In the first half of this article, we’ll present complete Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing options in a tabular format  – and we’ll explain the concepts behind the pricing along with administrative best practices in the second half.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is offered as part of Microsoft Azure’s public cloud platform, and allows developers to utilize an intelligent and scalable relational database service. It conforms to all the characteristics of a genuine cloud service, one being that you only have to pay for what you use.

Azure SQL Pricing

Estimating Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing can be challenging due to the multiple configurations available. For illustration, consider the following options to get an idea of how many permutations there are:

  • 2 purchase models: DTU (Database Transaction Unit), vCore (Virtual Core)
  • 3 deployment models: Single Database, Elastic Pool, Managed Instance
  • 3 service tiers: General Purpose, Business Critical, Hyperscale
  • 2 compute models: Provisioned, Serverless
  • 4 hardware types: Gen 5, DC-Series, Fsv2-seres, M-Series

Azure SQL pricing is determined by the configurations you choose

Map of Available Options for Azure SQL

The number of choices available can be overwhelming at first. We recommend starting your cost optimization exercise by first starting with what your requirements are. Once you have a clear understanding of what you need, you can use the Azure SQL Database pricing page filter shown in the following image to narrow down the various options.

Azure SQL Pricing Page

Azure SQL Database Single Database Pricing

DTU Pricing

Service Tier
Name
DTUs
Included Storage
Max Storage
Price per Hour
Basic
B
5
2 GB
2 GB
$0.0068/hour
Standard
S0
10
250 GB
250 GB
$0.0202/hour
Standard
S1
20
250 GB
250 GB
$0.0404/hour
Standard
S2
50
250 GB
250 GB
$0.1009/hour
Standard
S3
100
250 GB
1 TB
$0.2017/hour
Standard
S4
200
250 GB
1 TB
$0.4033/hour
Standard
S6
400
250 GB
1 TB
$0.8066/hour
Standard
S7
800
250 GB
1 TB
$1.6130/hour
Standard
S9
1,600
250 GB
1 TB
$3.2260/hour
Standard
S12
3,000
250 GB
1 TB
$6.0488/hour
Premium
P1
125
500 GB
1 TB
$0.6251/hour
Premium
P2
250
500 GB
1 TB
$1.2500/hour
Premium
P4
500
500 GB
1 TB
$2.5000/hour
Premium
P6
1,000
500 GB
1 TB
$5.0000/hour
Premium
P11
1,750
4 TB
4 TB
$9.4088/hour
Premium
P15
4,000
4 TB
4 TB
$21.5054/hour

vCore Provisioned Compute Pricing

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Gen 5 Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
General Purpose

Locally Redundant Cost per Hour

General Purpose

Zone Redundant Cost per Hour

Business Critical Cost per Hour
Hyperscale Cost per Hour
2
10.2 GB
$0.5044/hour
$0.6871/hour
$1.3589/hour
$0.5653/hour
4
20.4 GB
$1.0088/hour
$1.3741/hour
$2.7178/hour
$1.1306/hour
6
30.6 GB
$1.5131/hour
$2.0611/hour
$4.0767/hour
$1.6958/hour
8
40.8 GB
$2.0175/hour
$2.7482/hour
$5.4355/hour
$2.2611/hour
10
51.0 GB
$2.5219/hour
$3.4352/hour
$6.7944/hour
$2.8263/hour
12
61.2 GB
$3.0262/hour
$4.1222/hour
$8.1533/hour
$3.3916/hour
14
71.4 GB
$3.5306/hour
$4.8092/hour
$9.5121/hour
$3.9568/hour
16
81.6 GB
$4.0350/hour
$5.4963/hour
$10.8710/hour
$4.5221/hour
18
91.8 GB
$4.5393/hour
$6.1833/hour
$12.2299/hour
$5.0873/hour
20
102.0 GB
$5.0437/hour
$6.8703/hour
$13.5887/hour
$5.6526/hour
24
122.4 GB
$6.0524/hour
$8.2444/hour
$16.3065/hour
$6.7831/hour
32
163.2 GB
$8.0699/hour
$7.7936/hour
$21.7420/hour
$9.0441/hour
40
204.0 GB
$10.0874/hour
$13.7406/hour
$27.1774/hour
$11.3051/hour
80
396.0 GB
$20.1747/hour
$27.4811/hour
$54.3548/hour
$22.6101/hour

