Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Citus Data VS Microsoft SQL Server

Compare Citus Data VS Microsoft SQL Server and see what are their differences

Citus Data logo Citus Data

Worry-free Postgres. Built to scale out, Citus distributes data & queries across nodes so your database can scale and your queries are fast. Available as a database as a service, as enterprise software, & as open source.

Microsoft SQL Server logo Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft Azure is an open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform. Move faster, do more, and save money with IaaS + PaaS. Try for FREE.
  • Citus Data Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-08
  • Microsoft SQL Server Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17

Citus Data features and specs

  • Scalability
    Citus Data can scale out across multiple nodes, allowing for horizontal scaling of PostgreSQL. This facilitates handling large volumes of data and high traffic loads efficiently.
  • Distributed SQL
    It transforms PostgreSQL into a distributed database, enabling users to run parallel queries across a cluster, which can lead to significant performance improvements.
  • PostgreSQL Extension
    As an extension to PostgreSQL, Citus leverages the reliability, robustness, and the rich ecosystem of PostgreSQL, allowing users to continue using familiar PostgreSQL tools and extensions.
  • High Availability
    Citus Data provides high availability and disaster recovery options, ensuring that systems can remain operational even during failures.
  • Flexible Data Distribution
    Citus allows flexible data distribution methods like sharding, enabling efficient query executions by dividing data across nodes based on application-specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of Citus Data

  • Complexity
    Implementing a distributed system with Citus can add complexity to architecture and maintenance compared to a single-node PostgreSQL setup.
  • Use Case Suitability
    Citus is best suited for real-time analytics and multi-tenant applications but might not be the best choice for all types of workloads, particularly those that do not require distributed processing.
  • Cost
    Running a distributed database may result in higher infrastructure and maintenance costs, especially when scaling out to a large number of nodes.
  • Data Replication Overhead
    Although Citus offers high availability, maintaining replicas across multiple nodes can introduce additional overhead and complexity in data consistency management.
  • Learning Curve
    There might be a learning curve for teams to understand distributed systems' paradigms and best practices, especially if they are familiar only with traditional single-node databases.

Microsoft SQL Server features and specs

  • Performance
    Microsoft SQL Server offers high performance and efficient database management capabilities, optimized for both OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing).
  • Security Features
    SQL Server comes with advanced security features such as encryption, data masking, and advanced threat protection to ensure data integrity and privacy.
  • Scalability
    The server supports horizontal and vertical scaling to accommodate growing amounts of data and increasing number of users.
  • Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem
    Seamless integration with other Microsoft products such as Azure, Power BI, and Visual Studio, making it a versatile choice for businesses already using Microsoft services.
  • Ease of Use
    The server provides a user-friendly interface and helpful tools such as SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for database maintenance and management.
  • Comprehensive Support
    Microsoft offers extensive support and documentation, along with a strong community that provides additional resources and insights.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft SQL Server

  • Cost
    Licensing and operational costs can be high, especially for larger enterprises, making it a significant investment.
  • Complexity
    Initial setup and configuration can be complex, often requiring expert knowledge to deploy and maintain effectively.
  • Resource Intensive
    The server can be resource-heavy, requiring significant hardware and computational resources to run efficiently, especially for larger databases.
  • Limited Cross-Platform Support
    Although improvements have been made, SQL Server is primarily optimized for Windows environments, which can limit its use in cross-platform scenarios.
  • Proprietary Software
    Being a proprietary software solution, it lacks the flexibility and cost benefits that come with open-source alternatives.
  • Updates and Patches
    Frequent updates and patches can sometimes disrupt service, requiring periodic maintenance that could result in downtime.

Citus Data videos

Scaling Postgres Episode 48 | Microsoft Acquires Citus Data | Split WAL | Maintenance Work Memory

More videos:

  • Review - Scaling a Relational Database for the Cloud age | Citus Data

Microsoft SQL Server videos

What is Microsoft SQL Server?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Citus Data and Microsoft SQL Server)
Databases
15 15%
85% 85
Relational Databases
20 20%
80% 80
NoSQL Databases
15 15%
85% 85
Postgres
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Citus Data and Microsoft SQL Server

Citus Data Reviews

20+ MongoDB Alternatives You Should Know About
Citus While PostgreSQL is a powerful database, and you can store terabytes of data on a single cluster, at a larger scale you will need sharding. If so, consider the Citus PostgreSQL extension, or the DBaaS offering from the same guys.
Source: www.percona.com

Microsoft SQL Server Reviews

20 Best SQL Management Tools in 2020
It is a SQL management tool for analysing the differences in Microsoft SQL Server database structures. It allows comparing database objects like tables, columns, indexes, foreign keys, schemas, etc.
Source: www.guru99.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Microsoft SQL Server seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Citus Data mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Citus Data yet. Tracking of Citus Data recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Microsoft SQL Server mentions (5)

  • Cloud provider comparison 2024: VM Performance / Price
    Azure is the #2 overall Cloud provider and, as expected, it's the best choice for most Microsoft/Windows-based solutions. That said, it does offer many types of Linux VMs, with quite similar abilities as AWS/GCP. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Amdocs, NVIDIA and Microsoft Azure build custom LLMs for telcos
    Amdocs has partnered with NVIDIA and Microsoft Azure to build custom Large Language Models (LLMs) for the $1.7 trillion global telecoms industry. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Windows Azure: Microsoft's crown jewel
    You can utilise various tools on the platform to significantly improve your IT performance. Due to its flexibility, even official recommendations for Azure might need to be clarified and easier to comprehend. Simply put, Azure (formerly Windows Azure) is Microsoft's cloud computing operating system. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • From developer to (solutions) architect. A simple guide.
    This is not to say there aren't architects still working on premise in self managed environments, but if you're planning to join the forces, you probably want to have an idea of who are the 3 public cloud providers (AWS, Azure and GCP), and their offering and topology. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • Can You Learn AWS (And Get Certified) With No Experience? e.g. No IT background or degree
    Right now, AWS couldn’t be a better choice. AWS has been for many years—and continues to be—the market leader between all the cloud platforms. Whilst the competitors like GCP and Azure are catching up, they’ve still not toppled AWS which continues to be, by far, the biggest cloud provider. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Citus Data and Microsoft SQL Server, you can also consider the following products

ClickHouse - ClickHouse is an open-source column-oriented database management system that allows generating analytical data reports in real time.

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

PostgreSQL - PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system.

MariaDB - An enhanced, drop-in replacement for MySQL

SQLite - SQLite Home Page

Amazon Aurora - MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud. Performance and availability of commercial-grade databases at 1/10th the cost.