Azure SQL Database is a managed, intelligent, and scalable relational database service provided by Microsoft. It's built on the SQL Server database engine and offers a wide range of features and capabilities to help you develop, test, and deploy applications with ease. Here's an overview of its key aspects:
Azure SQL Database offers three service tiers: Basic, Standard, and Premium. These tiers cater to different workloads and provide different levels of performance, storage, and features. You can scale up or down depending on your needs.
There are two main deployment models - Single Database and Elastic Pool. Single Database provides a dedicated and isolated environment for individual databases, while Elastic Pool allows you to share resources among multiple databases, improving cost-efficiency.
Azure SQL Database incorporates features like automatic tuning, threat detection, and vulnerability assessment to optimize database performance, ensure security, and reduce management overhead.
Azure SQL Database provides automated backups, enabling point-in-time restores. Geo-redundant backups ensure data protection in case of regional disasters.
Azure SQL Database offers built-in high availability with a 99.99% uptime SLA. It uses a technology called Always On, which automatically creates redundant copies of the database and seamlessly handles failovers.
You can easily scale your database vertically (changing the performance level) and horizontally (sharding data across multiple databases) to accommodate changing workloads.
Azure SQL Database offers multiple layers of security, including network isolation using Azure Virtual Networks, data encryption at rest (TDE) and in transit (SSL/TLS), Azure Active Directory integration, and row-level security.
Azure SQL Database integrates with other Azure services like Azure Functions, App Service, Power BI, and more, making it an ideal choice for building and deploying applications in the Azure ecosystem.
Azure SQL Database provides monitoring and diagnostics capabilities using Azure Monitor, Azure SQL Analytics, Query Performance Insights, and Query Store, which help you analyze and optimize your database's performance.
Microsoft provides tools like the Data Migration Assistant and the Azure Database Migration Service to help you assess and migrate your existing databases to Azure SQL Database with minimal downtime.