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Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Database

Overview

What is Azure SQL Database?

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

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Recent Reviews
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 6 features
  • Database scalability (27)
    10.0
    100%
  • Automated backups (27)
    9.9
    99%
  • Database security provisions (27)
    9.0
    90%
  • Monitoring and metrics (26)
    9.0
    90%
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Pricing

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2 vCORE

$0.5044

Cloud
Per Hour

6 vCORE

$1.5131

Cloud
Per Hour

10 vCORE

$2.52

Cloud
Per Hour

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

How to connect to Azure SQL Database from Azure Data Studio | Data Exposed

YouTube

What is Azure SQL Database Hyperscale?

YouTube
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Features

Database-as-a-Service

Database as a Service (DBaaS) software, sometimes referred to as cloud database software, is the delivery of database services ocer the Internet as a service

9.2
Avg 8.7
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Product Details

What is Azure SQL Database?

Azure SQL Database Integrations

Azure SQL Database Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Reviewers rate Database scalability highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of Azure SQL Database are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(274)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
My organization within the company basically runs an online trading platform and we have several Azure SQL Databases involved in this. If the databases go down or get slow, our organization isn't making money. Availability is a priority and Azure SQL Database handles that very well for us, without the management overhead.
  • Handling the software updates so we don't have to.
  • Handling the availability so we don't have to.
  • There are limits to the size of the database that I'd like to see go away.
  • We don't have access to the server level counters that I miss but understand why we cannot get them.
If you have multiple terabytes of data, the standard Azure SQL Database won't work for you. You can spend more to get this, but I'd rather have it at the lower price point. For pretty much everything else, I'd use it in a heartbeat.
Database-as-a-Service (6)
93.33333333333334%
9.3
Automatic software patching
100%
10.0
Database scalability
80%
8.0
Automated backups
90%
9.0
Database security provisions
100%
10.0
Monitoring and metrics
90%
9.0
Automatic host deployment
100%
10.0
  • It's cheaper for us than maintaining our own hardware but it's easy to spend more to get more, i.e. price creep.
  • It's very easy and quick to build out a new database to test/POC a new project.
Amazon's RDS offering is actually very good and is used in other parts of the company, we just have a lot of Azure experience so wanted to leverage that.
If the infrastructure is built correctly, it just works and is easy to set up and configure.
Ä°hsan Akkarpuz | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The product itself used across the company as each department needs some space to share and manage the data extracted out of manufacturing, suppliers, dealers and so on. Azure SQL Database fundamentally enables all employees to have an array of administrative features for acquiring and inventing big data. As part of Ford Motor company, it was inevitable for us to install such software with very high confidence thanks to its secure background.
  • Easy implementation thanks to the team working on the product launch.
  • Set up features available are flawless.
  • Very well suited to our needs. We are a company with more than 3k+ white collar employees.
  • Data management and transfer is so secure, we feel there is no possibility for information theft from external sources.
  • There might be room for improvement in visual interface. Some of my colleagues complain about basic operations could be carried out more easily, like administering other users.
  • Set-up speed could be faster - currently it took around 10 min.
Azure SQL Database covers features of most of the other products in the market. SQL agent was an exemption, but it must be on Azure's roadmap to be included in the next edition of the product. I would recommend other competitive companies in the field to install Azure SQL as it is supported by Microsoft so you can have confidence in its secure data management.
Database-as-a-Service (6)
91.66666666666666%
9.2
Automatic software patching
80%
8.0
Database scalability
100%
10.0
Automated backups
90%
9.0
Database security provisions
100%
10.0
Monitoring and metrics
100%
10.0
Automatic host deployment
80%
8.0
  • Was worth it to implement across the company. Our needs are completely met by the product.
  • Eliminates time wasted on other products with a less friendly UI.
Azure SQL has a slight advantage over its rivals because it's developed by Microsoft, so it is well suited to professionals.
Azure SQL consistently provides strong partnership and services expertise - which is by far the most important thing if you have a difficult implementation.
Quanta Datacenter Manager (QDCM)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As a startup in company in the data science space, Azure SQL Database was initially selected for development and proof of concept as a cost effective option for our organization. So it immediately addressed a massive need working under budget constraints. We now use it as our primary tool for data warehousing and data analysis.
