Open source RDMS popularity offers devs 'something other than Oracle' as database standard, analyst says

Microsoft has announced a distributed PostgreSQL database service designed to rival other hyperscaler systems and third-party RDBMSes such as CockroachDB and YugabyteDB.

Claiming 100 percent compatibility with open source PostgreSQL, Microsoft said the database service available on Azure would implement a new storage layer that significantly improves performance, scalability, and availability of the database compared to its other PostgreSQL services. Microsoft already offers Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL, which handles distributed tables, but the vendor said the new service would be fully distributed.

Shireesh Thota, corporate vice president for databases at Microsoft, said: "Developers would choose HorizonDB for its massive read scale without the need to replicate the database between instances, and unique AI features including advanced DiskANN vector indexes that push filters down to improve performance, and AI model management that provides one-click integration into AI Foundry."

He did not answer questions about pricing for ...