Azure SQL Database
By Microsoft
Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's fully managed, cloud-native relational database service built on the Microsoft SQL Server engine, offering platform-as-a-service (PaaS) capabilities like automatic patching, backups, and scaling.
Definition
Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's fully managed, cloud-native relational database service built on the Microsoft SQL Server engine, offering platform-as-a-service (PaaS) capabilities like automatic patching, backups, and scaling.
Overview
Azure SQL Database runs the same core query engine as Microsoft SQL Server, giving it broad T-SQL compatibility, but removes the operational work of managing servers, OS patching, and backups that a self-hosted SQL Server installation requires — the classic distinction between infrastructure-as-a-service and PaaS relational database offerings. It supports several deployment models, including single databases, elastic pools that share resources across many databases for variable workloads, and Managed Instance, which offers closer feature parity with on-premises SQL Server for easier lift-and-shift migrations. As a PaaS offering, Azure SQL Database provides built-in high availability, automatic backups with point-in-time restore, and elastic scaling, positioning it against other managed relational services like Amazon Aurora and Google Cloud Spanner for organizations standardizing on Microsoft's cloud data stack.
Key Features
- Built on the Microsoft SQL Server engine with T-SQL compatibility
- Fully managed patching, backups, and high availability
- Elastic pools for sharing resources across many databases
- Managed Instance option for near-parity with on-premises SQL Server
- Built-in threat detection and auditing for compliance
- Serverless compute tier that scales down automatically when idle
Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
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