4/26/22, 2:29 PM What is dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW)?

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What is dedicated SQL pool (formerly

SQL DW) in Azure Synapse Analytics?
Article • 02/18/2022 • 2 minutes to read • 9 contributors  

In this article
Key component of a big data solution
Next steps

Azure Synapse Analytics is an analytics service that brings together enterprise data
warehousing and Big Data analytics. Dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW) refers to
the enterprise data warehousing features that are available in Azure Synapse Analytics.

Dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW) represents a collection of analytic resources that
are provisioned when using Synapse SQL. The size of a dedicated SQL pool (formerly
SQL DW) is determined by Data Warehousing Units (DWU).

Once your dedicated SQL pool is created, you can import big data with simple PolyBase
T-SQL queries, and then use the power of the distributed query engine to run high-
performance analytics. As you integrate and analyze the data, dedicated SQL pool
(formerly SQL DW) will become the single version of truth your business can count on
for faster and more robust insights.
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4/26/22, 2:29 PM What is dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW)? - Azure Synapse Analytics | Microsoft Docs

７ Note

Not all features of the dedicated SQL pool in Azure Synapse workspaces apply to
dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW), and vice versa. To enable workspace
features for an existing dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW) refer to How to
enable a workspace for your dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW). Explore the
Azure Synapse Analytics documentation and Get Started with Azure Synapse.

Key component of a big data solution

Data warehousing is a key component of a cloud-based, end-to-end big data solution.

In a cloud data solution, data is ingested into big data stores from a variety of sources.
Once in a big data store, Hadoop, Spark, and machine learning algorithms prepare and
train the data. When the data is ready for complex analysis, dedicated SQL pool uses
PolyBase to query the big data stores. PolyBase uses standard T-SQL queries to bring
the data into dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW) tables.
Dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW) stores data in relational tables with columnar
storage. This format significantly reduces the data storage costs, and improves query
performance. Once data is stored, you can run analytics at massive scale. Compared to
traditional database systems, analysis queries finish in seconds instead of minutes, or
hours instead of days.
The analysis results can go to worldwide reporting databases or applications. Business
analysts can then gain insights to make well-informed business decisions.

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4/26/22, 2:29 PM What is dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW)? - Azure Synapse Analytics | Microsoft Docs

Next steps
Explore Azure Synapse architecture
Quickly create a dedicated SQL pool
Load sample data.
Explore Videos
Get Started with Azure Synapse
Or look at some of these other Azure Synapse resources.

Search Blogs
Submit a Feature requests
Create a support ticket
Search Microsoft Q&A question page
Search Stack Overflow forum

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4/26/22, 2:29 PM What is dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW)? - Azure Synapse Analytics | Microsoft Docs

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