August 2025 Recap: Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Here’s what’s new this month to help you build smarter and scale securely: Advisor performance tuning (GA): New insights on index scans, logging, stats, and connections Entra ID group login (Preview): Let users sign in with their own credentials (no need for login using group-ID). New region – Austria East: Lower latency + data residency options for Central Europe LangChain & LangGraph support: Use Azure PostgreSQL as a vector store for AI agents Active-active replication guide: Step-by-step walkthrough using pglogical Full details in monthly recap: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/adforpostgresql/august-2025-recap-azure-database-for-postgresql/4450527August 2025 Recap: Azure Database for MySQL
We're excited to share a summary of the Azure Database for MySQL updates for the month of August 2025. Join us live on our YouTube channel on September 11, 2025 for an exclusive webinar where we’ll dive deeper into these updates and answer your questions! Watch it live here. Azure Database for MySQL 8.4 - General Availability We’re excited to announce that Azure Database for MySQL now supports MySQL 8.4 in General Availability (GA). This means you can create new MySQL 8.4 servers on Azure fully supported for production workloads. MySQL 8.4 is a long-term supported release from the MySQL community, bringing the latest features and improvements while emphasizing stability. With Azure’s managed service, you get these new capabilities backed by Azure’s enterprise-grade reliability and support. In short, MySQL 8.4 GA opens the door for you to upgrade your databases and future-proof your MySQL environment on Azure. Learn more. Cross subscription and cross resource-group placement in restore/replica provisioning workflow You can now restore a server or create a read replica in a different subscription and resource group in Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server. This enhancement offers greater flexibility for cross-environment restores, resource organization, and subscription-level separation, helping meet governance and operational requirements. Learn more. Ability to delete on-demand backup You can now delete on-demand backups in Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server, giving you greater control over backup management and storage costs. This feature allows you to remove on-demand backups that are no longer needed, helping maintain a cleaner backup inventory and optimize resource usage. Learn more. Unlocking Regional Insights with the Location Based Capabilities REST API Managing MySQL Flexible Server deployments across Azure regions often means choosing the right Azure region for your MySQL deployment is critical. The new Location-Based Capability Set – List API helps you: Retrieve real-time, region-specific capabilities. Compare SKUs, storage options, backup retention, and HA configurations. Integrate insights into automation pipelines for smarter deployments. This API empowers architects and developers to make informed decisions, reduce misconfigurations, and accelerate deployment cycles. Learn more. Stay Connected We look forward to your feedback as you explore these enhancements and continue building with Azure Database for MySQL. If you have any suggestions or queries about our service, please let us know by emailing us at AskAzureDBforMySQL@service.microsoft.com. You can also submit product ideas and feedback at Azure Database for MySQL Community forum. 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 | X. Take care, and thanks for being part of our community!Azure Database for MySQL 8.4 Now Generally Available
We’re excited to announce that Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server now supports MySQL 8.4 in General Availability (GA). This means you can create new MySQL 8.4 servers on Azure fully supported for production workloads. MySQL 8.4 is a long-term supported release from the MySQL community, bringing the latest features and improvements while emphasizing stability. With Azure’s managed service, you get these new capabilities backed by Azure’s enterprise-grade reliability and support. In short, MySQL 8.4 GA opens the door for you to upgrade your databases and future-proof your MySQL environment on Azure. Why Upgrade to MySQL 8.4? Avoid End-of-Support Deadlines: If you’re running MySQL 5.7 or 8.0 on Azure, planning an upgrade is crucial. MySQL 5.7’s community support ended on October 31, 2023, and MySQL 8.0’s end-of-life is April 30, 2026. Azure’s standard support for these versions extends slightly beyond those dates (until March 31, 2026 for 5.7, and May 31, 2026 for 8.0). After those points, servers on 5.7 or 8.0 enter Extended Support, a paid support phase that provides critical fixes for up to three years (through 2029). Running your database in Extended Support means additional costs. Upgrading to MySQL 8.4 now ensures your database stays within standard support for years to come, sparing you the hassle