# SQL Server / Azure SQL DW · compute · 2018

Revision 1 (11 October 2026) · Modeled snapshot · through 8 October 2026.

All figures are research-informed estimates of analytical activity. Significant errors may remain; decimal places do not imply measurement precision.

12.15% of the full compute layer.

[SQL Server / Azure SQL DW](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/compute/sqlserver.md): historical names and annual shares.

## Compute group contributions

| Component | Share of full compute layer |
| --- | --- |
| SQL Server | 10.2% |
| Azure SQL DW | 2% |

Connections below describe the whole SQL Server / Azure SQL DW engine. Access and storage mixes are estimated separately; they are not a joint interface-to-storage distribution.

## Access use within this engine

| Option | Share of engine activity | Share of full access layer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [ODBC](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/access/odbc.md) | 30.6% | 3.7% |
| [Other language/portable APIs](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/access/other-api.md) | 23.4% | 2.8% |
| [SQL Server / Azure SQL DW vendor-specific interface](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/access/vendor-sqlserver.md) | 19.5% | 2.4% |
| [JDBC](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/access/jdbc.md) | 19.3% | 2.3% |
| [Python DB-API (other drivers)](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/access/python.md) | 7.1% | 0.9% |

## Storage use within this engine

| Option | Share of engine activity | Share of full storage layer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Microsoft SQL Server native storage](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/native-sqlserver.md) | 76% | 9.2% |
| [Azure SQL DW native storage](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/native-synapse.md) | 14.5% | 1.8% |
| [Federated relational native stores (vendor unallocated)](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/remote-relational.md) | 3.3% | 0.4% |
| [Standalone Parquet on object storage](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/parquet-object.md) | 2.3% | 0.3% |
| [Object-store CSV/text/Avro](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/object-row.md) | 1.2% | 0.1% |
| [HDFS text/SequenceFile/RCFile/Avro](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/hdfs-row.md) | 0.8% | 0.1% |
| [Local/shared row files](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/legacy-local.md) | 0.8% | 0.1% |
| [Standalone Parquet on HDFS](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/parquet-hdfs.md) | 0.8% | 0.1% |
| [Standalone ORC on object storage](https://history.columnar.tech/technologies/storage/orc-object.md) | 0.2% | <0.1% |

[All percentages for 2018](https://history.columnar.tech/years/2018.md)

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