Microsoft has clarified the more confusing elements of SQL Server licensing and extended major benefits to customers. The catch is that Software Assurance is required to take advantage of them.

Microsoft debuted SQL Server 2019 at Ignite, but a more technically detailed picture of the next-gen database platform emerged only later at the PASS Summit.

Microsoft's database releases from 2008 and 2010 reach end of extended support. In response, Redmond says, that for many customers, the time for cloud migration has arrived.