The new version of Microsoft's popular database software, SQL Server 2016, will be arriving on June 1, the Redmond-based company revealed on Monday.
In a post announcing the release, Tiffany Wissner, Senior Director of Data Platform Marketing at Microsoft, repeatedly praised the software's focus on security through new features such as Always Encrypt which allows users to encrypt data at rest and in memory without impacting performance.
Another new feature called Stretch Database is essentially a hybrid cloud solution. As Computer World notes, it lets users store some data locally while sending infrequently used data to Microsoft's Azure cloud platform.
Just by upgrading to SQL Server 2016, Microsoft says users can expect up to 7x faster throughput, 34x faster queries and 3.6x faster reporting.
SQL Server 2016 was first announced last year and has gone through the standard beta process. It'll be offered in Enterprise, Standard, Developer and Express editions with the two latter versions to arrive free of charge, essentially mirroring what Microsoft offers with SQL Server 2014.
Back in March, the company revealed it will be bringing SQL Server to Linux by mid-2017. At the time, IDC analyst Al Gillen said it was an important decision for Microsoft as it allows the company to offer its well-known and trusted database to an expanded set of customers and further solidifies its commitment to being a cross-platform provider.