SQL Database

Official Documentation

Homepage
Pricing
Service Levels
SQL Database Limitations

Homepage Pricing SLAs Limits

Service Description

SQL Database integrates relational database technology as a true cloud service into the Microsoft Azure platform. This includes a relational database and a synchronization service that can be used to synchronize the content of multiple databases. The administrative overhead is kept to a minimum because it is mostly handled by Microsoft Azure. With SQL Database, Microsoft Azure is equipped with a true relational database that is interface-compatible with SQL Server. Thanks to this compatibility, SQL Database can be accessed via familiar technologies (e.g., Entity Framework, ADO.NET, JDBC) and tools (e.g., SQL Server Management Studio). In many cases, addressing the target database using the connection string for a corresponding cloud database is sufficient.

Functionally, SQL Database maps a subset of SQL Server. The familiar database constructs such as tables, views, joins, atomic transactions, data integrity for competing accesses, etc. are available. The SQL security architecture is likewise supported, with the ability to create users and to assign them permissions.

In contrast with SQL Server (including an SQL server operated in a virtual machine), SQL Database is a true cloud service. Management of the environment (configuration of hardware and system software, monitoring, patch installation, etc.) is handled completely by Microsoft Azure. Setting up a new database server with an associated database takes a matter of seconds, and a database can be deleted just as quickly. Billing is based on the duration of provisioning and the size of the database.

Getting Started

SQL Database Learning Path
10/3/2016, Webpage
SQL Database Elastic Pools Learning Path
10/3/2016, Webpage
Get started with Azure SQL Database
9/28/2015, Video, 0:30:43
Explore Azure SQL Database - the intelligent cloud database for app developers
9/28/2016, Video, 0:55:04
Use Relational Database as a Service
12/10/2015, Mva
Azure207x - Databases in Azure
5/31/2017, Mva

Latest Content

Date	Title
8/16/2017	8/16/2017 Editing a .bacpac file There are times when for whatever reason you just wish you could make a change to a .bacpac file before you import it into Azure. Inside a bacpac file The inside of a bacpac is usually a closed...
8/16/2017	8/16/2017 Early technical preview of JDBC 6.3.1 for SQL Server released! We are delighted to release a new early technical preview of the JDBC Driver for SQL Server. Precompiled binaries are available on GitHub and also on Maven Central. Below is a summary of the new...
8/10/2017	8/10/2017 SQL Server 2017 Adaptive QP Data Exposed [0:23:48] This week's Data Exposed show welcomes Joe Sack into the Channel 9 studio. Joe is a Principal PM on the SQL Server team, and is in the Channel 9 studios today to show us the awesome Adaptive...
8/10/2017	8/10/2017 Using Azure Analysis Services over Azure SQL DB and DW Microsoft Azure Blog In the video below, I demonstrate to Scott Hanselman Azure Analysis Services over SQL Data Warehouse. In this scenario, Azure Analysis Services servers two major functions;1. It provides a...
8/9/2017	8/9/2017 Cloud Platform Release Announcements for August 9, 2017 Cloud Platform Blog This is a blog post for a new, ongoing series of consolidated updates from the Cloud Platform team. We’re here to help you embrace the cloud. Realize your true potential with our unique...
8/8/2017	8/8/2017 Azure AD authentication extensions for Azure SQL DB and SQL DW tools Microsoft Azure Blog Azure AD Authentication Extensions for Azure SQL DB and SQL DW Tools
7/27/2017	7/27/2017 Azure Analysis Services with Azure SQL DB and Data Warehouse YT: Microsoft Azure [0:14:58] Want to learn more? Download the enterprise cloud strategy ebook: http://aka.ms/enterprisecloudebook Josh Caplan, a Sr. Program Manager from the Azure Analysis Services team, joins Scott...
7/25/2017	7/25/2017 Azure SQL Database Elastic Pools and Elastic Jobs Data Exposed [0:24:22] This week's episode of Data Exposed Scott welcomes two awesome individuals, Torsten Grabs and Morgan Oslake (Principal PM in the SQL product group), to talk about the great topic of Azure SQL...
7/20/2017	7/20/2017 Azure Analysis Services with Azure SQL DB and Data Warehouse Azure Friday [0:14:57] Josh Caplan, a Sr. Program Manager from the Azure Analysis Services team, joins Scott Hanselman to show how you can get started using Azure Analysis Services with Azure SQL DB and Data Warehouse....
7/20/2017	7/20/2017 Azure SQL Data Sync 2.0 James Serra's Blog Azure SQL Data Sync has been ignored for quite some time, but has finally gotten an update (it’s in public preview). This release includes several major improvements to the service including new...
7/19/2017	7/19/2017 Azure SQL DB: Generate scripts by using mssql-scripter Service Updates You can use mssql-scripter on Linux, macOS, and Windows to generate DDL and DML T-SQL scripts for database objects in SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Data Warehouse.
7/19/2017	7/19/2017 Artificial Intelligence tunes Azure SQL Databases Microsoft Azure Blog To stay competitive, today’s businesses need to make sure that they focus on their core competencies that directly deliver customer value while relying on their cloud provider to offer an...

