Blog

By: Paul Stanton February 10, 2020

Windocks new support for live secondary databases is a game changer for a growing number of use cases. Near real-time access to production databases is a boon for devops, database migration, production database debug support, and even DR with "readiness testing."

By: Paul Stanton July 5, 2019

AWS RDS is growing in popularity for managed and scalable SQL Server databases as a service. Support for SQL Server Report Server, however, has been limited to conventional instances on EC2 VMs. Read about a new approach that applies SSRS containers for greater scalability and managability.

By: Paul Stanton May 8, 2019

Containers combined with database cloning is being used to modernize software development. But, the journey toward automated DevOps processes is a step-wise progression. In this article we look at some practical steps to answer the question of "should I be backing up developers containers?"

By: Paul Stanton March 27, 2019

Cohesity is a leader in secondary data management and storage, so it's not surprising that Windocks customers have asked for turn-key stateful management of Cohesity data with delivery to SQL Server containers and instances. The combination of enterprise class data storage with SQL Server containers opens up new opportunities for modern development and test, and DevOps processes.

By: Paul Stanton February 14, 2019

Migrations of SQL Server databases to a recent release is an ongoing challenge of SQL Server DBAs. In this article we take a look at how containers and database cloning can simplify the process, with an in-depth look at migration of SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2017 Linux containers.

By: Paul Stanton February 5, 2019

Containers are a new capability for Windows, and SQL Server containers in particular have evolved significantly since their introduction in 2016. In this article we take an in-depth look at Microsoft's and Windocks Windows SQL Server containers.

By: Paul Stanton January 29, 2019

In this article we examine the use of SSRS containers combined with database cloning as a new approach to SSRS scale out, and one that supports use of SQL Server standard edition.

By: Paul Stanton November 28, 2018

In this blog we take a look at how Windocks approaches relational data management differently from other container engines, by including data as a container artifact.

By: Paul Stanton November 26, 2018

In this article we look at how database cloning can scale to provide on-demand delivery of SQL Server data warehouses of 20 TB or more in size, for an effective on-demand capacity of 1 PB of SQL data.

By: Paul Stanton October 8, 2018

We are excited to release SSRS support for SQL Server containers, running as a native Windows Service. In this article we take a detailed look at the setup and use of these new SQL Server images.

By: Paul Stanton September 9, 2018

Now that Windocks supports any data source, with secure data delivery to any SQL Server environment, and runs on any public cloud or on-premise infrastructure, it's time to look at how Windocks enables a unique Relational Database Service for forward looking enterprises.

By: Paul Stanton July 16, 2018

Docker continues to grow in popularity across the industry, but raises numerous questions regarding security involved in public image repositories. In this article we take a look at the comprehensive security provided by Windocks, which has enabled broad adoption among financial service providers and other demanding verticals.

By: Paul Stanton June 27, 2018

In this blog post we share a discussion we had recently with an organization that was evaluating Windocks vs Delphix for SQL Server data delivery. The conversation ended up focusing on relative costs of operation in the public cloud, and the value of data compression. Read on to learn what the analysis reveals.

By: Paul Stanton May 25, 2018

We have just returned from presenting at the Pure Accelerate conference, where we demonstrated the industry's first Docker based data delivery platform, with support for delivery to SQL Server container, instances, and Kubernetes clusters.

By: Paul Stanton May 16, 2018

It's become popular to refer to system security in terms of isolation. Whether you think of data and container security in classical terms, or isolation, this article reviews Windocks provisions for secure sourcing, delivery, and use of data.

By: Paul Stanton May 13, 2018

In this article we look at the new support in Windocks 3.0 for delivery of SQL Server database clones to the official Microsoft Docker SQL Server 2017 Linux containers, along with new support for encrypted credentials.

By: Paul Stanton April 28, 2018

In this article we look at new capabilities in Windocks 3.0, featuring database cloning for containers and conventional instances, images with run time applied Dockerfiles, user driven database selection from complex images, and encrypted credential support.

By: Paul Stanton April 9, 2018

In this article we take a look at the understandable human tendancy to do "what worked last time" for enterprise data access. Unfortunately, in a data centric world, doubling down on storage carries obvious problems. We take a look at a new approach.

By: Paul Stanton March 29, 2018

In this article we step back to look at the challenges of enterprise data management and delivery, and the problems associated with the lack of standards for storage infrastructure. We then talk about how Windocks intends to provide a new option for application-driven data delivery.

By: Paul Stanton March 29, 2018

In this article we take an indepth look at Windows based SQL Server Cloning, and criteria that will help people understand the trade-offs between competitive solutions.

By: Paul Stanton February 28, 2018

In this post we take a look at how database cloning is applied in environments composed of a mix of SQL Server instances and containers. We'll outline three approaches that address all combinations of SQL Server environments.

