Open Source Drupal 7 CMS Gains Interoperability with Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft this week showcased some of its interoperability accomplishments reflected with the release of the open source Drupal 7 content management system.

Drupal 7, produced by Drupal Association volunteer coders, now works with Microsoft's SQL Server relational database management system products and is distributed through the Microsoft Web Platform Installer. It's also distributed from the Drupal Web site and Commerce Guys, an organization dedicated to Drupal-based e-commerce apps. Drupal is an open source, PHP-based CMS for creating Web sites, blogs, and e-commerce sites.

Microsoft has also included Drupal 7 in its WebMatrix tool, which was released Jan. 13. WebMatrix is a free Web site creation tool that supports a number of open source applications integrated with Microsoft's IIS 7.5 Express Web server.

Version 7 of Drupal was released Jan. 5. It has been about two-and-a-half years since the last major release, according to Jim Taylor, owner of Columbus, OH-based Rooty Hollow LLC, in a Microsoft-produced video. Rooty Hollow provides development and IT backend support services. Taylor, one of the volunteer developers on the Drupal project, noted that the user interface of Drupal 7 has been improved and the database layer under the system was rewritten. The team added a new PHP Data Objects (PDO) layer and the CMS now works with multiple databases, both open source and proprietary.

Support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (and later versions) in Drupal CMS got rolling last year, according to a blog post by Jean Paoli, Microsoft's general manager for interoperability. It culminated in a SQL Server Driver for PHP 2.0 with PDO support release, which Microsoft made available in August. Those who use the free SQL Server Express edition with Drupal can tap into the database management system's business intelligence and reporting capabilities, according to Paoli.

Drupal runs on Apache or Microsoft IIS Web servers and supports PHP 5.2 or higher. In addition to working with SQL Server, Drupal integrates with MySQL 4.1 (or higher) or PostgreSQL 7.4 (or higher) relational database management systems.

Four new Drupal modules were created for administrators and developers. The modules include Bing Maps, Silverlight Pivot viewer, Windows Live ID and an OData module. Schakra and Mindtree developed the modules using funding from Microsoft.

Paoli also said in the blog post that Microsoft is supporting Drupal on Windows Azure, which is Microsoft's Internet cloud platform. "We're working, for example, on bringing the full elasticity and scalability of Windows Azure cloud to Drupal and other PHP applications," Paoli stated. Drupal 7 can be deployed to Microsoft's cloud-based operating system using a tool called the "Windows Azure Companion."

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

  • Abstract AI circuit board pattern

    Nonprofit LawZero to Work Toward Safer, Truthful AI

    Turing Award-winning AI researcher Yoshua Bengio has launched LawZero, a nonprofit aimed at developing AI systems that prioritize safety and truthfulness over autonomy.

  • abstract pattern of cybersecurity, ai and cloud imagery

    Report Identifies Malicious Use of AI in Cloud-Based Cyber Threats

    A recent report from OpenAI identifies the misuse of artificial intelligence in cybercrime, social engineering, and influence operations, particularly those targeting or operating through cloud infrastructure. In "Disrupting Malicious Uses of AI: June 2025," the company outlines how threat actors are weaponizing large language models for malicious ends — and how OpenAI is pushing back.

  • tutor and student working together at a laptop

    You've Paid for Tutoring. Here's How to Make Sure It Works.

    As districts and states nationwide invest in tutoring, it remains one of the best tools in our educational toolkit, yielding positive impacts on student learning at scale. But to maximize return on investment, both financially and academically, we must focus on improving implementation.

  • red brick school building with a large yellow "AI" sign above its main entrance

    New National Academy for AI Instruction to Provide Free AI Training for Educators

    In an effort to "transform how artificial intelligence is taught and integrated into classrooms across the United States," the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), in partnership with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and the United Federation of Teachers, is launching the National Academy for AI Instruction, a $23 million initiative that will provide access to free AI training and curriculum for all AFT members, beginning with K-12 educators.