Microsoft Azure SQL Database
![]() | This article contains promotional content. (June 2017) |
Azure SQL Database | |
---|---|
![]() | |
![]() | |
Developer(s) | Microsoft |
Initial release | 2010 |
Available in | English |
Type | Managed cloud database |
Website | azure |
Microsoft Azure SQL Database (formerly SQL Azure, SQL Server Data Services, SQL Services, and Windows Azure SQL Database) is a managed cloud database (PaaS) provided as part of Microsoft Azure.
A cloud database is a database that runs on a cloud computing platform, and access to it is provided as a service. Managed database services take care of scalability, backup, and high availability of the database. Azure SQL Database is a managed database service that differs from AWS RDS, which is a container service.
Overview
Microsoft Azure SQL Database includes built-in intelligence that learns app patterns and adapts them to maximize performance, reliability, and data protection. It was originally announced in 2009 and released in 2010.
Key capabilities include:
- Continuous learning of your unique app patterns, adaptive performance tuning, and automatic improvements to reliability and data protection.[1]
- Scaling as needed, with virtually no app downtime.[2]
- Management and monitoring of multi-tenant apps with isolation benefits of one-customer-per-database.[3]
- Leverage open source tools like a cheetah,[4] sql-cli,[5] Visual Studio Code,[6] and Microsoft tools like Visual Studio,[7] SQL Server Management Studio,[8] Azure Management Portal, PowerShell, and REST APIs.
- Data protection[9] with encryption, authentication, limiting user access to the subset of the data, continuous monitoring and auditing to help detect potential threats and provide a record of critical events in case of a breach.
Popular use cases
- Relational data storage for cloud-based applications and websites
- Business and consumer web and mobile apps
- Manage databases for multi-tenant apps (software-as-a-service)
- Quickly create dev and test databases to speed up development cycles
- Scale production business services quickly and at a known cost
- Containerize data in the cloud for isolation and security
- Outsource database management in order to focus on value-added services[citation needed]
Design
Azure SQL Database shares the SQL Server 2016 codebase.[citation needed] It is compatible with SQL Server 2014 and 2016 and most of the features available in SQL Server 2016 are available in Azure SQL Database. A list of incompatibilities is published by Microsoft.[10]
Timeline
- 2009 – Service announced[11]
- 2010 – Service went live[12]
- 2014 – New version announced[13]
- 2015 – Elastic Pools announced[14]
Pricing
Azure SQL Database is offered either as a Standalone database or Elastic database pool, and is priced in three tiers: Basic, Standard and Premium. Each tier offers different performance levels to accommodate a variety of workloads.[citation needed]
The resources available for Standalone databases are expressed in terms of Database Transaction Units (DTUs) and for elastic pools in terms of elastic DTUs or eDTUs. A DTU is defined as a blended measure of CPU, memory, and data I/O and transaction log I/O in a ratio determined by an OLTP benchmark workload designed to be typical of real-world OLTP workloads.
Databases are available as Standalone databases or in database pools which allow multiple databases to share storage and compute resources.
Service tier | Target workloads |
---|---|
Basic | Best suited for a small database, supporting typically one single active operation at a given time. Examples include databases used for development or testing, or small-scale infrequently used applications. |
Standard | The go-to option for most cloud applications, supporting multiple concurrent queries. Examples include workgroup or web applications. |
Premium | Designed for high transactional volume, supporting many concurrent users and requiring the highest level of business continuity capabilities. Examples are databases supporting mission critical applications. |
It is also available as a limited service offering with a trial Web site or Mobile service and eligible for use with an Azure trial subscription.
See also
- Microsoft Azure
- Oracle Cloud Platform
- SQL Server
- Amazon Relational Database Service
- Relational Database
- Cloud computing
- Software as a service
References
- ^ Rabeler, Carl (March 3, 2023). "Azure SQL Database Learns & Adapts". Microsoft Azure. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ Rabeler, Carl (March 3, 2023). "Azure SQL Database Scales on the fly". Microsoft Azure.
- ^ Rabeler, Carl (October 13, 2016). "Builds Multi-tenant Apps with Azure SQL Database With Isolation and Efficiency". Microsoft.
- ^ "wunderlist/cheetah". GitHub. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ "sql-cli". npm. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ "Use Visual Studio Code to connect and query - Azure SQL Database & SQL Managed Instance". Microsoft. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Add a connection to Azure SQL Database - Visual Studio (Windows)". Microsoft. 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Use SQL Server Management Studio". Microsoft. 2023-03-03. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ Rabeler, Carl (March 3, 2023). "Azure SQL Database Secures and Protects". Microsoft.
- ^ Byham, Rick (2022-12-16). "Azure SQL Database Transact-SQL differences". Microsoft Azure.
- ^ "SQL Data Services announces plans to accelerate core relational database features". Microsoft Azure. March 10, 2009. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ "SQL Azure - The Year in Review". Microsoft Azure. January 4, 2011. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ Kelly, Eron (November 5, 2014). "Preview for greater SQL Server compatibility coming soon to Azure SQL Database". Microsoft Azure. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ Wissner, Tiffany (May 11, 2016). "Azure continues to be the best place for Software as a Service". Microsoft Azure. Retrieved 2016-11-03.