Azure Database for PostgreSQL and OSSDBs on Azure: Latest updates through Ignite 2019!

In March 2019, I published a blog post wishing happy birthday to managed Open Source RDBMS services in Azure. That month marked the first anniversary of general availability (GA) of Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure Database for MySQL, and now Azure Database for MariaDB is nearing its one-year anniversary (GA in December 2018). Since March of this year, the team has been hard at work delivering new features and functionality based on customer and community feedback, with several exciting announcements at Microsoft’s Ignite 2019 conference. Below is additional detail about what we’ve announced since my March 2019 post.

Microsoft Ignite 2019 announcements

General Availability

• Hyperscale (Citus) – In previous blog posts, we’ve highlighted the acquisition of Citus Data in January, public preview availability of Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Hyperscale (Citus) in May, and the ability to bring your data to the service using Azure Data Factory. Hyperscale (Citus) transforms single node PostgreSQL into a distributed database, offering horizontal scalability across hundreds of nodes. It is ideal for multi-tenant and SaaS applications that are growing fast—and for real-time operational analytics that need sub-second response times across billions of rows. With Hyperscale (Citus), customers such as Enlyft never have to worry about scaling their databases again or costly application refactoring. The GA release includes features such as Multi-AZ HA with 99.95% SLA, support for up to 64 vCores for coordinator or worker nodes, and scaling up compute/storage or adding more worker nodes
• Storage scale up to 16 TB and 20,000 IOPS - Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Single server and Azure Database for MySQL now support increased scaling from the current 4TB and 6000 IOPS limit and raise this all the way up to 16TB and 20,000 IOPS. Higher IOPs to achieve higher throughput, scale, and sub-second query response time is a common ask from some of our customers running gaming and internet facing multi-tenant SaaS workloads. Customers can now run their most demanding, mission critical, internet scale workloads on these open source database services on Azure.
• Intelligent Performance – We are pleased to announce General Availability of Azure Database for MySQL and Azure Database for MariaDB support for Intelligent Performance, which includes Query Store, Query Performance Insights, and Performance Recommendations. This set of features provides customers with the ability to better understand their workloads, identify bottlenecks, and visually inspect their workloads. Intelligent Performance features have enabled our customers and community to identify query performance regressions in popular OSS applications such as Moodle, significantly lowering the time to resolution. Customers can also use this functionality to view a list of recommendations for improving the performance of their workloads.
• Reserved Capacity pricing – As workloads grow and consolidate, our customers need to optimize for cost. Now available for Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Single server, and Azure Database for MariaDB, Reserved Capacity pricing allowing users to reserve compute power for existing and future open source database servers running on Azure. The new pricing option enables significant savings compared to the regular pay-as-you-go payment option for your database server vCores for a period of one year. For more information, see the service pricing page (MySQL; PostgreSQL; MariaDB).
• Availability in Switzerland and Germany regions - Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and Azure Database for MariaDB are now available in the Switzerland North, Switzerland West, Germany North, and Germany West Central regions. This provides customers with additional flexibility in deploying solutions, helping to accelerate innovation and better support people working to transform their businesses. Our OSSDB services are now available in 45 Azure regions, and the number will continue to grow as we deploy to new regions in coming months. For the most current information about regional availability, see Products available by region.

Public Preview

• Azure Active Directory integration - Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Single server now provides preview support for Azure Active Directory, a new integration that enables customers to securely log in to their database and manage credentials in a central For consistent role management, database access can now also be managed by using Active Directory groups. Azure Active Directory integration has been a top customer ask in User Voice, and we’ve heard the feedback and have responded with this key release. For more information, see the article Use Azure Active Directory for authenticating with PostgreSQL.

Limited Preview

• Azure Arc – As you’ve probably read about in Rohan Kumar’s recent blog post, Azure Arc is a set of technologies that enables Azure services and extends management across clouds, on-premises datacenters, and edge. It enables customers to run Azure data services anywhere, extend Azure management across customer environment, adopt cloud practices, and implement Azure security anywhere. Together with Azure SQL Database, we are announcing limited preview of Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Hyperscale (Citus) on Azure Arc. Customers can now enjoy the benefits of Hyperscale on the infrastructure of their choice, anywhere. For more information, see Azure data services anywhere.

Additional resources

If you are currently working with Azure Database for PostgreSQL, you might find the following links useful:

• Service information
• Documentation
• Feedback forum
• Sign up for a free account on Azure
• Azure Database Migration Guide

Recent updates to Azure Database for PostgreSQL

Azure Database for PostgreSQL updates released from March 2019 forward include:

Summary

I hope the detail in the table above demonstrates our commitment to listening to and addressing your feedback with key new features and functionality you’ll now find available in Azure Database for PostgreSQL. Enjoy using this new functionality, and be sure to share your impressions via User Voice for PostgreSQL to help us prioritize our next round of improvements to the service!

Regards,

Sudhakar Sannakkayala