Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Microsoft SQL Server VS Steampipe

Compare Microsoft SQL Server VS Steampipe and see what are their differences

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.

Steampipe logo Steampipe

Steampipe: select * from cloud; The extensible SQL interface to your favorite cloud APIs select * from AWS, Azure, GCP, Github, Slack etc.
  • Microsoft SQL Server Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17
  • Steampipe Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30

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.

Steampipe features and specs

  • Unified Interface
    Steampipe provides a unified SQL-based interface to query data from various cloud services and APIs, simplifying data access.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, Steampipe allows for community contributions, transparency, and flexibility in adapting the tool to specific needs.
  • Plugin Ecosystem
    Steampipe has a growing ecosystem of plugins that enable easy integration with numerous services, enhancing its versatility.
  • Real-Time Data Access
    It facilitates real-time querying of data from live APIs, which is beneficial for up-to-date insights and monitoring.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Steampipe is designed to work on multiple platforms, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux, making it accessible to a wide range of users.

Possible disadvantages of Steampipe

  • Complex Setup
    Initial setup and configuration can be complex, requiring a good understanding of SQL and the specific APIs being used.
  • Performance Overhead
    Query performance may be impacted due to the abstraction layer and real-time consolidation of data from multiple sources.
  • Limited Community Support
    As a relatively new tool, Steampipe may have limited community support and fewer resources compared to more established alternatives.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running multiple queries against APIs and cloud services can become resource intensive, potentially increasing costs and load on systems.
  • Learning Curve
    Users unfamiliar with SQL may face a learning curve in effectively utilizing Steampipe for querying different data sources.

Analysis of Microsoft SQL Server

Overall verdict

  • Microsoft SQL Server on Azure is a strong choice for enterprises looking for a reliable, feature-rich database system that can easily integrate with other Microsoft products and services. Its cloud capabilities make it a versatile option, especially for those already within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Why this product is good

  • Microsoft SQL Server, when hosted on Azure, offers robust performance, scalability, and integration with other Microsoft services. It provides features such as automated backups, advanced analytics, high availability, and security options. The Azure platform enhances these capabilities with added flexibility, allowing for easy scaling, managed services, and integration with cloud-native features.

Recommended for

  • Organizations using other Microsoft services and products.
  • Businesses requiring high scalability and performance for their database needs.
  • Companies needing a strong security infrastructure for their data.
  • Developers and IT teams interested in leveraging cloud-native features alongside traditional SQL capabilities.
  • Businesses looking for a fully managed database solution with minimal maintenance.

Microsoft SQL Server videos

What is Microsoft SQL Server?

Steampipe videos

Superbooth 2023: Erica Synths - Steampipe

More videos:

  • Review - BEST SYNTHS @ SUPERBOOTH23: PWM Mantis, UDO Super Gemini, Erica Synths STEAMPIPEโ€ฆ and more
  • Review - Erica Synths STEAMPIPE The Synth with no oscillators!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Microsoft SQL Server and Steampipe)
Databases
89 89%
11% 11
Big Data
0 0%
100% 100
NoSQL Databases
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Infrastructure
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

Microsoft SQL Server Reviews

Best SQL Server Development Tools for Developers and DBAs (2026)
Microsoft SQL Server development tools are the baseline for most teams. Theyโ€™re widely used, free to start with, and tightly integrated with SQL Server. Even teams that rely on third-party tools typically keep Microsoftโ€™s tooling at the core of their workflow.
Source: quickref.me
A Comprehensive Guide to SQL Server Data Tools
In this article, you were introduced to Microsoft SQL Server and its promising SQL Server Data Tools. You understood the need for SQL Server Data Tools and its various features. Moreover, you learned the key steps to set up your SQL Server Data Tools. However, there can be some limitations to it such as its narrow focus on SQL Server, less advanced data visualization...
Source: hevodata.com
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

Steampipe Reviews

We have no reviews of Steampipe yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Steampipe should be more popular than Microsoft SQL Server. It has been mentiond 42 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.

Microsoft SQL Server mentions (6)

  • Deploying Your Angular App to Azure
    Imagine your Angular application, currently confined to your development environment, becoming instantly accessible to users across the globe with Azure. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • 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 / almost 2 years 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 2 years 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: about 3 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 / about 5 years ago
View more

Steampipe mentions (42)

  • Build API integrations with SQL and YAML โ€“ no SaaS lock-in, no drag-and-drop UIs
    The request / data fetching is interesting in how "easy" it is to write. I did basic perusal of the examples, but I'd be interested to see what it looks like with rate-limited endpoints and concurrent requests. Another tangentially related project is https://steampipe.io/ though it is for exposing APIs via Postgres tables and the clients are written using Go code and shared through a marketplace. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Cyphernetes: A Query Language for Kubernetes
    I really really like Steampipe to do this kind of query: https://steampipe.io, which is essentially PostgreSQL (literally) to query many different kind of APIs, which means you have access to all PostgreSQL's SQL language can offer to request data. They have a Kubernetes plugin at https://hub.steampipe.io/plugins/turbot/kubernetes and there are a couple of things I really like: * it's super easy to request... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • DuckDB Doesn't Need Data to Be a Database
    Https://steampipe.io/ showcases some really interesting scenarios for using FDWs in place of regular ETL and API integrations. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Cloud Tools You Probably Haven't Heard Of
    Steampipe is a tool for querying cloud APIs and other data sources using SQL in a zero-ETL manner. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Osquery: An sqlite3 virtual table exposing operating system data to SQL
    Few projects in the same realm that you should also checkout - [1] Steampipe (https://steampipe.io/) [2] InfraSQL (https://iasql.com/). - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

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

CloudQuery - CloudQuery enables you to assess, audit, and evaluate the configurations of your cloud assets.

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

StackQL.io - Query, provision, secure & operate cloud resources using SQL

CouchBase - Document-Oriented NoSQL Database

Turbot - Turbot's guardrails deliver automated operational, cloud security and cloud compliance controls of AWS deployments and other cloud enterprise infrastructure. Learn more.