  • It's extremely agile in that you can add/reduce resources as necessary for your organizations needs with minimal down time or cost.
  • Zero need for on site software or servers to manage.
  • ETL processing is vastly improved running through the cloud.
  • Could perform better in accessing large data volumes.
  • Due to varying price structures, evaluation for your specific needs can be cumbersome.
  • Better system for notification/logging of DB errors.
The most important positive for our organization is the ability to scale up or down at will. As a startup, we needed to quickly adapt to changing space and performance needs. It's also integral as we grow different branches of the business. Thus far, we haven't encountered much of anything with the tool that hasn't been a good fit for our business.
Database-as-a-Service (6)
78.33333333333333%
7.8
Automatic software patching
70%
7.0
Database scalability
90%
9.0
Automated backups
70%
7.0
Database security provisions
80%
8.0
Monitoring and metrics
80%
8.0
Automatic host deployment
80%
8.0
  • We don't need a dedicated SQL dba because so many of the database maintenance operations are managed. A huge positive not only in budget but time constraints.
  • The ability to scale quickly is the biggest positive as our data needs change constantly.
  • Easy to migrate from legacy tools and systems, saving us on the need for redevelopment.
Being able to manage our databases in the cloud, scale quickly, and only require access to VMs made choosing Azure a no-brainer over a traditional SQL Server installation/integration. We don't have the budget or resources to integrate and maintain servers on our own, so using Azure SQL allows us to manage within those constraints.
We give the support a high rating simply because every time we've had issues or questions, representatives were in contact with us quickly. Without fail, our issues/questions were handled in a timely matter. That kind of response is integral when client data integrity and availability is in question. There is also a wealth of documentation for resolving issues on your own.
Arthur Zubarev | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Azure SQL Database was used internally solely for any new development or when extra capacity on an ad-hoc basis was necessary. Azure SQL Database was used across several departments.
SQL Server, as a mature and well known product that is around for so long makes Azure SQL Database a natural successor to it, which delivers on the same promises.
Users will find their familiar tools working seamlessly, any existing application would sustain likely a minor tweak or a mere configuration change to begin its Cloud journey. A migration off an on-premises SQL Server of almost effortless even from outdated versions.
Of course, with the Cloud the scalability becomes second nature and the server layer becomes transparent.
There are many options available how a client can securely access the data and the integration with Active Directory is supported.
The CAPEX to OPEX brings with it predictable spending, flexibility.
On the technology side, even though there are a couple of inconsistencies with the traditional SQL Server a business would find numerous benefits in Azure SQL Database as the ability to leverage the vast Microsoft Azure ecosystem and tools, reduced patching and version upgrades.
Overall, in my view, the Azure SQL Database is poised to constantly receive significant enhancements as Microsoft remains committed to growing its feature set.
  • Scalability is #1: if it used to be an almost no-win endeavour to try to modernize your server or migrate to other hardware, with Azure SQL Database it becomes a press of a button.
  • All the tools simply work after you are on Azure SQL Database.
  • The applications do not need changes in order to start using Azure SQL Database.
  • Hybrid Cloud scenarios will work.
  • Clustering and failover - already there.
  • You can start monitoring the use and extract performance insights in a new way in Azure.
  • One needs to be aware that some T-SQL features are simply not available.
  • The programmatic access to server, trace flags, hardware from within Azure SQL Database is taken away (for a good reason).
  • No SQL Agent so your jobs need to be orchestrated differently.
  • The maximum concurrent logins maybe an unexpected problem.
  • Sudden disconnects.
  • The developers and admin must study the capacity and tier usage limits https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-subscription-service-limits otherwise some errors or even transaction aborts never seen before can occur.
  • Only one Latin Collation choice.
  • There is no way to debug T-SQL ( a big drawback in my point of view).
In general, if a given business is a Microsoft products based enterprise then it would be very receptive to Azure SQL Database. There are almost no barriers to its adoption. One only needs to be aware of the limitations and constraints as a platform or service https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-subscription-service-limits
Database-as-a-Service (6)
86.66666666666666%
8.7
Automatic software patching
100%
10.0
Database scalability
100%
10.0
Automated backups
100%
10.0
Database security provisions
80%
8.0
Monitoring and metrics
50%
5.0
Automatic host deployment
90%
9.0
  • This boils down to the use of OPEX as oppose to CAPEX which is perceived as an advantage over the old model of doing business.
