNAME\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f = 'AdhocUsers'\n\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f ,IMPORTANCE\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f =\u202f below_normal);\n<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information on workload importance, refer to the <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/azure\/sql-data-warehouse\/sql-data-warehouse-workload-importance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">classification importance<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/sql\/t-sql\/statements\/create-workload-classifier-transact-sql?view=azure-sqldw-latest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CREATE WORKLOAD CLASSIFIER<\/a>\u202fdocuments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"unmatched-security-and-privacy\">Unmatched security and privacy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When using a data warehouse, customers often have questions regarding security and privacy. As illustrated by Donald Farmer, a well-respected thought leader in the analytics space, Azure SQL Data Warehouse has the most advanced security and privacy features in the market. This wasn\u2019t achieved by chance. In fact, SQL Server, the core technology of SQL Data Warehouse, has been the least vulnerable database over the last eight years in the NIST vulnerabilities database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of our newest security and privacy features in SQL Data Warehouse is Data Discovery and Classification. This feature enables automated discovery of columns potentially containing sensitive data, recommends metadata tags to associate with the columns, and can persistently attach those tags to your tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These tags will appear in the Audit log for queries against sensitive data, in addition to being included alongside the query results for clients which support this feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/azure\/sql-database\/sql-database-data-discovery-and-classification\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Azure SQL Database Data Discovery &amp; Classification<\/a> article walks you through enabling the feature via the Azure portal. While the article was written for Azure SQL Database, it is now equally applicable to SQL Data Warehouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"next-steps\">Next steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">Visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/services\/sql-data-warehouse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Azure SQL Data Warehouse page<\/a> to learn more.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">Get started with a free <a href=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/free\/sql-data-warehouse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Azure SQL Data Warehouse account<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"azure-is-the-best-place-for-data-analytics\">Azure is the best place for data analytics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Azure continues to be the best cloud for analytics. Learn more why\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/aka.ms\/simply-unmatched\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">analytics in Azure is simply unmatched<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, we want to call attention to the exciting news that Azure SQL Data Warehouse has again outperformed other cloud providers in the most recent GigaOm benchmark report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ms_queue_id":[],"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","_alt_title":"","footnotes":"","msx_community_cta_settings":[]},"categories":[1473,1466],"tags":[],"audience":[3054,3057,3055,3053,3056],"content-type":[],"product":[1539],"tech-community":[],"topic":[],"coauthors":[565],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-databases","category-hybrid-multicloud","audience-business-decision-makers","audience-data-professionals","audience-developers","audience-it-decision-makers","audience-it-implementors","product-azure-sql-database","review-flag-1680286581-56","review-flag-1680286581-364","review-flag-5-1680286581-950","review-flag-free-1680286579-836","review-flag-new-1680286579-546"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched | Microsoft Azure Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today, we want to call attention to the exciting news that Azure SQL Data Warehouse has again outperformed other cloud providers in the most recent GigaOm benchmark report.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched | Microsoft Azure Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today, we want to call attention to the exciting news that Azure SQL Data Warehouse has again outperformed other cloud providers in the most recent GigaOm benchmark report.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Microsoft Azure Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/microsoftazure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T08:22:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kapil Gupta\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@azure\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@azure\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kapil Gupta\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/\"},\"author\":[{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/kapil-gupta\/\",\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@name\":\"Kapil Gupta\"}],\"headline\":\"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T08:22:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/\"},\"wordCount\":940,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Databases\",\"Hybrid + multicloud\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/\",\"name\":\"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched | Microsoft Azure Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-20T08:22:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Today, we want to call attention to the exciting news that Azure SQL Data Warehouse has again outperformed other cloud providers in the most recent GigaOm benchmark report.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif\",\"width\":640,\"height\":395,\"caption\":\"graphical user interface, text, application\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Databases\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/databases\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Microsoft Azure Blog\",\"description\":\"Get the latest Azure news, updates, and announcements from the Azure blog. From product updates to hot topics, hear from the Azure experts.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Microsoft Azure Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/microsoft_logo.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/microsoft_logo.webp\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Microsoft Azure Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/microsoftazure\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/azure\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/microsoftdeveloper\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/16188386\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/windowsazure\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c702e5edd662b328b49b7e1180cab117\",\"name\":\"shakir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9342c7c05bb16548741bc5cd3a3e3b7ee0c8e746844ad2cc582db5beb5514c6f?s=96&d=mm&r=g7664e653ea371ce16eaf75e9fa8952c4\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9342c7c05bb16548741bc5cd3a3e3b7ee0c8e746844ad2cc582db5beb5514c6f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9342c7c05bb16548741bc5cd3a3e3b7ee0c8e746844ad2cc582db5beb5514c6f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"shakir\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/shakir\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched | Microsoft Azure Blog","description":"Today, we want to call attention to the exciting news that Azure SQL Data Warehouse has again outperformed other cloud providers in the most recent GigaOm benchmark report.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched | Microsoft Azure Blog","og_description":"Today, we want to call attention to the exciting news that Azure SQL Data Warehouse has again outperformed other cloud providers in the most recent GigaOm benchmark report.","og_url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/","og_site_name":"Microsoft Azure Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/microsoftazure","article_published_time":"2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-20T08:22:49+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Kapil Gupta","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@azure","twitter_site":"@azure","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kapil Gupta","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/"},"author":[{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/kapil-gupta\/","@type":"Person","@name":"Kapil Gupta"}],"headline":"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched","datePublished":"2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T08:22:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/"},"wordCount":940,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif","articleSection":["Databases","Hybrid + multicloud"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/","url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/","name":"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched | Microsoft Azure Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif","datePublished":"2019-04-09T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-20T08:22:49+00:00","description":"Today, we want to call attention to the exciting news that Azure SQL Data Warehouse has again outperformed other cloud providers in the most recent GigaOm benchmark report.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bd979dbf-a5d7-4a96-8b2d-4a96ce7ca6e0.gif","width":640,"height":395,"caption":"graphical user interface, text, application"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/smarter-faster-safer-azure-sql-data-warehouse-is-simply-unmatched\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog home","item":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Databases","item":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/databases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Smarter, faster, safer: Azure SQL Data Warehouse is simply unmatched"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/","name":"Microsoft Azure Blog","description":"Get the latest Azure news, updates, and announcements from the Azure blog. From product updates to hot topics, hear from the Azure experts.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#organization","name":"Microsoft Azure Blog","url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/microsoft_logo.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/microsoft_logo.webp","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Microsoft Azure Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/microsoftazure","https:\/\/x.com\/azure","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/microsoftdeveloper\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/16188386","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/windowsazure"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c702e5edd662b328b49b7e1180cab117","name":"shakir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9342c7c05bb16548741bc5cd3a3e3b7ee0c8e746844ad2cc582db5beb5514c6f?s=96&d=mm&r=g7664e653ea371ce16eaf75e9fa8952c4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9342c7c05bb16548741bc5cd3a3e3b7ee0c8e746844ad2cc582db5beb5514c6f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9342c7c05bb16548741bc5cd3a3e3b7ee0c8e746844ad2cc582db5beb5514c6f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"shakir"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com"],"url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/shakir\/"}]}},"msxcm_display_generated_audio":false,"msxcm_animated_featured_image":null,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Microsoft Azure Blog","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1440"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42631,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions\/42631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"tech-community","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tech-community?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}