more...

Azure Documentation

1. SQL DB Documentation
2. Overview
     2.1. About SQL DB
3. Quickstarts
     3.1. Create DB - Portal
     3.2. Create DB - Azure CLI
     3.3. Create DB - PowerShell
     3.4. Connect & query
          3.4.1. SSMS
          3.4.2. VS Code
          3.4.3. .NET with Visual Studio
          3.4.4. .NET core
          3.4.5. PHP
          3.4.6. Node.js
          3.4.7. Java
          3.4.8. Python
          3.4.9. Ruby
4. Tutorials
     4.1. 1 - Design DB using SSMS
     4.2. 1 - Design DB using .NET
     4.3. 2 - Migrate SQL Server DB
     4.4. 3 - Secure your SQL DB
     4.5. 4 - Improve SQL DB performance
     4.6. 5 - Implement multi-tenant app
     4.7. 6 - Implement a geo-distributed database
5. Samples
     5.1. Code samples
     5.2. Azure CLI
     5.3. PowerShell
6. Concepts
     6.1. Service features
          6.1.1. Overview
          6.1.2. Service tiers
          6.1.3. Elastic pools
          6.1.4. Connectivity architecture
          6.1.5. Firewall rules
          6.1.6. DTUs and eDTUs
          6.1.7. DTU benchmark
          6.1.8. Limits
          6.1.9. PaaS or IaaS
          6.1.10. Auditing
          6.1.11. Threat detection
          6.1.12. Database backups
          6.1.13. Backup retention
          6.1.14. Failover groups
          6.1.15. Elastic client library
          6.1.16. Elastic queries
          6.1.17. Elastic transactions
          6.1.18. Elastic jobs
          6.1.19. SQL Server common features
     6.2. Security
          6.2.1. Overview
          6.2.2. Access control
          6.2.3. Azure AD
          6.2.4. Logins and users
          6.2.5. Multi-factor auth
          6.2.6. Table auditing & TDS
          6.2.7. Data masking
     6.3. Business continuity
          6.3.1. Overview
          6.3.2. Database recovery
          6.3.3. Configure security
          6.3.4. App design & recovery
          6.3.5. App design & pools
          6.3.6. App design & app upgrades
          6.3.7. Recover from outage
          6.3.8. Perform recovery drill
     6.4. Load & move data
          6.4.1. Migrate SQL Server DB
          6.4.2. T-SQL changes
          6.4.3. Copy a DB
          6.4.4. Import a DB
          6.4.5. Export a DB
          6.4.6. Sync data
     6.5. Monitor & tune
          6.5.1. Overview
          6.5.2. Perf monitoring
          6.5.3. Perf recommendations
          6.5.4. Automatic tuning
          6.5.5. Manual tuning
          6.5.6. Operate query store
          6.5.7. Extended events
          6.5.8. Compatibility levels
          6.5.9. Monitor in-memory
     6.6. Scale out
          6.6.1. Overview
          6.6.2. Shard maps
          6.6.3. Query routing
          6.6.4. Manage credentials
          6.6.5. Shard querying
          6.6.6. Elastic tools
          6.6.7. Move sharded data
          6.6.8. Elastic client library - Dapper
          6.6.9. Elastic tools FAQ
     6.7. Multi-tenant SaaS
          6.7.1. SaaS design patterns
          6.7.2. SaaS app security
     6.8. Develop databases
          6.8.1. JSON data
          6.8.2. In-memory
          6.8.3. Temporal tables
          6.8.4. Retention policies
          6.8.5. Configure In-Memory
     6.9. Develop apps
          6.9.1. Overview
          6.9.2. Connectivity
          6.9.3. Authenticate app
          6.9.4. Error messages
          6.9.5. Batching for perf
          6.9.6. Connectivity guidance
          6.9.7. Ports - ADO.NET
7. How-to guides
     7.1. Service features
          7.1.1. Upgrade elastic database client library
          7.1.2. Install elastic job
          7.1.3. Create job - Portal
          7.1.4. Create job - PowerShell
          7.1.5. Create job - Sample app
