Over the past couple of years, we've been hard at work continuously innovating and improving Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server to ensure that it's your best choice for running MySQL open-source databases in the cloud. We're kicking off this blog series to bring you a retrospective of the updates and announcements from the previous month, together with the latest roadmap of upcoming features.
August 2023 Live webinar
We also provide these updates in our monthly live webinar on YouTube (Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel!), which occurs the second Wednesday of every month, at 7:30am Pacific Time. Below is a link to the webinar we delivered last week:
July 2023 updates
Autoscale IOPS - General Availability
With autoscale IOPS for Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server, you no longer need to pre-provision IOPS and pay for resources that you aren’t fully using. Enabling this feature allows your instance of Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server to automatically scale IOPS up and down depending on workload trends! You only pay for the amount of IOPS that you use, providing possible cost savings.
Learn more: Blog post | Demo video | Documentation
Azure MySQL Import for Single Server to Flexible Server migrations – Public Preview
With Azure MySQL Import, you can now migrate an Azure Database for MySQL single server to an Azure Database for MySQL flexible server by running a single CLI command! Azure MySQL Import is especially suited for bigger workloads and uses snapshot backup and restores technology to offer a simple and fast migration path to restore the source server's physical data files to the target server. Based on user-inputs, it takes up the responsibility of provisioning your target Flexible Server and then taking the backup of the source server and restoring it on the target.
Learn more: Blog post | Documentation
Latest feature roadmap
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Feature
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Description
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Release status
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Coming soon! (Tentative timelines)
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Private Link
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With Private Link, you can connect to Azure Database for MySQL flexible server using a private endpoint. You can access the MySQL flexible server just like any other resource within your VNet, using its private IP address. Learn more.
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Public Preview
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General Availability by end of Q3 CY23
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Universal cross-region read replicas
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You can replicate data from an instance of Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server to a read-only server (a replica) in any region from the list of Azure supported regions. You can use this feature for performance enhancement by using such replicas to serve read-only traffic and to provide protection from regional disasters.
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Private Preview
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General Availability by end of Q3 CY23
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Long Term Retention of Backups
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Currently, Azure Database for MySQL supports automatic backups as well as on-demand backups that can be retained up to 35 days. With Long Term Retention, you can retain the backups up to 10 years, further aiding your audit and compliance needs.
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Private Preview by end of Q3 CY23
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Error Logs (in Server Logs)
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This feature provides you the option to view and download Error Logs under the Server Logs option, to analyze and troubleshoot issues.
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Private Preview by end of Q3 CY23
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Reschedule maintenance window
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This functionality brings you the option to postpone or bring forward the scheduled maintenance window for your Azure Database for MySQL flexible servers.
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Public Preview by end of Q3 CY23
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Azure MySQL Import (Single to Flexible Server Migration)
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With Azure MySQL Import, you can migrate an Azure Database for MySQL single server to an Azure Database for MySQL flexible server by running a single CLI command! Azure MySQL Import is especially suited for bigger workloads and uses snapshot backup and restores technology to offer a simple and fast migration path to restore the source server's physical data files to the target server. Learn more.
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Public Preview
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General Availability by end of Q3 CY23
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Azure MySQL Import for external migrations
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This tooling (a single CLI command!) will allow you to achieve simple and fast migration of your heavy workloads (>1TB) from external sources to Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server. Azure MySQL Import will use your physical backup copy stored in Azure Blob storage to provision and restore to MySQL flexible server.
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Private Preview by end of Q3 CY23
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MySQL Discovery & Assessment in Azure Migrate
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With this functionality, you can use Azure Migrate to discover MySQL servers in your environment, assess them by identifying their compatibility for moving to Azure Database for MySQL, and receive compute and storage SKU recommendations along with their costs.
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Private Preview by early Q4 CY23
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Microsoft Defender for Cloud
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Support for Azure Database for MySQL in Microsoft Defender for Cloud will enable you to easily detect anomalous activities indicating unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit databases, without the need for advanced security monitoring systems or security experts.
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Private Preview in Q1 CY24
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Conclusion
As we continue to work on new features and functionalities, your feedback is very critical for our improvement. If you wish to enroll in Private Preview for any of the above features, or if you have any suggestions or queries on the service, write to us at AskAzureDBforMySQL@service.microsoft.com.
To learn more about what's new with Flexible Server, see What's new in Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server. Stay tuned for more updates and announcements by following us on social media: YouTube | LinkedIn. Thank you!
