Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's managed database service built on the SQL Server engine. It is a proprietary managed service, so it runs only as a managed cloud offering on Azure, with no downloadable software and no version number to track. Service tiers are General Purpose, Business Critical and Hyperscale, and a serverless option is available. Hyperscale supports databases up to 100 TB. Customers can buy under a vCore model or a DTU model. Payment options include pay-as-you-go, savings plans and reservations. No price figures were extracted from the pricing page, so buyers should use the Azure pricing page and calculator to estimate costs for their chosen tier and region. Teams already running SQL Server should compare the managed service with running the server themselves, since the managed route removes patching and backup work but ties the application to Azure. The tiers differ in availability design and scale limits, so the choice of tier is the main decision once the service itself is selected. The serverless option suits workloads with intermittent demand, while Hyperscale is aimed at the largest databases the service supports.