I haven't used SQL Server directly in a while, but IIRC, we can use the identity() function, which does 2 things: 1. tells the system to start counting at a certain number, and 2. tells it to increment the next number by a certain multiple (i.e. x2)

I do agree that serially incrementing numbers may sometime be relegated to the history books, although this is such a baked in function that, lacking any other prebuilt functions, old-time SQL developers simply reach for it.