I ran across a blog from Microsoft with the same name as this editorial: A Server Is Not a Machine. I think the author does a nice job getting the point of cloud computing across with that title: A server is not a machine.

I think for a long time, ever since SQL Server 7.0, the line between what a "machine" is, or what a "server" is has been blurred. SQL Server has provided a service on a Windows host, but not just one service. We've expanded that to allow multiple services or "servers" on a single Windows hosts. This is with the multiple instance capability that has grown more stable and separated with each version. In the last few years I've tried to write "instance" instead of "server" since we really don't have a 1:1 linkage anymore between the physical machine and SQL Server database services. Despite the fact that so many people equate a "SQL Server" to a single database.

If you add in virtualization technologies, it's hard to even talk about Windows host servers, since you can have multiple Windows hosts on one physical machine. It makes for a very confusing discussion, even for technical people.

The blog talks about a SQL Server being a TDS endpoint. I like that, and it not only separates the SQL Server from the physical machine, but it also separates the database out. Now a "SQL Server" truly becomes a separate entity to itself, and we don't have this distiction of trying to explain multiple databases on one SQL Server to many people, who often don't truly understand that.

I like the idea of a single endpoint for the services I need. In many ways it makes working with SQL Server even easier, and I look forward to using the SQL Server database engine in this way in the future. Adding logins to my database, keeping everything self contained, seeing all DMVs accessible in my database, with granular permissions that allow me to set up permissions as appropriate.

I like the idea of SQL Server coming to the cloud. I just want the cloud to be in my data center, where I can manage it.