We’re thrilled to announce that SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc on Windows is now generally available in the US Government Virginia region. With this, U.S. government agencies and organizations can manage SQL Server instances outside of Azure from the Azure Government portal, in a secure and compliant manner.
SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc resources in US government Virginia can be onboarded and viewed in the Azure Government portal just like any Azure resource, giving you a single pane of glass to monitor and organize your SQL Server estate in the Gov cloud.
Available Features
Currently, in the US Government Virginia region, SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc provides the following features:
- Connect your SQL Server to Azure Arc (onboard) a SQL Server instance to Azure Arc.
- SQL Server inventory which includes the following capabilities in the Azure portal:
- View SQL Server instances as Azure resources.
- View databases Azure resources.
- View the properties for each server. For example, you can view the version, edition, and database for each instance.
- Subscribe to Extended Security Updates in a production environment.
- Manage licensing and billing of SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc.
- License virtual cores. Review licensing limitations.
All other features aren't currently available.
How to Onboard Your SQL Server
Onboarding SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc in the Government cloud is a two-step process that you can initiate from the Azure (US Gov) portal.
- Step 1: Connect hybrid machines with Azure Arc-enabled servers
- Step 2: Connect your SQL Server to Azure Arc on a server already enabled by Azure Arc
Limitations
The following SQL Server features aren't currently available in any US Government region:
- Failover cluster instance (FCI)
- Availability group (AG)
- License physical cores (p-cores) with unlimited virtualization.
- License physical cores (p-cores) without virtual machines.
- SQL Server associated services:
Future Plans and Roadmap
This is a major first step in bringing Azure Arc’s hybrid data management to Azure Government, and we will continue to do additional enhancements to achieve service parity.
Conclusion
The availability of SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc in the US Gov Virginia region marks an important milestone for hybrid data management in Government. If you’re an Azure Government user managing SQL Server instances, we invite you to try out SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc in US Government in Viginia region. And please, share your feedback with us through the community forum or your Microsoft representatives.
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