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IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC vs. Microsoft SQL Server

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC

    Score6.1 out of 10
    N/AIBM Cloud Virtual Servers are customizable, public or private, cloud-based servers available from IBM. User can launch applications and software across blended, hybrid environments as the servers integrate with all cloud models.

    $0.01

    per hour

    Microsoft SQL Server

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database.

    $1,418

    Per License

    Pricing
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPCMicrosoft SQL Server
    Editions & Modules
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (dedicated host)
    starting at $0.22
    per hour
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (dedicated host)
    starting at $149.00
    per month
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (multi-tenant)
    starting at $0.038
    per hour
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (multi-tenant)
    starting at $25.21
    per month
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (reserved)
    starting at $0.02
    per hour
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (reserved)
    starting at $13.27
    per month
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers (transient)
    starting at $0.01
    per hour
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPCMicrosoft SQL Server
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsIBM Cloud virtual servers include 250 GB of outbound public bandwidth, unmetered inbound public bandwidth, and unmetered private and management network bandwidth.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPCMicrosoft SQL Server
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
    Reliability and Quick setup and scaling.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
    I ended up spinning up a Kubernetes cluster on Azure since I could not get my Kubernetes cluster on IBM to work. I do have a support case opened with IBM on this issue.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
    I chose IBM over others because of many reasons but the top reason is that IBM provided the paid trial for one year to my business which is not even an option for any other provider. This helped us tested IBM thoroughly without spending a dime. Moreover, IBM is the pioneer of …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
    Neither of those servers allows for creating an email server that can send out on port 25. IBM is easier to set-up than Amazon. And perhaps a little easier than Google. Also IBM can handle domain names for .com and .net. And changes made to their IP addresses take affect fairly …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    53 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    45 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    53 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    39 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    45 Answers
    Features
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPCMicrosoft SQL Server
    Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
    Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
    7.2
    88 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime9.181 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dynamic scaling9.176 Ratings00 Ratings
    Elastic load balancing8.664 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-configured templates3.072 Ratings00 Ratings
    Monitoring tools7.384 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-defined machine images4.777 Ratings00 Ratings
    Operating system support6.984 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security controls9.178 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPCMicrosoft SQL Server
    Small Businesses
    IBM Cloud Object Storage
    Score9 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers
    Score8.7 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP on IBM Cloud
    Score9 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPCMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.2
    (88 ratings)
    7.9
    (107 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.1
    (5 ratings)
    7.9
    (26 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPCMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    One scenario that immediately came to my mind was large-scale data processing, IBM Cloud Virtual Servers is well-suited for organizations that require high-performance computing capabilities, particularly when processing large amounts of data. It can also be useful for companies or organizations that wish to migrate their workplace to the cloud and it may suite companies that have strict compliance requirements since the servers have robust security features.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft SQL is ubiquitous, while MySQL runs under the hood all over the place. Microsoft SQL is the platform taught in colleges and certification courses and is the one most likely to be used by businesses because it is backed by Microsoft. Its interface is friendly (well, as pleasant as SQL can be) and has been used by so many for so long that resources are freely available if you encounter any issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • Scalability: IBM Cloud Virtual Servers enable businesses to simply and quickly scale up or down the resources they require in response to changing business demands. This enables firms to respond to traffic spikes, requests for new services, or changes in business size without the need for additional hardware purchases or maintenance.
    • Cost savings: By employing virtual servers in the cloud, enterprises can decrease capital expenditures for hardware and infrastructure while also lowering ongoing operational expenses by removing server maintenance and management costs. This can result in significant cost savings for enterprises, particularly those that need to raise or decrease their computer capacity fast and easily.
