Previously, to unlock 16 TB of storage in SQL MI Business Critical, customers had to opt for the memory optimized premium-series hardware generation, but not anymore; we are happy to highlight that SQL MI Business Critical now offers 16 TB for both premium-series and premium-series memory optimized hardware generations.

What is new?

16 TB was an exclusive capability for memory optimized premium-series hardware choice. However, not all workloads require that amount of memory. With this improvement, you can use premium series hardware and still have the benefit of 16 TB storage.

Why is this important?

This is another possibility for you to optimize the spendings if your workload does not require the throughput and the amount of memory of the premium-series memory optimized hardware. 

For example, in the West Europe region, this can save you 18% of your monthly computational cost:

Regional support for Premium-series hardware with 16 TB storage

This improvement is available in most Azure regions. The list of regions can be found here.

Summary

This improvement in Azure SQL Managed Instance Business Critical offers you significant cost savings if your workload needs large storage but is not memory heavy. If you're still new to Azure SQL Managed Instance, now is a great time to get started and take Azure SQL Managed Instance for a spin!

Next steps:

• Get started with SQL Managed Instance with our Quick Start reference guide.
• Learn more about the latest innovation in Azure SQL Managed Instance.
• Try SQL MI free of charge for the first 12 months.