In the previous chapter, Azure SQL Managed Instances were introduced as one of the Azure SQL Database types. In this section, we will provide more information on them.

Azure SQL Managed Instances offer the full functionalities of SQL Server Enterprise. If you need some features that were not available in the previous types that we discussed (such as SQL Agent or linked servers), this type will fulfill your needs.

Azure SQL Managed Instances can be better than the other Azure SQL Database types, for the following reasons:

• SQL Server Enterprise edition features support: All of the features that you used to work with an SQL Server on-premises can be used with this type.
• Dedicated instance: Unlike with the other types of Azure SQL Databases, you will not be sharing the server on which you run your database with others.
• Backward compatibility: If you have legacy versions of SQL Servers on-premises, you can migrate the databases to Azure SQL Managed Instances with no problems. Notice that you cannot migrate versions earlier than SQL Server 2005.