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DBMS > IBM Db2 vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Microsoft SQL Server

System Properties Comparison IBM Db2 vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Microsoft SQL Server

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Editorial information provided by DB-Engines
NameIBM Db2 infoformerly named DB2 or IBM Database 2  Xexclude from comparisonMicrosoft Azure SQL Database infoformerly SQL Azure  Xexclude from comparisonMicrosoft SQL Server  Xexclude from comparison
DescriptionCommon in IBM host environments, 2 different versions for host and Windows/LinuxDatabase as a Service offering with high compatibility to Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosofts flagship relational DBMS
Primary database modelRelational DBMS infoSince Version 10.5 support for JSON/BSON documents compatible with MongoDBRelational DBMSRelational DBMS
Secondary database modelsDocument store
RDF store infoin Db2 LUW (Linux, Unix, Windows)
Spatial DBMS infowith Db2 Spatial Extender
Document store
Graph DBMS
Spatial DBMS
Document store
Graph DBMS
Spatial DBMS
DB-Engines Ranking infomeasures the popularity of database management systemsranking trend
Trend Chart
Score126.57
Rank#9  Overall
#6  Relational DBMS
Score73.91
Rank#17  Overall
#11  Relational DBMS
Score788.14
Rank#3  Overall
#3  Relational DBMS
Websitewww.ibm.com/­products/­db2azure.microsoft.com/­en-us/­products/­azure-sql/­databasewww.microsoft.com/­en-us/­sql-server
Technical documentationwww.ibm.com/­docs/­en/­db2docs.microsoft.com/­en-us/­azure/­azure-sqllearn.microsoft.com/­en-US/­sql/­sql-server
DeveloperIBMMicrosoftMicrosoft
Initial release1983 infohost version20101989
Current release12.1, October 2016V12SQL Server 2022, November 2022
License infoCommercial or Open Sourcecommercial infofree version is availablecommercialcommercial inforestricted free version is available
Cloud-based only infoOnly available as a cloud servicenoyesno
DBaaS offerings (sponsored links) infoDatabase as a Service

Providers of DBaaS offerings, please contact us to be listed.
SQLServer Flex @ STACKIT offers a managed version of SQL Server with adjustable CPU, RAM, storage amount and speed, in enterprise grade to perfectly match all application requirements. All services are 100% GDPR-compliant.
Implementation languageC and C++C++C++
Server operating systemsAIX
HP-UX
Linux
Solaris
Windows
z/OS
hostedLinux
Windows
Data schemeyesyesyes
Typing infopredefined data types such as float or dateyesyesyes
XML support infoSome form of processing data in XML format, e.g. support for XML data structures, and/or support for XPath, XQuery or XSLT.yesyes
Secondary indexesyesyesyes
SQL infoSupport of SQLyesyesyes
APIs and other access methodsADO.NET
JDBC
JSON style queries infoMongoDB compatible
ODBC
XQuery
ADO.NET
JDBC
ODBC
ADO.NET
JDBC
ODBC
OLE DB
Tabular Data Stream (TDS)
Supported programming languagesC
C#
C++
Cobol
Delphi
Fortran
Java
Perl
PHP
Python
Ruby
Visual Basic
.Net
C#
Java
JavaScript (Node.js)
PHP
Python
Ruby
C#
C++
Delphi
Go
Java
JavaScript (Node.js)
PHP
Python
R
Ruby
Visual Basic
Server-side scripts infoStored proceduresyesTransact SQLTransact SQL, .NET languages, R, Python and (with SQL Server 2019) Java
Triggersyesyesyes
Partitioning methods infoMethods for storing different data on different nodesSharding infoonly with Windows/Unix/Linux Versiontables can be distributed across several files (horizontal partitioning); sharding through federation
Replication methods infoMethods for redundantly storing data on multiple nodesyes infowith separate tools (MQ, InfoSphere)yes, with always 3 replicas availableyes, but depending on the SQL-Server Edition
MapReduce infoOffers an API for user-defined Map/Reduce methodsnonono
Consistency concepts infoMethods to ensure consistency in a distributed systemImmediate ConsistencyImmediate Consistency
Foreign keys infoReferential integrityyesyesyes
Transaction concepts infoSupport to ensure data integrity after non-atomic manipulations of dataACIDACIDACID
Concurrency infoSupport for concurrent manipulation of datayesyesyes
Durability infoSupport for making data persistentyesyesyes
In-memory capabilities infoIs there an option to define some or all structures to be held in-memory only.yes
User concepts infoAccess controlfine grained access rights according to SQL-standardfine grained access rights according to SQL-standardfine grained access rights according to SQL-standard

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More resources
IBM Db2 infoformerly named DB2 or IBM Database 2Microsoft Azure SQL Database infoformerly SQL AzureMicrosoft SQL Server
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Recent citations in the news

IBM Db2 Modernizes With New AI-Powered Database Assistant
13 November 2024, Forbes

Db2 12.1 is here: Unveiling the next-generation AI-powered enterprise database
18 November 2024, IBM

Db2 is a story worth telling, even if IBM won't
4 July 2024, The Register

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7 November 2024, SitePoint

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12 September 2024, Microsoft

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Microsoft SQL Server 2019 shuffles out of mainstream support
4 March 2025, The Register

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19 November 2024, Microsoft

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