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Azure SQL Database

Score8.4 out of 10

289 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Azure SQL Database?

Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's relational database as a service (DBaaS).

Categories & Use Cases

Key Features

Learn about the best (and worst!) features Azure SQL Database has to offer, as determined by TrustRadius' reviewers.
Based on 289 ratings of Azure SQL Database's features
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Top Performing Features

  • Database security provisions

    Provision for database encryption, network isolation, and identity access management

    Category average: 8.8

  • Automated backups

    Automated backup enabling point-in-time data recovery

    Category average: 8

  • Database scalability

    Ease of scaling compute or memory resources and storage up or down

    Category average: 9.2

Areas for Improvement

  • Monitoring and metrics

    Built-in monitoring of multiple operational metrics

    Category average: 6.8

  • Automatic software patching

    Patches applied to database automatically

    Category average: 8.3

  • Automatic host deployment

    Compute instance replacement in the event of hardware failure

    Category average: 6.8

Reviews

What users are saying about Azure SQL Database.
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Successful use of another Microsoft Product

Incentivized
Hannes PiekView profile
Industrial Engineer in Engineering at Sasol (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Storing data used in automation applications enabling different business processes. One of the business processes that the product helps to address is manage slow moving stock items not tracked in an official ERP system that requires some or other form of workflow behind it. It has enabled us to have access to data outside of the business network to keep track and account of valuable items.

Pros

  • Data access
  • Data availability
  • Scalability

Cons

  • Network speed
  • SSO can be slow at times

Return on Investment

  • Total uptime has increased leading in better availability
  • Cost to use platform is more expensive than on-prem but is offset through other factors

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft SQL Server and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

Other Software Used

Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL

Finally a fast response query tool

Incentivized
Luis RuizView profile
Business Analyst in Finance and Accounting at Raymond James Financial (5001-10,000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Gathering large amounts of data from different servers to compare and reconcile, mainly for projects and production. This enables the business to accurately and timely provide deliverables within the organization. The main goal and scope is to keep using this tool with legacy and future systems for reporting and metrics.

Pros

  • Ease of connection
  • troubleshooting help
  • clear and precise error messaging

Cons

  • ability to cross connect between servers
  • exporting options
  • updates made easier for corporate accounts

Return on Investment

  • It's widely used within the Organizaton
  • Very reliable
  • Accurate results

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Oracle SQL Developer

Other Software Used

Snagit, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Microsoft Power Automate

Azure SQL helps our customers.

Incentivized
Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We write custom software applications for small businesses. Many applications we maintain are written for on-premises databases. When clients need to make their applications distributed and accessible anywhere, we offer conversion of the app to use Azure SQL as a low-cost alternative to a complete rewrite. The path to migrating to Azure SQL is often straightforward and doesn't require significant testing or app rework.

Pros

  • Automated backups and simple restore options.
  • Active Directory integration and firewall rules by IP address handle many security issues.
  • Able to use SSMS to maintain it in most of the same ways as an on-premises SQL database.
  • Very inexpensive low-utilization plans with easy scaling when needed.
  • Easy to integrate with Excel for reporting and data analysis.

Cons

  • Would like more tools for bulk loading large data sets.
  • Billing that's easier to understand with pricier plans.
  • Ability to restore a database backup from online storage on top of an existing Azure SQL database to replace it.

Return on Investment

  • We are able to offer more scalability to our clients.
  • Our clients can have remote workforces using applications that were previously on-premises.
  • Application and data updates are much easier to deploy.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

AWS Database Migration Service, Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access and Oracle Database

Other Software Used

QNAP NAS, Fujitsu ScanSnap, ChatGPT, Google Calendar, Google Sheets, WordPress, Wix, PaperCut, PDFsam, AnyDesk, IDrive Online Backup and Object Storage e2

Excellent Affordable and Everything Most Organizations Need

Incentivized
Verified User
Director in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have been migrating our inhouse data warehouse to Azure SQL Database for the past year. We moving away from inhouse and colo architecture with the goal of a full cloud environment within 5 years time. Azure SQL Database is our backend database where we host the majority of our non-SaaS production data. We also use it for BI for data the resides in the cloud.

Pros

  • Automation including backups, patching and failover
  • Integration into our environment along with the huge ecosystem that comes with it
  • HIPAA and PCI compliance built in

Cons

  • Costs and transparency. It's difficult to understand what is driving spend and almost impossible to predict spend with a high degree of accuracy. It's unnecessarily complicated
  • Latency can be an issue for some applications that space a lot of infrastructure.

Return on Investment

  • Significantly reduced infrastructure, support and hosting costs for the physical platforms
  • IT shifting focus from managing hardware to higher value added tasks

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Amazon Aurora and Google Cloud SQL

Other Software Used

Microsoft Visual Studio, Azure DevOps, Microsoft Entra ID

Azure SQL Database is truely a step forward

Oliver MichelsView profile
DevOps Principal in Information Technology at Bechtle (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Azure SQL Database is a big step forward for us, as we no longer need to patch the database server or patch the operating system. It's a truely SQL-as-a-Service which allows dynamic up- and down scaling of the server. Gone are the tedious tasks to configure the DB, even Recovery is pre-configured.

Pros

  • Up- and Downscaling
  • Setup
  • Backup and Recovery

Cons

  • A SQL-Worksheet Tool in Azure Portal would be really nice

Return on Investment

  • RoI is great

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Oracle Database and MySQL

Other Software Used

MySQL