of last-minute upgrades or extended support fees. Benefits of MySQL 8.4: MySQL 8.4 is essentially an evolution of 8.0, so it brings numerous performance enhancements, security patches, and new SQL features that have been introduced since 8.0. Because it’s an LTS release, MySQL 8.4 is designed for stability – making it an ideal target for enterprises. Most applications that work on MySQL 8.0 will be compatible with 8.4 with little to no changes, but with 8.4 you gain improvements in areas like replication, query optimization, and JSON handling (among others) that can boost your application’s efficiency. Moreover, by standardizing on 8.4, you align with the version that will receive updates well into the future. In summary, upgrading means better reliability, availability, and security now, and assured support longevity. Upgrading from MySQL 8.0 (In-Place Upgrade) For current Azure Database for MySQL 8.0 users, moving to 8.4 is straightforward, thanks to our in-place major version upgrade capability. You can upgrade your existing 8.0 server to 8.4 on the same server instance, without dumping and restoring data. Here’s how it works: Upgrade Availability: If you create a new MySQL 8.0 server today (post-GA), the option to upgrade to 8.4 is available immediately in the Azure portal or CLI. For existing 8.0 servers (those created before this GA release), the upgrade capability will become available after your next scheduled maintenance window. The September 2025 platform update is enabling this feature across all regions. Note: Azure will not auto-upgrade your server during that maintenance; it only enables the new version as an option. You remain in control of when to perform the major version upgrade. Performing the Upgrade: Once the feature is enabled for your server, you can initiate the upgrade via the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or PowerShell. The process involves a downtime (the server will be taken offline and restarted on MySQL 8.4), so plan to execute during a maintenance window or low-traffic period. We strongly recommend taking a backup or snapshot before upgrading, as a precaution. For a step-by-step guide and best practices (including how to minimize downtime by using read replicas for the upgrade), refer to the official Azure documentation on https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/mysql/flexible-server/how-to-upgrade. In most cases, upgrading from 8.0 to 8.4 is completed within several minutes. After upgrade, your server retains the same endpoints, configuration, and data – just running on the new MySQL 8.4 engine. Upgrading from MySQL 5.7 (Two-Step Path) Upgrading from MySQL 5.7 to 8.4 requires a two-step approach, since a direct jump is not supported: First upgrade 5.7 to 8.0: Azure MySQL Flexible Server supports in-place major upgrade from 5.7 to 8.0. This moves your server to a supported major version and is a necessary intermediate step (you cannot skip major versions in one go). MySQL 8.0 introduced some changes from 5.7 (for example, stricter SQL modes and a new default authentication plugin), so after upgrading to 8.0, test your application and fix any compatibility issues. Azure’s standard support for 5.7 runs until March 31, 2026, so you should aim to complete this step before then. Then upgrade 8.0 to 8.4: With your server now on 8.0, you can use the in-place upgrade to 8.4 as described above. All Azure 8.0 servers will have the 8.4 upgrade option by the end of the next maintenance cycle (after the feature rollout in September 2025). Plan to perform the 8.0 → 8.4 upgrade at a convenient time, ideally well before MySQL 8.0’s support winds down in 2026. This final step ensures you’re on the latest GA version and out of the legacy support cycle. Some customers may choose to migrate 5.7 to 8.4 by creating a new 8.4 server and importing data (using dump and restore or Azure Database Migration Service). This approach can be useful if you want to reorganize your environment or test in parallel. However, it will likely involve more downtime than the sequential in-place upgrades. Evaluate which method fits your needs – either way, now is the time to start, given that free support for 5.7 ends in less than two years. Support Timeline Summary and Next Steps To recap the support timelines and why upgrading matters: MySQL 5.7: Community EOL: Oct 31, 2023. Azure standard support until: March 31, 2026. After that, servers enter extended support (critical fixes only, with additional charges) until March 31, 2029. Action: Plan to upgrade off 5.7 before Q1 2026 to stay within standard support. MySQL 8.0: Community EOL: Apr 30, 2026. Azure standard support until: May 31, 2026. Extended support then runs to May 31, 2029. Action: Begin upgrading 8.0 instances to 8.4 in the coming months, rather than waiting until the last moment. The upgrade feature is available now (or after one maintenance cycle for older servers). MySQL 8.4: GA start: Sep 2025 (now). This is the recommended target for all MySQL deployments on Azure