A deep dive into Microsoft SQL Server 2025

At Microsoft Ignite 2025, Microsoft launched SQL Server 2025. The latest generation of Microsoft databases, building on SQL Server's more than 35-year history of high security, performance and availability. it was presented as an AI-ready enterprise database that gives you a consistent experience across on-premises, cloud and SaaS environments. We've listed new features, improvements and changes in SQL Server 2025, covering built-in AI, updates for developers, performance, security and licensing changes.

Built-in AI and advanced analytics

As something new, SQL Server 2025 introduces artificial intelligence built into the database server, with a vector data type and support for vector search. This means that your database can understand and work with data based on meaning instead of being limited to exact keywords, letting you make semantic searches directly in SQL.

If you are a developer, you can now store and run machine learning models inside SQL Server and use them directly through T-SQL. This includes generating embeddings, chunking text into smaller pieces, and performing fast similarity searches using the new vector indexes based on the DiskANN algorithm. All of this happens inside the database, without relying on external services.

It also allows you to utilize existing data for AI work in a more secure and scalable way, without unnecessary data movement. You can connect directly to Azure AI, Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and other models without moving data out of SQL Server. This means advanced analytics and language-based queries can run close to the data they work with. SQL Server now also supports popular AI frameworks like LangChain and Semantic Kernel, making it easier for developers to build AI functionality on top of their data.

Improvements for developers and data management

SQL Server 2025 marks the most significant update for SQL developers in a decade with a host of new features that simplify development and increase productivity. Among the developer-oriented innovations:

• Built-in JSON support:
  You can now store, index and query JSON data directly in SQL Server without cumbersome workarounds. This makes it easier to handle semi-structured data and exchange data with web services.
  
  
• REST API calls from T-SQL:
  You can call external APIs directly from a SQL query. This opens up scenarios such as retrieving data from a web service or triggering an external function without having to leave the database.
  
  
• RegEx and fuzzy searches:
  T-SQL now includes support for regular expressions and approximate string matching, so things like validation, matching and quality checks can be done directly in SQL
  
  
• Real-time change streaming:
  A new Change Event Streaming feature can send changes from SQL Server to Azure Event Hubs in real-time. This simplifies event-driven systems and makes it easier to keep data pipelines and analytics up-to-date without heavy Change Data Capture.
  
  
• Updated tools:
  SSMS 22 supports SQL Server 2025 and can use GitHub Copilot to suggest T-SQL code. he Python driver for SQL has also been updated. It’s faster and now supports modern authentication through Microsoft Entra ID.
  
  

Performance and scalability

Performance and scalability are traditionally core areas for SQL Server, and the 2025 release brings a number of significant improvements:

• Optimized locking & higher concurrency:
  Lock handling has become more efficient, reducing blocking and increasing concurrency. Under heavy load, this means you get faster responses and fewer transaction queues.
  
  
• More stable query plans:
  The new Optional Parameter Plan Optimization reduces parameter sniffing issues. This should result in more predictable performance, even when the same query runs with different parameters, reducing the risk of sudden drops in performance.
  
  
• Resource governance for TempDB:
  SQL Server 2025 introduces Tempdb space resource governance, which prevents runaway queries from overusing TempDB space and potentially causing operational issues.
  
  
• Improved High Availability (HA):
  For Always On availability groups, SQL Server 2025's new improvements provide faster failover times and better cluster failover diagnostics. If one of your primary databases goes down, a secondary can take over faster than before, minimizing costly downtime.
  
  
• Standard Edition scaling:
  Standard Edition has become more scalable,and can now scale up to 32 cores and 256 GB RAM. This gives you a lot more headroom before Enterprise licenses are needed.
  
  
• Other performance fine tuning:
  When we look under the hood there has been a lot of fine tuning, such as better Query Store, ZSTD compression for faster backups and the ability to place TempDB on faster storage, such as RAM on Linux via tmpfs.

These are improvements that can be felt. Microsoft's own tests show that SQL Server 2025 sets new world records in database performance, and the new version delivers better price/performance than previous versions. In other words, you get more computing power for your money. 

Security enhancements and compliance

Security gets a real lift in SQL Server 2025. Several updates make it easier to protect data, manage access, and stay aligned with modern security practices:

• Entra ID (Azure AD) integration:
  SQL Server 2025 can now use Microsoft Entra Managed Identities for authentication. In practice, this lets you manage access without keeping passwords on the server, making credential handling easier and safer.
  
  
• Zero Trust and better encryption:
  The new version follows Zero Trust principles more closely and supports TLS 1.3 on Linux, among other things. Encryption with RSA has also been improved, so data is better protected during transportation and storage.
  
  
• Better password protection:
  SQL Server 2025 now uses modern hashing with PBKDF2 by default, making passwords significantly harder to crack. On Linux, organizations can also define their own access policies and complexity requirements.
  
  
• Finer grained access control:
  The latest version introduces security cache improvements that invalidate cache entries only for the affected login when permissions change. That means other users aren’t slowed down, and busy systems avoid the extra overhead of large cache resets.

All in all, SQL Server 2025 is better equipped for modern security and compliance requirements. With Entra integration and stronger built-in protection, you can build a more robust and identity-based security model directly into the database.

