Database services

For database solutions, I generally look at SQL/MySQL (transactional) or CosmosDB (schemaless). I use CosmosDB mostly for telemetry data from devices and SQL/MySQL for transactional data that usually originates from web forms or file loads. When I need to load data, I will usually use Azure Batch or HPC (Hi Performance Compute). With SQL managed instances, I can move an existing database to the cloud for legacy databases or I can migrate more modern databases to the cloud. For more on migration planning, go to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/dms/tutorial-sql-server-to-azure-sql.

When you work with SQL in Azure, you will create a main central administration point or server, which is a container for single or elastic databases. This container controls the firewall rules, auditing rules, threat detection policies, and failover groups. Data is stored with Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), by default, which encrypts your data at rest.

These are the data repository types:

Single database: Own set of resources managed via an administration server
Elastic database: With a shared set of resources managed via an administration server
Manage instances: Contains system and user databases and shares a set of resources

Pricing for single or elastic SQL databases is based on Data Transfer Units (DTUs), and they represent the resource power assigned to the database. They are a blended measurement of memory, CPU, and read-write. Elastic instances use an elastic version, which provides a range of shared resources that cannot be consumed by a single database but ensure that the pool always has a minimum available.

The Azure DTU calculator is a great tool for calculating the DTU needed and can be found at http://dtucalculator.azurewebsites.net/. Also, remember Single database have limits by tier: Basic (2 GB size, 5 DTUs), Standard (1 TB size, 3000 DTUs), and Premium (4 TB size, 4000 DTUs). For eDTUs, the limits are Basic (2 GB size, 156 GB pool size, 5 eDTU/DB, 1600 eDTUs/pool, 500 DB/pool), Standard (1 TB size, 4 TB pool size, 3000 eDTU/DB, 3000 eDTUs/pool, 500 DB/pool), and Premium (1 TB size, 4 TB pool size, 4000 eDTU/DB, 4000 eDTUs/pool, 100 DB/pool).

Managed SQL instances are based on vCores, were created for the lift and shift database model, and were put in place to “as is” data migration to Azure with no database or application updating needed, except for configuration changes. This model is based on VM instance resources, cores, and memory, to support the pricing tiers shown in the following figure:

Manage Instance pricing

There are two service tiers:

General Purpose: Typical availability and common IO latency requirements
Business Critical: High availability and low IO latency requirements

Table of Contents for Database services

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Table of Contents for
Database services