going forward. It will be fully supported on Azure well beyond 2026, receiving regular updates and improvements as part of the Azure service. Action: Deploy new databases on 8.4 and upgrade existing 5.7/8.0 databases to 8.4 when feasible, to benefit from the latest features and long-term support. Next Steps: Getting started with MySQL 8.4 on Azure is easy. You can create a new Azure Database for MySQL 8.4 server from the Azure Portal or via CLI today. For existing servers, review the https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/mysql/flexible-server/how-to-upgrade to choose your upgrade method (in-place with some downtime vs. replica method for minimal downtime) and schedule a time for the upgrade. By moving to Azure Database for MySQL 8.4, you’re investing in a more stable, performant, and future-proof foundation for your applications. We’re thrilled to see customers embrace MySQL 8.4, and we’re committed to making your upgrade process as smooth as possible. Upgrade with confidence, and leverage the power of MySQL 8.4 in Azure to drive your business forward! For more information or to provide feedback, contact Ask Azure Database For MySQL.Data integration with Azure Logic Apps and MySQL Flexible Server
Data integration allows applications to move, process, or transform data across multiple systems as part of their micro-service architecture. While you can accomplish data integration in several ways, you can use Logic apps to move data to an Azure Database for MySQL flexible server and automate data integration tasks that you perform in response to API calls.New ESG study validates how fully managed PostgreSQL on Azure delivers economic wins
Migrating your PostgreSQL databases to Azure delivers cost, performance and productivity benefits, while laying a strong foundation for innovation. But don’t just take our word for it. We’ve worked with the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), now a part of Omdia, to validate how organizations benefit economically from moving their PostgreSQL databases to Azure. Whether you’re modernizing your mission-critical applications or developing the next groundbreaking feature, migrating to Azure gives you the freedom, flexibility and continuous improvements of open source backed by the reliability, security and efficiency of Azure. Read the full PostgreSQL report PostgreSQL is the preferred choice of developers building the next generation of intelligent applications, according to the 2025 Stack Overflow survey. However, many teams are finding that managing these open-source databases on-premises is increasingly challenging, especially as their innovation initiatives demand more and more resources. Because of this, organizations are rapidly modernizing their database infrastructure to better support these next-gen initiatives. At a glance – benefits of migrating to Azure Database for PostgreSQL Increasing complexity is nothing new to today’s IT and developer teams. Some of the key drivers contributing to this complexity include integrating emerging tech like AI and managing cybersecurity concerns—two things that the fully managed Azure Database for PostgreSQL service handles very well. Built-in GenAI capabilities, performance recommendations, and enterprise-grade security, scalability, compliance and availability make PostgreSQL on Azure a natural fit for teams looking to build intelligent enterprise applications. The ESG report highlights: 58% lower total cost of ownership 65% improvement in database performance $770K in savings from avoiding downtime “We have seen wins on both sides of the financial equation. Our costs are down across the board, and we have increased our revenue specifically because of the capabilities that moving our Azure Database for PostgreSQL.” Review the Azure Database for PostgreSQL Economic Validation Infographic A closer look – how fully managed PostgreSQL on Azure delivers economic wins for the enterprise Lower total cost of ownership Migration dramatically lowers the total cost of ownership of enterprise databases. By shifting from on-premises infrastructure to Azure’s managed service, enterprises eliminate many capital and operational expenses. Elimination of hardware and maintenance costs: On-premises PostgreSQL deployments require investing in servers, storage, networking hardware, as well as ongoing power, cooling, and data center space. Migrating to Azure removes these needs entirely. Companies no longer have to purchase or refresh hardware or pay for associated facilities and utilities, directly cutting capex and support costs. Reduced licensing and support expenses: Azure’s model also eliminates traditional database licensing fees, third-party support contracts, and expensive monitoring tools for on-premises systems. Organizations reported saving thousands on separate support agreements or software licenses for their PostgreSQL instances. Pay-as-you-go flexibility: Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers pay-as-you-go and reserved pricing