DC-series Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
General Purpose

Locally Redundant Cost per Hour

General Purpose

Zone Redundant Cost per Hour

Business Critical

Cost per Hour

Hyperscale

Cost per Hour

2
9 GB
$0.8830/hour
Not Available
$2.116/hour
$1.8400/hour
4
18 GB
$1.7659/hour
Not Available
$4.233/hour
$6.9599/hour
6
27 GB
$2.6498/hour
Not Available
$6.349/hour
$15.3598/hour
8
36 GB
$3.5328/hour
Not Available
$8.466/hour
$27.0318/hour

Fsv2-series Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
General Purpose

Locally Redundant Cost per Hour

General Purpose

Zone Redundant Cost per Hour

Business Critical

Cost per Hour

Hyperscale

Cost per Hour

8
15.1 GB
$1.8684/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
10
18.9 GB
$2.3355/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
12
22.7 GB
$2.8026/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
14
26.5 GB
$3.2697/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
16
30.2 GB
$3.7368/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
18
34.0 GB
$4.2039/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
20
37.8 GB
$4.6710/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
24
45.4 GB
$5.6052/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
32
60.5 GB
$7.4735/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
36
68.0 GB
$8.4077/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
72
136 GB
$16.8154/hour
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available

 

M-series Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
General Purpose

Locally Redundant Cost per Hour

General Purpose

Zone Redundant Cost per Hour

Business Critical

Cost per Hour

Hyperscale

Cost per Hour

8
235.4 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$16.4303/hour
Not Available
10
294.3 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$20.5379/hour
Not Available
12
353.2 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$24.6454/hour
Not Available
14
412.0 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$28.7530/hour
Not Available
16
470.9 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$32.8605/hour
Not Available
18
529.7 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$36.9681/hour
Not Available
20
588.6 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$41.0757/hour
Not Available
24
706.3 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$49.2908/hour
Not Available
32
941.8 GB
Not Available
Not Available
$65.7210/hour
Not Available
64
1.839 TB
Not Available
Not Available
$131.4420/hour
Not Available
128
3.678 TB
Not Available
Not Available
$262.884/hour
Not Available

vCore Serverless Compute Pricing

Minimum vCores
Maximum vCores
Minimum Memory
Maximum Memory
Price
0.5
40
2.02 GB
120 GB
$0.0001450/vCore-second

($0.5218/vCore-hour)

Azure SQL Database Elastic Pool Pricing

DTU Pricing

Service Tier
eDTUs per Pool
Included Storage per Pool
Max Storage per Pool
Max no. of Database per Pool
Max eDTUs per Database
Price per Hour
Basic
50
5 GB
5 GB
100
5
$0.1009/hour
Basic
100
10 GB
10 GB
200
5
$0.2017/hour
Basic
200
20 GB
20 GB
500
5
$0.4034/hour
Basic
300
29 GB
29 GB
500
5
$0.6051/hour
Basic
400
39 GB
39 GB
500
5
$0.8067/hour
Basic
800
78 GB
78 GB
500
5
$1.6134/hour
Basic
1,200
117 GB
117 GB
500
5
$2.4200/hour
Basic
1,600
156 GB
156 GB
500
5
$3.2267/hour
Standard
50
50 GB
500 GB
100
50
$0.1511/hour
Standard
100
100 GB
750 GB
200
100
$0.3021/hour
Standard
200
200 GB
1 TB
500
200
$0.6042/hour
Standard
300
300 GB
1.25 TB
500
300
$0.9063/hour
Standard
400
400 GB
1.5 TB
500
400
$1.2084/hour
Standard
800
800 GB
2 TB
500
800
$2.4167/hour
Standard
1,200
1.17 TB
2.5 TB
500
1,200
$3.6250/hour
Standard
1,600
1.56 TB
3 TB
500
1,600
$4.8334/hour
Standard
2,000
1.95 TB
3.5 TB
500
2,000
$6.0417/hour
Standard
2,500
2.44 TB
4 TB
500
2,500
$7.5521/hour
Standard
3,000
2.93 TB
4 TB
500
3,000
$9.0626/hour
Premium
125
250 GB
1 TB
50
125
$0.9376/hour
Premium
250
500 GB
1 TB
100
250
$1.8750/hour
Premium
500
750 GB
1 TB
100
500
$3.7500/hour
Premium
1,000
1 TB
1 TB
100
1,000
$7.5001/hour
Premium
1,500
1.5 TB
1.5 TB
100
1,000
$11.2500/hour
Premium
2,000
2 TB
2 TB
100
1,750
$15.0000/hour
Premium
2,500
2.5 TB
2.5 TB
100
1,750
$18.7500/hour
Premium
3,000
3 TB
3 TB
100
1,750
$22.5000/hour
Premium
3,500
3.5 TB
3.5 TB
100
1,750
$26.2500/hour
Premium
4,000
4 TB
4 TB
100
4,000
$30.0000/hour

