Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's fully managed relational database service on Azure. As a Database as a Service (DBaaS) option, it lets teams manage databases without managing the underlying operating system, virtual machine, patching, or instance-level infrastructure. section 1.2.2 section 8.6
A common deployment mistake is choosing a SQL Server VM when a managed service better fits the application:
- A greenfield Azure application with uncertain capacity may not need a self-managed instance. section 8.6
- Avoiding DBaaS adds patch failures, configuration work, downtime planning, and another instance for an already-stretched DBA team. section 8.6
- Choose Azure SQL Database when reducing infrastructure administration supports higher-value work such as performance diagnosis and application projects. section 8.6
- Compare it with Azure SQL Managed Instance when instance management is required, or with a SQL Server VM when full infrastructure control is necessary. section 1.2.2
MagicChoc's cloud-native application
MagicChoc's DBA team recommends an Azure SQL Server VM for a new Azure application, despite limited capacity knowledge and heavy operational pressure. Azure SQL Database would remove instance administration while preserving a familiar Database Engine foundation. section 8.6
Listing 8.5 Creating an autoscaling Azure SQL Database
$sqlAdminName = 'MagicChocAdmin'
$sqlAdminPassword = 'Passw0rd!'
$credentials = $(New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $sqlAdminName,
$(ConvertTo-SecureString -String $sqlAdminPassword -AsPlainText -Force))
$serverParameters = @{
ServerName = 'processautomationsql'
Location = 'eastus2'
SqlAdministratorCredentials = $credentials
ResourceGroupName = 'MagicChocApps'
}
New-AzSqlServer @serverParameters
$databaseParameters = @{
ResourceGroupName = 'MagicChocApps'
ServerName = 'processautomationsql'
DatabaseName = 'AutoPro'
Edition = 'GeneralPurpose'
ComputeModel = 'Serverless'
ComputeGeneration = 'Gen5'
MinimumCapacity = 2
Vcore = 16
}
New-AzSqlDatabase @databaseParameters
Shows PowerShell provisioning for an autoscaling Azure SQL Database using the General Purpose tier, serverless compute, Gen5 compute generation, and configured capacity limits. section 8.6