By: Paul Stanton February 3, 2018

In this article we look at how SQL Server database clones with TDE encryption are delivered to Windocks SQL containers and the official Docker SQL containers from Microsoft.

By: Paul Stanton January 6, 2017

In this article we take a look at Windocks new support for creating SQL Server database clones that are delivered to Microsoft's official Docker SQL Server containers, offering organizations a powerful way to incorporate SQL Server into existing Jenkins and other CI workflows.

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By: Paul Stanton October 31, 2017

In this blog we review survey results of Windocks users, answering the question of how to quantify benefits of SQL Server containers and clones for data delivery.

By: Paul Stanton October 27, 2017

In this post we review Windocks experiences and observations gathered in the 18 months post-release, and look ahead to 2018.

By: Paul Stanton October 19, 2017

In this post we look at how Windocks combination of containers with database clones yields enterprise data images that enhance governance and reguatory compliance.

By: Paul Stanton September 18, 2017

In this article we preview the Windocks roadmap for the Fall of 2017, which features expanded support for use of SAN hosted data, and delivery of data environments to Microsoft's containers as well as other SQL Server instances.

By: Paul Stanton 7-21-2017

In this post we take a look at Windocks 2.0 with integrated database cloning and web UI. Database clones enable delivery of terabyte class environments in seconds.

By: Paul Stanton November 29, 2016

By: Paul Stanton November 29, 2016

Now that Microsoft has released container support with Windows Server 2016, we take an in-depth look at how the two designs and the trade-offs between them.

By: Paul Stanton November 15, 2016

In this artcle we take a further look at the automation being used with SQL Server containers to deliver daily access to production data for developers.

By: Paul Stanton 11-5-2016

The first update to WinDocks since the initial release in March of 2016 is out. Version 1.04 include a new base Windows image for support of Java, Nginx, Node.js, and other Window executables. Learn more here.

By: Paul Stanton 11-5-2016

WinDocks has released a new update, version 1.04, with support for Nginx, Node.js, Java with Tomcat or Jetty, and other executables. In this article we take a look at the new support for Java and Tomcat.

Continuous Integraton with .NET and SQL Server Containers on AWS

By: Paul Stanton 10-24-2016

By: Paul Stanton September, 14, 2016

We've been working on proving the use of containers for High Availability and Disaster Recovery, and in this blog we explore workload migration and suport for cloud based development.

By: Paul Stanton 8-1-2016

In this blog we take a look at how WinDocks SQL Server containers can integrate with storage systems, such as NetApp SnapClone, to automate the mounting and use of SQL Server database clones.

By: Paul Stanton 7-30-2016

In this blog we address the need of incorporating Windows Containers into existing network infrastructure, using DNS and dynamic IP to Port mapping with containers.

By: Paul Stanton July 18, 2016

This blog focuses on one of the top use-cases for Windows containers, the combination of containers with Git and other source control systems for fast delivery of integrated .NET + SQL Server environments.

By: Paul Stanton July 11, 2016

In this blog we take a look at how easy it is to turn any edition of Windows 8.1 into a Windows Container Server supporting .NET and SQL Server containers and the Docker API.

By: Paul Stanton July 6, 2016

In this blog we take a look at Gartner's Bi-Modal strategy for IT Management, industry trends, and suggest the use of Windows containers for revitalizing Windows enterprise IT, and big License cost savings.

By: Paul Stanton

June 30, 216

The WinDocks Community Edition is the most widely use released Docker daemon for Windows, and in this blog we share the results of a suvey of how Windows Containers are being used.

By: Paul Stanton June 20, 2016

This blog takes an indepth look at the Windows containers offered by Microsoft and WinDocks, and evaluates differences from a Software Developers perspective.

By: Paul Stanton January 4, 2016

In this blog we take a new look at the soon to be released WinDocks image support for SQL Server containers.

By: Paul Stanton 6-17-16

A step by step introduction to working with SQL Server containers using Docker commands and PowerShell scripts.

By: Paul Stanton 6-17-16

This blog revisits the elements involved and the use of SQL containers, and compares the SQL Server container support offered by WinDocks and Microsoft.

By: Ramesh Parameswaran 5-10-16

This is a technical blog that covers some of the challenges we faced in porting the docker engine to Windows Server 2012.

By: Paul Stanton 7-21-2017

By: Paul Stanton December 4, 2015

We’ve been fans of Docker for some time and after Microsoft committed to support Docker, we formed a team to deliver Docker Engine support on Windows Server 2012. The results are exciting, and particularly when we look at how easy it is to incorporate support for SQL Server 2008 and 2012.

By: Paul Stanton October 10, 2015

In this article we look into the background of the Windows Containers included in the WinDocks software, as well as some of their limitations, and we provide recommendations for their safe use.