          7.1.6. Uninstall elastic job
          7.1.7. Query vertically partitioned data
          7.1.8. Report across scaled-out data tier
          7.1.9. Query across tables with different schemas
     7.2. Security
          7.2.1. Configure Azure AD auth
          7.2.2. Conditional access
          7.2.3. Always encrypted cert store
          7.2.4. Always encrypted key vault
          7.2.5. Configure masking
          7.2.6. Configure multi-factor auth
     7.3. Business continuity
          7.3.1. Configure vault - backups
          7.3.2. Geo-replicate - Portal
          7.3.3. Geo-replicate- T-SQL - Configure
          7.3.4. Geo-replicate - T-SQL - Failover
          7.3.5. Recover single table
     7.4. Load & move data
          7.4.1. Load data with BCP
          7.4.2. Load data with ADF
          7.4.3. Sync data
     7.5. Monitor & tune
          7.5.1. Monitor & improve performance
          7.5.2. Use Query Performance Insight
          7.5.3. Apply performance recommendations
          7.5.4. Enable automatic tuning
          7.5.5. Use DMVs to monitor perf
          7.5.6. Create alerts
          7.5.7. Extended events - event file
          7.5.8. Extended events - ring buffer
          7.5.9. Diagnostic logging
          7.5.10. Troubleshoot connectivity
          7.5.11. Azure Automation
          7.5.12. Azure RemoteApp
     7.6. Scale out
          7.6.1. Create sharded app
          7.6.2. Query horizontally-sharded data
          7.6.3. Move sharded data
          7.6.4. Security configuration
          7.6.5. Add a shard
          7.6.6. Fix shard map problems
          7.6.7. Migrate sharded DB
          7.6.8. Create counters
          7.6.9. Use entity framework
     7.7. Multi-tenant SaaS
          7.7.1. Tutorial intro
          7.7.2. Deploy example app
          7.7.3. Provision tenants
          7.7.4. Monitor database performance
          7.7.5. Monitor with log analytics
          7.7.6. Restore single tenant
          7.7.7. Manage tenant schema
          7.7.8. Run ad-hoc queries
          7.7.9. ETL for analysis
     7.8. Develop apps
          7.8.1. C and C ++
          7.8.2. Excel
8. Reference
     8.1. PowerShell
     8.2. PowerShell (Elastic DB)
     8.3. Azure CLI 2.0
     8.4. .NET
     8.5. Java
     8.6. Node.js
     8.7. Python
     8.8. Ruby
     8.9. PHP
     8.10. T-SQL
     8.11. REST
     8.12. SQL Server tools
     8.13. SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
     8.14. SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT)
     8.15. BCP
     8.16. SQLCMD
     8.17. SqlPackage
     8.18. SQL Database Management Library package
     8.19. SQL Server drivers
          8.19.1. ADO.NET
          8.19.2. JDBC
          8.19.3. ODBC
9. Resources
     9.1. Azure Roadmap
     9.2. FAQ
     9.3. Public data sets
     9.4. Troubleshoot connectivity
     9.5. Pricing
     9.6. MSDN forum
     9.7. Stack Overflow
     9.8. Videos
     9.9. Service updates
     9.10. Architecture guidance
     9.11. Customer stories

Web Content

Content	Type
Azure SQL Database DTU Calculator	Website
SQL Database Elastic Pools Learning Path	Webpage
SQL Database Learning Path	Webpage
SQL Server (IaaS) on an Azure Virtual Machine Learning Path	Webpage
Microsoft Azure Essentials Migrating SQL Server Databases to Azure	Ebook
High Availability Checklist	Webpage
Security and Azure SQL Database	Whitepaper
Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2016	Ebook
SQL Azure Migration Wizard	Webpage
Understanding Azure SQL Database and SQL Server in Azure VMs	Webpage
Azure SQL Database General Guidelines and Limitations	Webpage
Protecting Data in Microsoft Azure	Whitepaper

