Microsoft has pushed deeper into open source data infrastructure with new DocumentDB, HorizonDB and Fabric database releases.
Microsoft has strengthened its open source data strategy with the general availability of Azure DocumentDB, the company’s first managed service built on the open-source DocumentDB project governed by The Linux Foundation. The MongoDB-compatible engine runs across Azure, third-party clouds and on-premises deployments, with Microsoft positioning the launch as a route to deliver “freedom from proprietary lock-in and the ability to standardise on open source solutions while operating at a global scale.”
DocumentDB introduces vector and hybrid search, instant autoscaling, independent compute and storage scaling, Microsoft Entra authentication, customer-managed encryption keys, a 99.995 per cent availability SLA and 35-day backups at no extra cost. It serves organisations seeking a non-proprietary, licensing-flexible alternative for MongoDB-compatible workloads.
Alongside this launch, Microsoft introduced Azure HorizonDB in private preview, a cloud database built on open-source PostgreSQL and engineered for enterprise application modernisation. Integrated with Microsoft Foundry, Microsoft Fabric and Visual Studio Code, HorizonDB supports transactions and vector search reportedly up to three times faster than open source PostgreSQL based on internal tests.
It scales to 15 replicas with 192 virtual cores each, 128 terabytes of auto-scaled storage and vector indexing powered by Microsoft’s DiskANN algorithm, targeting high-end mission-critical systems.
Microsoft also announced the general availability of Fabric databases, which combine SQL and Azure Cosmos DB capabilities in a unified service supporting vector data and retrieval-augmented generation for AI workloads.
SQL Server 2025 became generally available as well, offering AI-integrated relational processing, native JSON support, REST APIs, event streaming, OneLake-based analytics mirroring, improved failover, Entra ID authentication, an updated GitHub Copilot experience and a new cross-platform Python driver.
All announcements were made at Microsoft Ignite in San Francisco.
