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Hidden in Microsoft's announcement of the public beta for its Azure Analysis Service was word of another big data development: the SQL Server 2016 DW Fast Track Reference Architecture. Microsoft has, in its words, "collaborated with a number of our hardware partners on a joint effort to deliver validated, preconfigured solutions that reduce the complexity and drive optimization when implementing a data warehouse based on SQL Server 2016 Enterprise Edition." Amazon, Microsoft, Google, IBM, and Joyent compared. | Stay up on the cloud with InfoWorld's Cloud Computing newsletter. ] However, this sounds a lot like the "validated, preconfigured solution[s]" Microsoft has declared its sole delivery method for Azure Stack in hybrid deployments. If Microsoft is building a hybrid cloud future where every significant part, from database to compute, requires specific hardware, that's going to turn off a lot of IT. With Azure Stack, the in-house component of Microsoft's plan to deliver a hybrid Azure experience, you'll get the full-blown version only if you buy a preconfigured box courtesy of Microsoft and a hardware partner. Given Microsoft's talk about revamping its other enterprise products, the hardware-centric strategy might not stop with Azure Stack. In that light, Microsoft could in time promote a reference-hardware implementation of SQL Server 2016 as the prime interface for Azure, alongside other dedicated hardware.