vCore Provisioned Compute Pricing

Gen 5 Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
General Purpose

Max no. of Databases per Pool

Business Critical Max no. of Databases per Pool
General Purpose

Locally Redundant Cost per Hour

General Purpose

Zone Redundant Cost per Hour

Business Critical Cost per Hour
2
10.2 GB
100
Not Available
$0.5044/hour
$0.6871/hour
Not Available
4
20.4 GB
200
50
$1.0088/hour
$1.3741/hour
$2.7178/hour
6
30.6 GB
500
100
$1.5131/hour
$2.0611/hour
$4.0767/hour
8
40.8 GB
500
100
$2.0175/hour
$2.7482/hour
$5.4355/hour
10
51.0 GB
500
100
$2.5219/hour
$3.4352/hour
$6.7944/hour
12
61.2 GB
500
100
$3.0262/hour
$4.1222/hour
$8.1533/hour
14
71.4 GB
500
100
$3.5306/hour
$4.8092/hour
$9.5121/hour
16
81.6 GB
500
100
$4.0350/hour
$5.4963/hour
$10.8710/hour
18
91.8 GB
500
100
$4.5393/hour
$6.1833/hour
$12.2299/hour
20
102.0 GB
500
100
$5.0437/hour
$6.8703/hour
$13.5887/hour
24
122.4 GB
500
100
$6.0524/hour
$8.2444/hour
$16.3065/hour
32
163.2 GB
500
100
$8.0699/hour
$10.9925/hour
$21.7420/hour
40
204.0 GB
500
100
$10.0874/hour
$13.7406/hour
$27.1774/hour
80
396.0 GB
500
100
$20.1747/hour
$27.4811/hour
$54.3548/hour

DC-series Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
General Purpose

Locally Redundant Cost per Hour

General Purpose

Zone Redundant Cost per Hour

Business Critical

Cost per Hour

2
9 GB
$0.8830/hour
Not Available
$2.116/hour
4
18 GB
$1.7659/hour
Not Available
$4.233/hour
6
27 GB
$3.3328/hour
Not Available
$6.349/hour
8
36 GB
$2.8498/hour
Not Available
$8.466/hour

Fsv2-series Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
General Purpose

Locally Redundant Cost per Hour

General Purpose

Zone Redundant Cost per Hour

Business Critical

Cost per Hour

8
15.1 GB
$1.8684/hour
Not Available
Not Available
10
18.9 GB
$2.3355/hour
Not Available
Not Available
12
22.7 GB
$2.8026/hour
Not Available
Not Available
14
26.5 GB
$3.2697/hour
Not Available
Not Available
16
30.2 GB
$3.7368/hour
Not Available
Not Available
18
34.0 GB
$4.2039/hour
Not Available
Not Available
20
37.8 GB
$4.6710/hour
Not Available
Not Available
24
45.4 GB
$5.6052/hour
Not Available
Not Available
32
60.5 GB
$7.4735/hour
Not Available
Not Available
36
68.0 GB
$8.4077/hour
Not Available
Not Available
72
136 GB
$16.8154/hour
Not Available
Not Available

M-series Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
Business Critical Max no. of Databases per Pool
General Purpose