Online Training Content

Date	Title
5/31/2017	Azure207x - Databases in Azure Microsoft uses its SQL Server technology to provide a relational database, allowing customers to either access a SQL database on its cloud, or hosted SQL server instances on virtual machines. In this course, you will learn about the different types of database services available in Azure, as well as the tools to provision, manage and monitor those...
5/24/2017	Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions In this computer science course, you will learn how to deploy an ASP.NET MVC application, which is a web application framework developed by Microsoft, which implements the model–view–controller (MVC) pattern, to the Microsoft Azure platform. We will expand on the application by learning about Microsoft Azure’s capabilities and then adding functionality...
5/24/2017	Orchestrating Big Data with Azure Data Factory This data analysis course teaches you how to use Azure Data Factory to coordinate data movement and transformation using technologies such as Hadoop, SQL, and Azure Data Lake Analytics. You will learn how to create data pipelines that will allow you to group activities to perform a certain task.
5/24/2017	Provisioning SQL Server and Azure SQL Databases The role of a SQL Server database administrator has expanded from the server rack to the datacenter to the cloud, and from Windows Server OS to Platform as a Service and Linux. In this course, you will learn how to install or provision SQL Server 2016, SQL Server v.Next on Linux, and Azure SQL Databases.
3/24/2017	Microsoft Azure for IT Pros Content Series: Data Services Need practical help with Microsoft Azure data solutions? Get the basics from MVP Corey Hynes, in the “data services” installment of our series of Azure for IT Pros courses. See helpful demos, get a look at built-in tools, and explore security features. Begin with an overview of Azure SQL, learn about data platform options, and see how to manage them...
3/5/2017	Cloud Application Development Wondering how cloud app development can help solve business problems? MVPs and popular instructors Colin Dembovsky and Steven Borg of Northwest Cadence offer helpful guidance on the subject, in this up-close look at Azure app development, platform as a service (PaaS), and DevOps on Visual Studio Team Services. In this demo-rich course, see how Azure...
2/25/2017	SQL Database Fundamentals Would you like to learn the basics of relational databases? Join us for this look at SQL Database fundamentals, along with those of database management systems and database components. Get an in-depth introduction to the terminology, concepts, and skills you need to understand database objects, administration, security, and management tools. Plus,...
2/3/2017	SQL Database Fundamentals Would you like to learn the basics of relational databases? Join us for this look at SQL Database fundamentals, along with those of database management systems and database components. Get an in-depth introduction to the terminology, concepts, and skills you need to understand database objects, administration, security, and management tools. Plus,...
12/2/2016	Web and Data Application Development with Visual Studio 2017 and Azure If you’d like to learn application development, end to end, be sure to take this course. Get a look at a number of cloud-based technologies, see practical demonstrations, and dig into what’s new in Visual Studio 2017, in this course, part of Connect(); //2016 Day 3. In six in-depth modules, take a look at the interoperability of many tools, platforms,...
9/30/2016	Migrating SQL Server Databases to Azure If you're an experienced SQL Server database administrator or developer and if you have a need to "lift and shift" databases to the cloud, this course is for you. Carl Rabeler, author of the Microsoft Press book Migrating SQL Server Databases to Azure, and Microsoft Senior Content Developer Chris Randall, who was the book’s technical reviewer, walk you...

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Tools

Tool	Description	Author
Microsoft Data Migration Assistant	Data Migration Assistant (DMA) delivers scenarios that reduce the effort to upgrade to a modern data platform by detecting compatibility issues that can impact database functionality after an upgrade. It recommends performance and reliability improvements for your target environment. DMA replaces SQL Server Upgrade Advisor.	Microsoft
Azure Feature Pack for Integration Services (SSIS)	SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) Feature Pack for Azure for SQL Server 2016 is an extension that provides the following components for SSIS to connect to Azure, transfer data between Azure and on-premises data sources, and process data stored in Azure.	Microsoft
CloudMonix	CloudMonix enhances Microsoft Azure by providing deep monitoring of most of Azure's infrastructure via live dashboards, ability to self-heal from many different production issues, on-demand historical performance and uptime reports, customizable alerts & notifications, sophisticated auto-scaling engine, integration to third party systems, and a lot more.	Paraleap Technologies
SQL Database Migration Wizard	SQL Database Migration Wizard (SQLAzureMW) is designed to help you migrate your SQL Server 2005/2008/2012/2014 databases to Azure SQL Database.	Microsoft