  • The many barriers to scaling a solution fade away. It typically becomes a quick pitch with facts on the resource overuse or saturation and an up-sizing is approved.
  • The extra development would be often necessary for unsupported features or a differently implemented security.
I would say MySQL in either Aurora or MariaDB form come close however, Azure SQL Database has a more streamlined approach to delivering a consistent programmability model, supported drivers and feature set.
Azure SQL Database T-SQL is advantageous and more complete than SQL found in Amazon Aurora.
What I came to observe is that a developer becomes more productive and simply gets there faster on Azure SQL Database. The existing development tools remain, no training and tinkering necessary. Whilst some features as say database diagrams are not provided seldom it is a deal breaker.
With MySQL and Maria ETL becomes a bit harder, choices go down in what tools can be used and the pricing typically is not attractive.
Lastly, in my case, some existing off the shelf applications would not support MySQL derivatives.
It is very evident that Microsoft is committed to rapidly enhancing and bridging features of the Azure SQL Database.
The user base has significantly grown and keeps going higher.
Azure SQL Database serverless, hybrid data access mode are some of the boldest forthcoming offerings that are very exciting.
So the future is very bright for Azure SQL Database to pass by it.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Azure database is currently used by a specific department at my organization and we mainly focus on auditing and monitoring so it pretty much serves our purpose and most importantly it is easily secured with firewall and DNS resolutions. Migrating databases is no more a hectic task from shifting a large scale database to a more managed engine.
  • The great thing about is even you are a pro or a newbie with Azure, you will not be tired of setting up SQL Server, the befitting pipelining of AZURE to cloud service where you don't need it onsite.
  • You always don't need to update services, patches and deployment of supporting services. Cloud does make it someone else's job to do this.
  • Generally obviates the need for building high availability architectures; Azure databases built within it are automatically highly available.
  • Highly scalable and has vast support for non Microsoft technologies.
  • One of the ways SQL Azure manifests being part of the whole stack is by offering multiple levels of implementation. If you simply need a website and a database, you can hitch an SQL Azure instance to an Azure website and be done with it.
  • No schedulers available in case you require cron jobs.
  • Certain username are not allowed (root, admin, administrator).
Sync and migration tools: If you already have a clutch of SQL Server-stored data somewhere and want to either sync it with SQL Azure or passively migrate it via sync, Microsoft has published a service -- the appropriately named SQL Data Sync to accomplish this. Use of the service itself is free, and all inbound data to Azure costs nothing, so you won't have to worry about racking up costs by syncing gigabyte-sized tables.
Database-as-a-Service (6)
88.33333333333334%
8.8
Automatic software patching
80%
8.0
Database scalability
90%
9.0
Automated backups
90%
9.0
Database security provisions
90%
9.0
Monitoring and metrics
90%
9.0
Automatic host deployment
90%
9.0
  • As compared to On Site SQL server AZURE is less hectic and less responsibility to worry for.
  • It pretty much easy to follow devOps or Agile for Backlogs as AZURE allows to take care of its own things.
  • Database scalability, Patching and Upgrading is the best thing it gives in return
It's more easy to shift and get all the services up in no time, provide best up time and monitoring easily so you can get the best services which take care of themselves. It's a better fitting for a large company size.
5
Business Analyst area, Database Administrators, System Administrators; so it more of an IT team.
2
The typical person who must have skills to support azure are database development, data drilling, patching, IaaS(infrastructure as a service), PasS(platform as a service) and SaaS (software as a service).
  • Migration and management
  • Monitoring
  • Updation of database and services
  • Does not require onsite infrastructure
  • Unlike onsite databases, scaling up or scaling down is very easy with Azure SQL Database.
  • Moving to Azure SQL Database will free up your DBA to work on the backlog of projects that often never get done because they spend a lot of time maintaining and monitoring onsite SQL.
  • Use it via a VM if you need it.
  • Applications written for multiple databases.
  • Elasticity. A much-abused buzzword, but in SQL Azure's case, it applies.
This is best solution as a DBA one could expect from a service provider and as a cloud service, it removes all your hassles.
No
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Vendor Reputation
  • Analyst Reports
  • Third-party Reviews
Even if I have to re-evaluate, I don't want to change anything.
No
Well the plans are pretty expensive, so I definitely do not require the premium support for my extensive services. I always shift to a solution which is an alternative.
It has been a drastic change but the shift was so smooth.
No
When shifting from the initial from SQL server the best thing was without any clue, they provided 0 - 100 procedure to set everything up.
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