Updated: July 10, 2020 (February 21, 2011)

  Analyst Report

SQL Azure Brings SQL Server to the Cloud

My Atlas / Analyst Reports

2,216 wordsTime to read: 12 min
Rob Sanfilippo by
Rob Sanfilippo

Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Rob worked at Microsoft for 14 years where he designed technologies for Microsoft products and... more

SQL Azure Database, part of the Windows Azure platform, provides a cloud-based relational database service hosted in Microsoft’s data centers. SQL Azure offers many of the features of the on-premises SQL Server product, including support for the T-SQL query language, which will help organizations leverage existing developer skills when migrating on-premises applications to the cloud or creating hybrid applications that are deployed in both places. SQL Azure could help customers realize several benefits of cloud-computing, such as time and cost savings and simplified scalability, although SQL Azure does not yet support all the features of the on-premises SQL Server product.

Azure and the Evolution of SQL Azure

The major components of the Windows Azure platform are as follows:

The Windows Azure service, which hosts applications and stores application data

The SQL Azure service, which currently includes only the SQL Azure Database component that hosts relational databases using Microsoft’s SQL Server technology

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