Azure SQL fundamentals

Many organizations have an aging or under-engineered data platform strategy. There's been a significant trend of moving existing systems to the cloud, building new applications quickly by using the cloud, and offloading some on-premises costs. You need a plan for how to move some workloads to the cloud. And you need to understand how to set up your organization for success. You also need to understand how the role of a database administrator (DBA) or data professional stays the same, and what changes you'll have to make. In this module, you'll start with a brief history of why and how Microsoft built Azure SQL. You'll then learn about the various deployment options and service tiers, including what to use for your organization, and when. These options include Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server in an Azure virtual machine. Understanding what platform as a service (PaaS) encompasses and how it compares to a traditional SQL Server environment will help you understand what you do and don't get when you move to the cloud.

In this module, you'll learn about the process of deploying and configuring Azure SQL. Through hands-on exercises, you'll deploy and configure Azure SQL Database specifically. You'll also see comparisons to both Azure SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server. In addition to the Azure portal, you'll work with SSMS, Azure Data Studio (including SQL notebooks), and the Azure CLI.

Ensuring the security and compliance of data is always a top priority. In this module, you learn how to use Azure SQL to secure your data, configure logins and users, use tools and techniques for monitoring security, ensure that your data meets industry and regulatory compliance standards, and take advantage of the extra benefits and intelligence that Azure provides. We also cover some of the networking considerations for securing SQL.

Azure SQL has the capabilities and tools to allow you to deliver consistent performance for your application. In this module, you will learn key aspects of configuration, monitoring, and intelligent performance for Azure SQL.

Whatever SLA, RTO, and RPO your business requires, Azure SQL has the options and built-in capabilities to meet that availability. In this module, you'll learn how to translate your knowledge of backup and restore, failover cluster instances, and Always On availability groups to the options for business continuity in Azure SQL. You'll also peek under the hood at the architectures and how they affect availability.

In this learning path, you've deployed and configured a secure, performant, and highly available solution by using Azure SQL. There are many elements in a single solution. In this module, you'll learn how to take the business scenario and determine the best resources and processes to satisfy requirements while considering the constraints within the scenario. You'll also learn what else you should consider with Azure SQL and opportunities in the cloud.