SQL Azure Brings SQL Server to the Cloud

Wes Miller analyzes and writes about Microsoft’s security, identity management, and systems management technologies. Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Wes... more

SQL Azure, part of the Windows Azure platform, provides a cloud-based relational database service (called SQL Azure Database) 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 still lacks some features of the on-premises SQL Server.

Azure and the Evolution of SQL Azure

The Windows Azure platform comprises the following:

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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