Cosmos DB: More Deployment Options & Azure Integration

• New Cosmos DB serverless deployment and storage options help control costs but limit functionality.
• Further Azure integration helps standardize processes for customers using other Azure services.
• The roadmap focuses on performance, high-end security, and new programming options to reduce cost.

Azure Cosmos DB is a multimodal database service, which means it is not restricted to a single database type; it can host multiple database formats, such as documents used in Web applications, graphs for complex data, and relational data found in traditional columnar-based databases. The service can support small departmental applications, but it is also designed for distributed data-intensive applications that need high performance and global scaling, such as online e-commerce sites, IoT sensor data gathering, and multiplayer online games.

Service Overview

Cosmos DB uses a combination of proprietary and open source components to support an array of nonrelational and relational data types in a single environment. An account using multiple data types and databases can share the same global distribution, scaling, and security infrastructure, which makes Cosmos DB ideal for complex, integrated applications that need access to several database formats. (For pricing details, see the sidebar “Cosmos DB Pricing.”)