Locally Redundant Cost per Hour

General Purpose

Zone Redundant Cost per Hour

Business Critical

Cost per Hour

8
235.4 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$16.4303/hour
10
294.3 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$20.5379/hour
12
353.2 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$24.6454/hour
14
412.0 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$28.7530/hour
16
470.9 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$32.8605/hour
18
529.7 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$36.9681/hour
20
588.6 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$41.0757/hour
24
706.3 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$49.2908/hour
32
941.8 GB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$65.7210/hour
64
1.839 TB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$131.4420/hour
128
3.678 TB
100
Not Available
Not Available
$262.884/hour

Azure SQL Database Managed Instance Pricing

vCore Pricing – Single Instance

Gen 5 Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
Included Storage
Price per Hour
4
20.4 GB
First 32 GB per month
$1.01/hour
8
40.8 GB
First 32 GB per month
$2.02/hour
16
81.6 GB
First 32 GB per month
$4.04/hour
24
122.4 GB
First 32 GB per month
$6.06/hour
32
163.2 GB
First 32 GB per month
$8.07/hour
40
204.0 GB
First 32 GB per month
$10.09/hour
64
326.4 GB
First 32 GB per month
$16.14/hour
80
396.0 GB
First 32 GB per month
$20.18/hour

vCore Pricing – Instance Pools

Gen 5 Hardware Type

vCore
Memory
Included Storage
Price per Hour
8
40.8 GB
First 32 GB per instance per month
$2.02/hour
16
81.6 GB
First 32 GB per instance per month
$4.04/hour
24
122.4 GB
First 32 GB per instance per month
$6.06/hour
32
163.2 GB
First 32 GB per instance per month
$8.07/hour
40
204.0 GB
First 32 GB per instance per month
$10.09/hour
64
326.4 GB
First 32 GB per instance per month
$16.14/hour
80
396.0 GB
First 32 GB per instance per month
$20.18/hour

Microsoft Azure SQL Database Pricing Concepts

Selecting the correct Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing model for your solution can be challenging. With so many options and variations available, choosing the right combination of deployment model, purchase model, compute tier, service tier, and hardware type is complicated. However, understanding what each of these components offers can help you determine your solution’s best configuration.

Azure SQL Deployment Models

If you want to leverage Microsoft Azure SQL Database as your database solution, you can choose between three deployment models.

  • Single Database: The single database resource type creates a database with its own set of resources that you manage via a server.
  • Elastic Pool: The elastic pool deployment model offers auto-scaling of database resources (either vCore or DTU) that are shared among multiple databases. Administrators set a minimum and maximum for the entire pool according to their budget, and also set a minimum and maximum for resource usage for each database, and then simply pay by the hour of total usage.
  • Managed Instance: The Azure SQL Managed Instance deployment model offers the best compatibility benefits and licensing flexibility designed to incentivize migration from on-premise environments. A fully-featured SQL solution running on an Azure VM is compatible with the latest on-prem SQL Server Enterprise Edition, and offers automatic patching, backups, and high availability.
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Azure SQL Purchase Models

Azure SQL Database offers two purchase models for the Single Database and Elastic Pool deployment options: Database Transaction Unit (DTU) and vCore. The Managed Instance deployment model does not have DTU as an option and only offers vCore.

The difference between the two models are the resources provisioned.

  • DTU: bundles compute and storage resources. A DTU represents a composite measure of CPU, memory, reads, and writes.
  • vCore: allows you to provide an exact amount of computing resources via the provisioned compute model.

Azure SQL Compute Tiers

If you choose to leverage the vCore purchase model for the Single Database deployment option, you can opt for Provisioned or Serverless. Note that these compute tiers are only available for this deployment model. The Elastic Pool and Managed Instance deployment models only offer a provisioned solution. The table below outlines the recommended usage, scaling, and billing scenarios for each tier.

Provisioned
Serverless
Usage Scenario
Regular usage patterns with higher compute utilization over time.
Irregular, unpredictable usage patterns with lower average compute utilization over time.
Scaling
Manual  (Managed by Customer)
Automatic (Managed by Azure)
Billing
Per hour
Per second

Azure SQL Service Tiers

vCore Service Tiers

Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers three service tiers under its vCore purchase model: General Purpose, Business Critical, and Hyperscale. However, depending on the deployment you select, not every option is available. The table below correlates the availability of each service tier with the relevant deployment model.

