Comparing SQL Server Features On-Premises with Azure Offerings

Microsoft offers multiple options for deploying SQL Server databases, including SQL Server on-premises, SQL Server in Azure Virtual Machines (VMs), Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Data Warehouse. The chart uses Enterprise edition for on-premises and highlights differences in key areas, so choosing a deployment scenario includes trade-offs, and comparing costs may be difficult.

SQL Server on-premises requires customers to be responsible for all associated data center costs, including hardware, back-end infrastructure, network connectivity, storage, security and authentication, and administration, as well as other servers and software licensing requirements. Software licenses are available under a Per-Core model or a Server + Client Access License (CAL) model through Microsoft volume licensing.

SQL Server in Azure VMs is available in two models. Customers may purchase licenses as in Microsoft volume licensing and reassign them to Azure, or they may license SQL Server on Azure in a capacity-based, pay-as-you-go model, where all costs for the SQL Server software are covered by an hourly fee. In both cases, the cost of the underlying Windows Server VM is billed separately. VM images range significantly in price per hour depending on the edition of SQL Server selected and the number of virtual cores used for the instance. CPU resources, memory, and features such as load balancing and autoscaling all affect the cost of the underlying Azure VM instance. Additional costs include storage of the VM and associated data in Azure, as well as charges for outbound networking.