Videos

Date	Title	Length	Source
8/10/2017	SQL Server 2017 Adaptive QP This week's Data Exposed show welcomes Joe Sack into the Channel 9 studio. Joe is a Principal PM on the SQL Server team, and is in the Channel 9 studios today to show us the awesome Adaptive Query Processor technology, the ability of...	0:23:48	Data Exposed
7/27/2017	Azure Analysis Services with Azure SQL DB and Data Warehouse Want to learn more? Download the enterprise cloud strategy ebook: http://aka.ms/enterprisecloudebook Josh Caplan, a Sr. Program Manager from the Azure Analysis Services team, joins Scott Hanselman to show how you can get started using...	0:14:58	YT: Microsoft Azure
7/25/2017	Azure SQL Database Elastic Pools and Elastic Jobs This week's episode of Data Exposed Scott welcomes two awesome individuals, Torsten Grabs and Morgan Oslake (Principal PM in the SQL product group), to talk about the great topic of Azure SQL Database Elastic Pools and Elastic Jobs. We...	0:24:22	Data Exposed
7/20/2017	Azure Analysis Services with Azure SQL DB and Data Warehouse Josh Caplan, a Sr. Program Manager from the Azure Analysis Services team, joins Scott Hanselman to show how you can get started using Azure Analysis Services with Azure SQL DB and Data Warehouse. It includes how to build your first...	0:14:57	Azure Friday
7/12/2017	Enabling Azure SQL Database Auto-Tuning at Scale for Microsoft IT This is a really exciting episode for people that are using Azure SQL Databases - or anyone that's looking at migrating on premise or SQL on IaaS to Azure SQL Database. Lyle Dodge talks with Rajesh Vasireddy, a Program Manager in...	0:12:32	YT: Microsoft Azure
7/11/2017	SSMS: Your one-stop-shop for SQL Server Performance Troubleshooting Today's guest on the Data Exposed show is Pedro Lopes, a PM in the SQL Server TIGER team, and he's in the studio today to show off some of the things his team has been working on over the last year to help improve the tooling around...	0:31:18	Data Exposed
6/21/2017	SQL Server Database Unit Testing in your DevOps pipeline In this episode Dmitry is joined by Eric Kang, Program Manager for SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) who is back on the show to talk about Unit Testing for database projects and how it integrates with the DevOps pipeline.Specifically, Eric...	0:39:02	Ch9: VS Toolbox
6/20/2017	Azure SQL Database Geographic Failover at Scale In the Channel 9 studios this week is the amazing Sasha Nosov, Principal PM on the SQL team. Sasha is on the Data Exposed show today to talk about how to do Disaster Recovery in Azure SQL Database using auto-failover groups.Sasha was...	0:19:12	Data Exposed
5/31/2017	Cloud Tech 10 - 29th May 2017 - SaaS applications with Azure SQL DB, Azure Functions and more! Like keeping up with Azure but struggling to find enough time? Then this is the video for you! I'm Mark Whitby, a Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft UK. Each week, I cover what's happening with Microsoft Azure in just 10 minutes, or...	0:04:34	CloudTechTV
5/24/2017	SQL Server Data Tools in your DevOps pipeline In this episode Dmitry is joined by Eric Kang, Program Manager for SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) who is back on the show to talk about how Visual Studio 2017, SSDT and SQL Server 2016/SQL Database (on Azure) can be used in both...	0:31:14	Ch9: VS Toolbox

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StackOverflow

Date	Title
8/18/2017	Azure Data Storage pipeline to purge SQL table
8/18/2017	SSDT Publish - Object Reference not set
8/17/2017	Create Tables on Azure database
8/17/2017	publishing with Azure dB
8/16/2017	Does adding an Active Directory admin to an Azure SQL server affect admin account
8/16/2017	Cannot login to Azure VM SQL Server 2014 with a new login
8/16/2017	Server principal already exists but doesn't show in SSMS
8/16/2017	Not able to do cross database query in SQL Azure
8/16/2017	Slow Running query in azure sql database
8/16/2017	Microsoft AZURE SQL

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