What options do you have with Azure SQL ?

Have you wondered if how many options you may have with Azure SQL deployments? This article will help you to understand and guide your through the right option for your solution.

Selecting the right Azure SQL could be a confusing task. We will try to describe the options in this article and help you with choosing the right type of Azure SLQ DB for your solution.

In general there are three major kind of SQL deployments available in Azure for SQL Server.

SQL Server deployed to VM (IaaS) — You are deploying a traditional SQL server in hosted VM in Azure. You will be responsible for underlying OS, Services and managing all storage and networking. Azure is providing you with the VM, the underlying redundancy and infrastructure for DR or HA if needed for your solution.

Azure SQL Managed Instance (Paas) — Azure is managing the underlying OS, Services, patching and networking for you. You connect to SQL server just as you are using it in any other server. The power of SQL MI comes with cross database call options for hosted DBs in same SQL server.

Azure SQL Database (Paas) — If you need a simple single SQL database then Azure SQL DB is your option. You can choose from basic $5/month database to more sophisticated and ultra performing option for $16k/month. The major difference between Azure SQL DB and SQL MI is that the Azure SQL DB is a single DB and can’t have cross DB calls in Stored Procedures for Views.

If you are interested in learning more details on Azure SQL offering I would highly recommend to start looking at the following links.

Azure SQL fundamentals — https://aka.ms/azuresqlfundamentalsm

Azure SQL for beginners — https://aka.ms/azuresql4beginners

Azure SQL Bootcamp — https://aka.ms/azuresqlbootcamp

Azure SQL Workshop — https://aka.ms/sqlworkshops

Learn Azur SQL — https://aka.ms/learnazuresql