#02 -AWS Risks, Database Investments & SQL Server Updates: What You Need to Know

Welcome to the Red9 Podcast, your go-to source for the latest in database news and insights. I’m your host, Kit, and today we’ve got a packed episode exploring new vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructure, major investments in database technology, market trends shaping the future of data management, and an important update on the retirement of a key SQL Server feature. Let’s dive right in!

We start today’s episode with some alarming news out of Black Hat USA 2024. Researchers from Aqua Security have uncovered six significant vulnerabilities in Amazon Web Services, or AWS, that could pose serious risks to cloud security. These vulnerabilities were found in services like CloudFormation and CodeStar, and they expose what Aqua Security is calling a new “shadow resource” attack vector.

So, what exactly are shadow resources? These are essentially resources like S3 buckets that AWS automatically creates on behalf of the user, often without their knowledge. The real danger here is that attackers could potentially predict and claim these buckets before AWS does, a tactic the researchers have dubbed “Bucket Monopoly.” This could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data and, in the worst cases, full account takeovers.

While AWS has patched most of these vulnerabilities, Aqua Security warns that the threat is far from over. They emphasized that similar attack vectors could still affect other AWS services and even open-source projects. This discovery serves as a crucial reminder of the ever-evolving landscape of cloud security and the importance of staying vigilant.

Next up, let’s shift gears to the world of venture capital and open-source technology. Microsoft has made a strategic investment of $25 million in Neon, an open-source database startup. Neon is known for its serverless Postgres platform, which is designed to help developers build scalable applications more efficiently.

What makes this investment particularly interesting is how it aligns with Microsoft’s broader strategy. Neon’s platform is expected to integrate closely with Microsoft Azure, enhancing the cloud giant’s offerings in the database space. Andrew Smyth, Managing Partner at M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, highlighted that Postgres is rapidly becoming the database of choice for developers. This investment underlines Microsoft’s commitment to not only support but also expand the Postgres ecosystem.

Neon’s platform is already available on AWS, and with this new influx of capital, they’re planning to extend their reach to Azure. This move is set to strengthen their position in the market and could pave the way for more innovative solutions in the AI and machine learning space, especially with their serverless capabilities and features like autoscaling and point-in-time restore.

Now, let’s talk about the booming graph database market. According to recent reports, the global graph database market, which was valued at $651 million in 2018, is projected to reach a staggering $3.7 billion by 2026. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 24.5%!

So, what’s driving this explosive growth? Graph databases are becoming essential for organizations dealing with highly interconnected data. Whether it’s for fraud detection, customer analytics, or identity management, these databases are designed to handle complex relationships between data points, something traditional relational databases struggle with.

The IT and telecom sectors have been leading the adoption of this technology, but industries like healthcare, transportation, and logistics are catching up fast. In particular, the use of graph databases in healthcare is transforming how patient data is managed, improving everything from operational efficiency to the quality of patient care.

As the demand for real-time analytics and AI applications continues to rise, so too will the adoption of graph databases, making it an exciting area to watch in the coming years.

And finally, for those who might have missed an important update from Microsoft last month, the SQL Server Stretch Database feature has officially been retired as of July 9, 2024. This feature, which was first introduced in 2016, allowed users to extend their on-premises databases to Azure, offering a hybrid solution for data storage that was both affordable and secure.

However, with the evolution of Azure’s capabilities, including innovations like Microsoft Fabric and Azure Data Lake Storage, Microsoft has decided to discontinue this service. For users still relying on SQL Server Stretch Database, Microsoft recommends either migrating data back on-premises or taking advantage of the new features available in SQL Server 2022. This feature enables users to archive cold data to Azure Storage in a cost-effective way, using open-source file formats like Parquet.

The retirement of SQL Server Stretch Database marks the end of an era, but it also opens up new possibilities for leveraging Azure’s advanced analytics and data storage solutions.

That wraps up today’s episode of the Red9 Podcast. Thanks for listening! And don’t forget to subscribe and share! Stay tuned for more updates and insights in our next episode. Until then, I’m Kit, and this is Red9 Podcast, keeping you informed on the cutting edge of database technology.