Summary
In this module, you learned about Azure SQL, including its deployment options, purchasing models, service tiers, and hardware choices. You now have a better understanding of the options you can and should choose for your applications and data.
Note
If you're ready to get started with Azure SQL Database, try Azure SQL Database free of charge for the life of your subscription.
Learn more
To learn more about the history of Azure SQL and the options, models, and management tools, check out the following references.
Video series: Azure SQL for beginners
People learn in different ways. A Channel 9 video series related to this learning path is available on YouTube.
History of Azure SQL
You can watch the 2008 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference keynote, where Microsoft Chief Software Architect (at the time) Ray Ozzie announced Azure for the first time. If you want to read the original "What to use when," you can find that in the TechNet archive.
SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines
To learn more about what you can get from IaaS services, check out What is IaaS?. Here are some considerations specific to optimally deploying and managing SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines:
- Install from Azure gallery images or take advantage of the resource provider (also referred to as the SQL IaaS Extension) for licensing flexibility and to enable automatic backups and updates.
- Consider memory-optimized or storage-optimized VM sizes for maximum performance.
- Integrate your Azure VMs to on-premises networks by using Azure Virtual Network.
- Take advantage of automated backups, backups to Azure Blob storage, and integration with Azure Backup.
- Always On Failover Cluster Instances is supported with Azure premium file share.
- Always On availability groups are supported, including Cloud Witness.
If you're considering SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines, you should review the guidance on images, the quick checklist for getting optimal performance of SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines, and the guidance for storage configuration.
If you're specifically considering SQL Server on Linux on Azure VMs, review SQL Server on Linux. There are multiple quickstarts available for Linux distributions, for example: Quickstart: Install SQL Server and create a database on Red Hat.
Companies that use Azure SQL
There are many companies that have moved to Azure SQL. You can learn more about some of the companies mentioned in this module:
Platform as a service (PaaS) capabilities
You can read more about PaaS.
Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance are versionless, meaning you get updates as they become available and never have to migrate. You can view a feed from Microsoft about those updates. Follow the latest feature announcements and news at What's New in Azure SQL Database? and What's New in Azure SQL Managed Instance?
Learn more about pools in Azure SQL:
If you want to learn more about deployment options and how to choose one, check out these resources:
- Blog announcement for Azure SQL explains Azure SQL and some of the views and experiences available in the Azure portal.
- Choosing your database migration path to Azure is a white paper about tools for discovering, assessing, planning, and migrating SQL databases to Azure. This learning path refers to it several times, and we recommend that you read it. Chapter 5 includes an in-depth discussion about choosing the right deployment option.
- Feature comparison among SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server can help you learn about the differences among these options.
Purchasing models and service tiers
You might want to learn more about the differences between DTU-based and vCore-based purchasing models. To do that, review the in-depth comparison of vCores and DTUs. Note that only the vCore model allows you to save money with options like Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server and reserved capacity.
The vCore purchasing model goes deeper into the details and architectures for the various service tiers.
Management interfaces
To learn more about the tools, you can check out the SQL tools documentation, which includes information about and guidance on the various options discussed in this module.
For more on how to connect to the Database Engine in various products and services, from various tools or providers, read Connect to the Database Engine.