Single Database
Elastic Pool
Managed Instance
General Purpose
Available
Available
Available
Business Critical
Available
Available
Available
Hyperscale
Available
Not Available
Not Available

Each tier offers various performance and SLA guarantees. The option you choose depends on your business requirements. As with every other Azure service, the higher the performance and SLA, the higher the cost.

  • General Purpose: This tier is the default selection for Single Database and Managed Instance. It offers a fully managed database engine with a 99.99% SLA and storage latency between 5 ms and 10 ms.
  • Business Critical: This tier offers better performance than the General Purpose option. It has an SLA of 99.995% and storage latency of between 1ms and 2ms.
  • Hyperscale: The Hyperscale tier leverages highly scalable storage and compute performance. It offers support for databases of 100TB in size, much faster backups and restores, faster log throughput and transaction commit times, and rapid scale-up and scale-out.

DTU Service Tiers

The Single Instance and Elastic Pool deployment models offer a DTU purchase model in addition to vCore. As with the vCore option, the DTU alternative offers three service tiers: Basic, Standard, and Premium. As mentioned previously, a DTU is a blended measure of CPU, memory, reads, and writes. The following table from Microsoft details the features of each DTU service tier.

Basic
Standard
Premium
Target workload
Development and Production
Development and Production
Development and Production
Uptime SLA
99.99%
99.99%
99.99%
CPU
Low
Low, Medium, High
Medium, High
Maximum Backup Retention
7 days
35 days
35 days
IOPS (approximate)
1 to 4 IOPS per DTU
1 to 4 IOPS per DTU
25 IOPS per DTU
IO latency (approximate)
5 ms read, 10 ms write
5 ms read, 10 ms write
2 ms read and write
Columnstore indexing
Not Available
S3 and above
Supported
In-memory OLTP
Not Available
Not Available
Supported

Azure SQL Hardware Types

All three Azure SQL deployment options offer a vCore purchase model. As with the service tiers, you can also select the hardware that will host your Azure SQL database solution. There are four hardware types. However, the options available depend on the service tier and deployment model selected.

  • Gen 5: The Gen 5 hardware type provides a balance between compute and memory resources. It is suitable for most data workloads that do not require higher memory or CPU.
  • Fsv2-series: The Fsv2-series is compute-optimized. It delivers lower CPU latency and higher clock speeds. This hardware type is ideal for compute-intensive data workloads.
  • M-series: The M-series is memory-optimized. It offers 29 GB per vCore, increasing the memory limit relative to a Gen 5 by a factor of eight.
  • DC-series: The DC-series is ideal for secure workloads. It uses Intel processors with Software Guard Extension technology. Like Gen 5, it offers a balance between compute and memory.

Azure SQL Cost Optimization

As with all Azure services, optimizing your Microsoft Azure SQL Database can help you increase efficiency while reducing cost. Azure offers several pricing and configuration options that ensure you get the most resources for every dollar spent.

Pricing Options

When configuring your Azure SQL Database solution, Microsoft offers various pricing options. These include Reserved Capacity and the Azure Hybrid Benefit.

Reserved Capacity

Azure Reserved Capacity can reduce the compute cost of your Azure SQL significantly. However, this cost-saving feature is only available for the vCore Gen 5 options. Savings can range from 16% to 33%, depending on the service tier and Reserved Capacity commitment length. For example, on a vCore Gen 5 General Purpose configuration, a one-year commitment can save you 21% and a three-year commitment 33%. If you upgrade your service tier to Business Critical, the savings are 16% for one-year and 25% for a three-year commitment.

Azure Hybrid Benefit

The Azure Hybrid Benefit is another cost-saving option that can reduce your Azure SQL costs. By leveraging the licensing from an Enterprise Agreement’s Software Assurance, you can realize savings of up to 55% depending on the hardware type and service tier. Azure Hybrid Benefit discounts are available for all vCore hardware types. However, this discount is not an option if you select the DTU purchasing model.

