Azure SQL Database Overview

Andrew analyzes and writes about Microsoft's data management, business intelligence, and machine learning solutions, as well as aspects of licensing... more

Azure SQL Database is a multitenant database management service hosted in Azure designed for organizations seeking a hosted database service with low cost, quick deployment, scalability, and global reach.

It is based on SQL Server 2017 and offers many of the most common database management features and APIs of its on-premises parent, which includes the T-SQL query language, popular development tools, in-memory tables, and advanced security features. The service also includes high-availability and disaster recovery features that enable deployment of secondary replicas that can reside in separate Azure data centers, providing globally distributed disaster recovery and support for business intelligence and other applications.

The service is focused on database management and lacks many SQL Server roles, such as integration, reporting, and analysis capabilities, although many of those roles are available in other Azure-hosted services. The service also limits database sizes to a maximum of 4TB, which may prevent its use for large database applications, such as high-volume applications and data warehouses.

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