    • High availability: IBM Cloud Virtual Servers is built with high availability in mind, giving enterprises the certainty that their applications and data will be available and accessible even if hardware fails or other disruptions occur. This assists enterprises in maintaining business continuity and lowering the chance of downtime, which is crucial for firms that rely on 24/7 access to their systems. Furthermore, IBM's comprehensive network and security features aid in the prevention of data breaches and other security risks, assuring the availability and reliability of their applications and data.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Easy to configure and use with Visual Studio and Dot Net
    • Easy integration with MSBI to perform data analysis
    • Data Security
    • Easy to understand and use
    • Very easy to export database and tables in the form of SQL query or a script
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • It would also be nice if there were more templates to choose from when creating a server. Right now there are only a few options, and we'd like to see more variety.
    • We'd like to see the ability to create server groups. This would make it easier to manage a large number of servers since we could do all of the updates and management tasks for them at once.
    • There doesn't seem to be a way to automatically install updates on all of the virtual servers. We have to go in and manually update each one, which can be time-consuming. It would be really nice if automatic updates can be done.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition has a high cost but is the only edition which supports SQL Always On Availability Groups. It would be nice to include this feature in the Standard version.
    • Licensing of Microsoft SQL Server is a quite complex matter, it would be good to simplify licensing in the future. For example, per core vs per user CAL licensing, as well as complex licensing scenarios in the Cloud and on Edge locations.
    • It would be good to include native tools for converting Oracle, DB2, Postgresql and MySQL/MariaDB databases (schema and data) for import into Microsoft SQL Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    It has a flexible and affordable pricing, easy to configure and manage. It is easy to spawn one or multiple instances and have them up and running in no time
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We understand that the Microsoft SQL Server will continue to advance, offering the same robust and reliable platform while adding new features that enable us, as a software center, to create a superior product. That provides excellent performance while reducing the hardware requirements and the total cost of ownership of our solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SQL Server mostly 'just works' or generates error messages to help you sort out the trouble. You can usually count on the product to get the job done and keep an eye on your potential mistakes. Interaction with other Microsoft products makes operating as a Windows user pretty straight forward. Digging through the multitude of dialogs and wizards can be a pain, but the answer is usually there somewhere.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    Always available when you need an instance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    IBM
    Most of the instances work on hypervisors with good processors, but not all of them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    IBM
    It is adequate, but you need to be ready to argue your point - which is fair enough, I suppose, but being given the opposite of the benefit of the doubt every time does not necessarily result in an enjoyable user experience.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We managed to handle most of our problems by looking into Microsoft's official documentation that has everything explained and almost every function has an example that illustrates in detail how a particular functionality works. Just like PowerShell has the ability to show you an example of how some cmdlet works, that is the case also here, and in my opinion, it is a very good practice and I like it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    We did not use IBM professional services to implement IBM Cloud Virtual Servers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Other than SQL taking quite a bit of time to actually install there are no problems with installation. Even on hardware that has good performance SQL can still take close to an hour to install a typical server with management and reporting services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    IBM Cloud Virtual Servers offer more customization options than Amazon EC2, with the ability to select from a range of operating systems, storage types, and network configurations. IBM also provides a wide range of tools and services to help manage and optimize your virtual servers, including a web-based console, CLI, and API.

    AWS EC2 is a more managed platform, with a focus on providing a simple and easy-to-use interface. Amazon provides a range of predefined instance types, each with different specs and pricing, to make it easy to find the right option for your needs. AWS also offers a number of management and monitoring tools, but these are often more basic than what is available from IBM.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    [Microsoft] SQL Server has a much better community and professional support and is overall just a more reliable system with Microsoft behind it. I've used MySQL in the past and SQL Server has just become more comfortable for me and is my go to RDBMS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    IBM
    It worked well for us in the beginning, it works well for us when we have more instances.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • Supports businesses who want compute power on demand (instances are ready within minutes).
    • It can give you access to a 32-core CPU at $0.29 for short running or interruptible processes - enabling cost-efficient number crunching.
    • Given me a taste of the powers of remote compute power for compilation and development.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Increased accuracy - We went from multiple users having different versions of an Excel spreadsheet to a single source of truth for our reporting.
    • Increased Efficiency - We can now generate reports at any time from a single source rather than multiple users spending their time collating data and generating reports.
    • Improved Security - Enterprise level security on a dedicated server rather than financial files on multiple laptop hard drives.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots