The benefits and features introduced by the November 2022 feature wave are now generally available for all instances in eligible subnets (see below for details).
The features introduced in the feature wave are:
- Instance start/stop: a feature that allows you to start and stop your instance at your discretion to save on billing costs for vCores and SQL licensing.
- Zone redundancy: a feature that lets you deploy your managed instance across multiple availability zones and improve the availability of your service.
- DTC (Distributed Transaction Coordinator): a feature that lets you run distributed transactions in mixed environments.
The benefits in the feature wave include:
- Relaxed networking requirements: simplifies the connectivity architecture of SQL Managed Instance.
- Enhanced virtual cluster: improves the functionality of the underlying virtual cluster.
- 30-min provisioning for the first instance in a subnet: reduces the time it takes to deploy an instance from several hours to approximately 30 min.
Rollout process
The rollout process for the feature wave has reached its final stage – here are the details:
- [Completed] All instances on dev/test subscriptions are enrolled in the feature wave and have access to the new benefits and features.
- [Completed] Instances on production subscriptions created after October 2023 within eligible subnets in any region, are enrolled in the feature wave automatically and have access to the new benefits and features.
- [In Progress] Remaining instances on production subscriptions will be enrolled in the feature wave gradually and automatically in the following months. Enrollment happens automatically as part of regular updates during configured maintenance windows, honoring Azure Safe Deployment Practices.
Eligible subnets
All new instances on production subscriptions are enrolled in the feature wave by default if they are created in eligible subnets. The following subnet types are eligible:
- Subnets that are empty (either new or existing)
- Non-empty subnets that contain only instances with the feature wave enabled
Q&A
Q: My instance is not yet enrolled in the feature wave – is there anything I can do to speed up the process?
A: Please be patient for a little longer – the feature wave will become available for all SQL Managed Instances over the next several months.
Q: Why is the rollout of the feature wave slower than typical Azure SQL rollouts?
A: Feature wave contains significant new capabilities and benefits, so the rollout process needs to take longer than usual. Therefore, we’re enabling the feature wave incrementally, instead of all-at-once.
Summary
In this article, we announced the general availability of the November 2022 feature wave for SQL Managed Instance, and explained how you can leverage all the new features and passive benefits for your Azure SQL Managed Instances.
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
- November 2022 feature wave documentation - Azure SQL Managed Instance.
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