Integration with Azure and cloud services

SQL Server 2025 makes hybrid setups easier. It adds a few new ways to connect on-prem SQL Server to Azure and makes it more simple to feed data into cloud-based tools.

• Microsoft Fabric integration (zero-ETL analytics):
  One of the biggest additions is the ability to mirror data from SQL Server to Microsoft Fabric in near real-time. So you can have an up-to-date data lake or warehouse without nightly batch jobs, and eliminates much of the need for ETL processes. This save you a lot time and simplifies the architecture for those who want to combine operational data with analytics/BI in the cloud.
  
  
• Azure Arc hybrid management:
  Through Azure Arc, SQL Server 2025 can be managed together across on-premises and cloud. You get centralized policy management, monitoring, and access to Azure security services. Arc is also used to connect SQL Server with Entra identities.
  
  
• Event streaming to Azure:
  With Change Event Streaming, SQL Server can send changes directly to Azure Event Hubs. This enables real-time dashboards, event-driven systems and faster data integration without intermediaries.
  
  
• Azure Virtual Machines Optimization:
  If you are running SQL Server in Azure as IaaS, it's now easier to deploy SQL Server 2025 on Azure VMs. Azure Marketplace offers updated images of all editions (including the new Standard Developer) with recommended settings, easy storage configuration (separate disk for data, log, tempdb), automatic updates and Best Practice Analyzer included.
  
  
• Pay-as-you-go licensing via Arc:
  SQL Server 2025 can be licensed on a pay-as-you-go basis through Azure Arc. You pay per hour or month and avoid up-front licenses, giving you more flexibility for temporary workloads and hybrid scenarios.
  
  

BI and analytics tools

For data driven teams, reporting and analytics are often where the real impact shows. SQL Server 2025 gives this a lift, making it easier to deliver consistent dashboards, faster models and a BI setup that requires less operational effort.

• Unified Reporting:
  SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and Power BI Report Server are now unified in one solution. Going forward, Power BI Report Server is the standard for on-premises reporting, and customers with SQL Server licenses get full usage rights without additional licenses. So now, classic paginated reports and interactive Power BI reports can be delivered from the same platform, simplifying the reporting environment significantly.
  
  
• Analysis Services 2025:
  SQL Server Analysis Services 2025 comes with noticeable performance improvements. MDX queries run faster and DirectQuery can now be executed in parallel, giving you better response time on large models. New DAX features and support for visual totals in tabular models are also amongst the new additions. At the same time, some older features are being phased out, such as PowerPivot for SharePoint, and a few legacy access methods are now disabled by default to improve security.
  
  
• Modern Integration Services:
  SSIS has been updated to support the new Microsoft SqlClient driver in the ADO.NET connection manager. This allows for better compatibility with modern data sources and makes integration with Azure SQL and other cloud services easier.

On the BI and analytics side, SQL Server 2025 gives you a more unified BI platform with closer ties to Power BI and faster analysis performance in both tabular and multidimensional models. So you get less maintenance work and faster access to insights, especially for organizations using SQL Server as an end-to-end data platform.

Edition and license changes

Alongside the many technical updates, SQL Server 2025 also brings a few changes to editions and licensing.

• New Developer Editions:
  There are now two free developer editions: Standard Developer and Enterprise Developer. Each one mirrors the feature set of its corresponding production edition, so developers can build and test in an environment that behaves the same as what they run in production. This helps avoid issues that only appear after deployment.
  
  
• More resources and Enterprise features in Standard:
  Resource Governor, previously reserved for Enterprise, is now included in Standard (and in Standard Developer), so you can control resource allocation at the database level even in Standard Edition. And, Power BI Report Server rights are included in all paid editions of SQL 2025 (except Express).
  
  
• Express Edition changes:
  The free Express Edition also gets a boost. The maximum database size is now raised to 50 GB instead of 10 GB. The separate Express with Advanced Services edition is also discontinued, and all Express features are now combined into a single edition that includes the formerly “advanced” features by default.
  
  
• Goodbye to Web Edition:
  SQL Server 2022 will be the last version with Web Edition. Customers are encouraged to plan migration to either Azure SQL or Standard Edition, which can now handle many of the previous web scenarios thanks to the increased capacity limits.
  
  

License model

The licensing models for SQL Server 2025 are largely the same as in 2022. Enterprise continues to be licensed per core only, while Standard can be licensed either per core or via Server + CAL. The Developer and Express editions remain free.

As something new, SQL Server 2025 can also be licensed by consumption through Azure Arc. This makes it possible to run SQL Server on-premises but pay by the hour or month through your Azure subscription, providing more flexibility for temporary or variable workloads.

What does this mean for you

Some organizations will see clear gains right away, especially if they work heavily with analytics, text data or cloud based workloads. Others will get more value from the improvements in stability, security and performance tuning. And in some cases, the upgrade will make the most sense when changes to the infrastructure are already on the agenda.

Bottom line: SQL Server 2025 is a solid boost, but it's not a "one size fits all". It depends on your setup, your requirements, your workloads and what you're trying to achieve. At Cegal, we're happy to discuss what SQL Server 2025 can mean for you and your business. If you're considering an upgrade or just want to explore the possibilities.

Want to dive deeper? Learn more about SQL Server 2025 in Microsoft’s official announcement >