22-25 April 2026 
SQL Server & CockroachDB: The Roadmap to Global Scale
Proposed session for SQLBits 2026TL; DR
Not every SQL Server modernization needs a full rewrite or multi-year migration. This session shows a practical middle path: keep your T-SQL, reduce risk, modernize incrementally, and introduce distributed, always-on databases without a disruptive big-bang approach.
Session Details
Many SQL Server environments support mission-critical applications that rely heavily on T-SQL, stored procedures, and long-established patterns. While teams increasingly need global availability, resilience, and elastic scale, full migrations to new platforms often take years and introduce significant risk.
This session presents a practical, phased approach for extending SQL Server workloads to CockroachDB as the target distributed database, without forcing an immediate rewrite of existing T-SQL application code. By utilizing advanced migration strategies and real-time translation tools, organizations can bridge the gap between legacy systems and modern cloud-native databases. These tools convert T-SQL code to PostgreSQL-compatible syntax on the fly, allowing you to start quickly while giving your team the breathing room to make long-term architectural decisions.
Rather than positioning modernization as a replacement exercise, this talk focuses on coexistence and controlled migration, where SQL Server remains in place for critical systems while teams gradually adopt CockroachDB for new, resilient, or geographically distributed workloads. The result is faster time to value, lower risk, and a clear path to always-on, multi-region architectures.
This session presents a practical, phased approach for extending SQL Server workloads to CockroachDB as the target distributed database, without forcing an immediate rewrite of existing T-SQL application code. By utilizing advanced migration strategies and real-time translation tools, organizations can bridge the gap between legacy systems and modern cloud-native databases. These tools convert T-SQL code to PostgreSQL-compatible syntax on the fly, allowing you to start quickly while giving your team the breathing room to make long-term architectural decisions.
Rather than positioning modernization as a replacement exercise, this talk focuses on coexistence and controlled migration, where SQL Server remains in place for critical systems while teams gradually adopt CockroachDB for new, resilient, or geographically distributed workloads. The result is faster time to value, lower risk, and a clear path to always-on, multi-region architectures.
3 things you'll get out of this session
A clear understanding of when and why CockroachDB is a strong target platform for SQL Server workloads
Practical patterns for phased migration from SQL Server to CockroachDB using Liberatii
Architectural insight into building globally distributed, always-on applications without rewriting existing systems