Configuration Options

Besides the various direct cost-saving options, you can also optimize your Azure SQL solution by configuring it efficiently. Using the correct combination of deployment model, purchase model, compute tier, service tier, and hardware type can provide you with the performance you need and deliver it and the lowest possible cost.

Deployment Options

If your solution does not need a dedicated Azure SQL server, then opting for the Elastic Pool deployment model is a better cost option. As you are only paying for the resources you use, this option is highly cost-effective for intermittent or ad hoc data workloads.

Service Tier Options

Both the DTU and vCore purchase models offer various service tiers. Each tier offers different performance and cost features, with the premium or business-critical ones being the most expensive. Selecting the tier that best matches your business requirements is vital. For example, choosing the business-critical or premium tier for a dev/test environment is far from the ideal SQL optimization scenario.

Compute Tier Options

The vCore purchase model allows you to select either a provisioned or serverless compute tier. If your Azure SQL Database workload has irregular, unpredictable usage patterns with lower average compute utilization over time, then this option can also deliver significant cost savings. As you only pay for the resources you use, and billing is per second instead of per hour, selecting the serverless compute option increases the efficiency of your Azure SQL spend.

Hardware Types

The vCore purchase model offers four different hardware types. Depending on the option you choose, prices can vary significantly. For example, the FsV2-series and M-series are not as cost-effective as the Gen 5.

In addition to selecting the correct hardware type, choosing the vCore option that best matches your requirement can also reduce your Azure spend. For example, opting for an 8 vCore solution when your needs do not exceed 6 cores and 30 GB is an inefficient use of resources.

Storage

Storage is often one of the more significant portions of a subscription’s Azure spend. As this component makes up a considerable part of any Azure SQL solution, optimizing the storage you utilize is vital in containing costs. Good database hygiene, such as archiving off older data and storing it on more cost-effective alternatives, should form part of any Azure SQL optimization exercise.

Best Practices for Administering Azure SQL

Ongoing operational management and maintenance of your Azure SQL environment are vital in ensuring its efficiency and security. Unlike traditional SQL Server deployments that require maintenance tasks that include regular log shrinking, Azure SQL is a Platform as a Service (PaaS), which means Microsoft takes care of the traditional infrastructure tasks for you. However, you should apply a few configuration settings to secure and monitor your Azure SQL solution.

Security

Azure SQL security controls have two major functions: protecting data and controlling access.

Protecting Data with Encryption

Microsoft recommends that you encrypt data on Azure while it is in transit and at rest. You should leverage Transport Layer Security (TLS) while data is moving across networks. If you are using a client to connect to your Azure SQL instance, Tabular Data Stream over TLS is another requirement.

While data is at rest, leveraging Transparent Data Encryption secures it from malicious offline activity. This technology is enabled by default. However, existing Azure SQL databases created before May 2017 and SQL databases created through restore, geo-replication, and database copy are not. Databases residing on a Managed Instance deployment model are also encrypted by default. However, this encryption only applies to databases created after February 2019.

Control Access

Leveraging the principle of least privilege, you should limit direct access to Azure SQL data. Only services and individuals that need to query the information directly should be given the relevant authorization. Microsoft recommends implementing Multi-Factor Authentication where possible and limiting the use of password-based authentication for applications.

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Monitoring

Azure offers several monitoring tools you can use to monitor your Microsoft Azure SQL Database’s efficiency and performance. The option to utilize depends on the metric you need to track. The list below highlights the features of each one.

  • Azure Portal: Navigating to the Resources tab on the Overview Blade can give you insight into CPU, memory, and network performance.
  • Azure SQL Analytics: This tool that runs with Azure Monitor helps you track all your Azure SQL databases’ performance across multiple subscriptions. It provides you with a single view collecting and visualizing key performance metrics.
  • Activity Logs: This feature also runs on Azure Monitor and provides insight into subscription-level events such as adding, creating, or deleting a database.
  • Azure Security Center: This Azure resource provides a centralized security view of all your Azure resources. It assesses your environment and its configuration and provides recommended actions to remediate any security vulnerabilities. It also raises security-related alerts when it detects an anomaly or when certain activities exceed a particular threshold.