Information in this article applies to Microsoft SQL Server 2012. The instructions for earlier versions of SQL Server, including versions 2008 and 2005, are similar.

Microsoft today released the 2022 version of its SQL Server database, which features a number of built-in connections to its Azure cloud.

A new SQL Server 2025 feature lets organizations run vector-based semantic searches on their own data, connecting to local or cloud-hosted AI models without relying on massive general-purpose LLMs.