Community Driven Read-Only AdventureWorks2012 now available on SQL Azure

SSIS Junkie - AdventureWorks2012 now available for all on SQL Azure

"AdventureWorks on Azure - Provided by the SQL Server community, for the SQL Server community!

Three days ago I tweeted this:

Idea. MSFT could host read-only copies of all the [AdventureWorks] DBs up on #sqlazure for the SQL community to use. RT if agree #sqlfamily

— Jamie Thomson (@jamiet) March 24, 2012

Evidently I wasn't the only one that thought this was a good idea because as you can see from the screenshot that tweet has, so far, been retweeted more than fifty times. Clearly there is a desire to see the AdventureWorks databases made available for the community to noodle around on so I am pleased to announce that as of today you can do just that - [AdventureWorks2012] now resides on SQL Azure and is available for anyone, absolutely anyone, to connect to and use* for their own means.

*By use I mean "issue some SELECT statements". You don't have permission to issue INSERTs, UPDATEs, DELETEs or EXECUTEs I'm afraid - if you want to do that then you can get the bits and host it yourself.

This database is free for you to use but SQL Azure is of course not free so before I give you the credentials please lend me your ears eyes for a short while longer. AdventureWorks on Azure is being provided for the SQL Server community to use and so I am hoping that that same community will rally around to support this effort by making a voluntary donation to support the upkeep which, going on current pricing, is going to be $119.88 per year. If you would like to contribute to keep AdventureWorks on Azure up and running for that full year please donate via PayPal to adventureworksazure@hotmail.co.uk:

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Any amount, no matter how small, will help. If those 50+ people that retweeted me beforehand all contributed $2 then that would just about be enough to keep this up for a year. If the community contributes more that we need then there are a number of additional things that could be done:

• Host additional databases (Northwind anyone??)
• Host in more datacentres (this first one is in Western Europe)
• Make a charitable donation

That last one, a charitable donation, is something I would really like to do. The SQL Community have proved before that they can make a significant contribution to charitable orgnisations through purchasing the SQL Server MVP Deep Dives book and I harbour hopes that AdventureWorks on Azure can continue in that vein. So please, if you think AdventureWorks on Azure is something that is worth supporting please make a contribution.

OK, with the prickly subject of begging for cash out of the way let me share the details that you need to connect to [AdventureWorks2012] on SQL Azure:

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The fact that this is "just a guy" stepping up to do this is pretty awesome.

And it works great too. Here's a snap of me connecting to it via SSMS.

If you connect remember to say hello (via the SQLFamily... See Jamie's post for details).

And if you are going to use this in any real way shape or form, remember to tip Jamie. This is coming out of his pocket...