PolyBase, a data virtualization feature for SQL Server, allows users to seamlessly query data from various external sources directly using T-SQL (Transact-SQL) without the need for separate client ...

SQL Server is going to cost a minimum of $12k (you can't buy fewer than 4 core licenses, no matter how few virtual cores you use). $6k for a VM host + labor isn't unreasonable.

There's going to be more than one way for customers to take advantage of Microsoft's server application virtualization (Server App-V) technology when it becomes commercially available later this year.