Deploy a sandbox for Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance

Microsoft Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance has nearly 100% compatibility with the latest SQL Server database engine. Existing SQL Server customers can lift-and-shift their applications to Azure Arc data services with minimal application and database changes while maintaining data sovereignty. At the same time, SQL Managed Instance includes built-in management capabilities that drastically reduce management overhead.

Azure landing zone sandbox subscription

You can practice your skills with an automated, easy-to-deploy sandbox solution named ArcBox using an Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes environment. ArcBox runs in your Azure landing zone sandbox subscription and bootstraps all required Azure resources within a single resource group.

Figure 1: Diagram of ArcBox in a sandbox subscription.

For more information on the design areas labeled A-I in the visual, see environment design areas.

ArcBox is entirely self-contained within a single Azure subscription and resource group. It lets you get hands-on with Azure Arc-enabled server technology while needing nothing more than an Azure subscription.

Figure 2: Diagram of an ArcBox resource group.

The single resource group that ArcBox deploys contains three Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes clusters. It also includes a unified operations resource layer to integrate with Azure services and understand the Azure Arc-enabled data services value proposition.

Deployment options and prerequisites

The ArcBox solution can be deployed using one of four methods:

• Azure Bicep using the Azure CLI
• Terraform using the Terraform CLI
• Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template using the Azure CLI
• ARM template using the Azure portal

You can install either the Azure CLI or Terraform CLI based on the desired deployment method.

Next steps

The Azure Arc-enabled data services landing zone accelerator sandbox is based on the fully automated Jumpstart ArcBox solution. For more information, see the Jumpstart ArcBox overview.