models, so enterprises only pay for the compute and storage they actually use. There’s no more overprovisioning resources to handle peak loads, and dynamic scaling ensures capacity matches demand. Operational efficiency: By offloading database management to Microsoft, organizations also reduce administrative overhead, which indirectly lowers labor costs. In ESG’s study, moving to Azure cut the monthly DBA hours per database from 2.1 hours to just 0.6 hours, a ~70% decrease in effort, effectively saving payroll expenditure on routine upkeep. Improved performance and scalability Enterprises see substantial improvements in database performance and scalability after migrating to Azure. Because Azure Database for PostgreSQL runs on high-end cloud infrastructure with intelligent optimizations, applications can achieve faster response times and handle greater workloads. Higher throughput and lower latency: ESG’s interviews found average database performance improved by ~65%, and in one case a customer saw a 9× increase in throughput for its primary application after migration. Such gains come from Azure’s optimized compute, premium SSD storage options, and features like automatic performance tuning that are difficult to replicate on-premises. Elastic scaling on demand: In on-premises environments, supporting peak workloads often meant overprovisioning. Azure Database for PostgreSQL completely changes this paradigm with cloud elasticity. The ability to instantly right-size resources means applications always have the performance they need, and users experience responsive, low-latency service. Handling growth with ease: As an enterprise’s data and user base grows, Azure’s global infrastructure can seamlessly accommodate that expansion. This cloud scalability gives enterprises headroom to innovate and onboard more customers without performance bottlenecks. In contrast, scaling an on-premises PostgreSQL often requires complex sharding or hardware upgrades. Accelerated time to value: Improved performance and scalability directly impact business agility. Batch processes complete faster, reports generate sooner, and websites or applications can serve more customers per second. ESG noted that by removing infrastructure constraints, Azure empowered businesses to accelerate their time-to-value and respond faster to market demands. Operational agility and developer productivity By migrating to a fully managed service, enterprises gain agility and allow their IT/development teams to focus on innovation. Offloading database management to Azure not only saves costs but also frees up technical staff from mundane maintenance. This shift translates into faster project delivery and greater productivity: Less time spent “keeping the lights on”: ESG found that after migration, companies saw a major reduction in the effort required to manage databases. Administrators went from spending 2+ hours per database per month on upkeep to less than one hour. This over 70% drop in DBA workload means IT teams are no longer bogged down by routine chores. Faster development and release cycles: ESG observed that organizations enjoyed increased development velocity after migrating, since their engineers could devote time to coding and testing new features instead of managing database infrastructure. For example, one company in the study was able to increase its software release frequency significantly. Improved business agility: The combination of easier scaling, better performance, and less ops overhead means the organization can respond to opportunities faster. Some enterprises even credited the move to Azure with helping increase their revenue, because it allowed them to deliver new capabilities to market sooner. Focus on core competencies: After migration, organizations can let Azure handle the heavy lifting of database administration and instead concentrate on work that differentiates them in the marketplace. Developers spend more time building applications and analyzing areas that drive business value rather than performing software updates or fixing replication issues. Enhanced security, compliance, and reliability Azure Database for PostgreSQL provides enterprise-grade security and reliability features that far exceed what most companies can achieve on-premises. This results in a stronger risk posture, reducing the likelihood of breaches or downtime while also easing compliance burdens. Built-in high availability and disaster recovery: ESG’s modeled scenario saw annual PostgreSQL downtime drop from 10 hours on-premises to just 5 hours on Azure. With a 99.99% availability SLA for Azure Database for PostgreSQL, unplanned outages that used to disrupt business are largely a thing of the past. One ESG case study estimated about $770K in costs were avoided thanks to preventing downtime and the associated business disruptions. Strong security and data protection: PostgreSQL instances on Azure benefit from Microsoft’s massive investments in cybersecurity and compliance. One customer highlighted, “We are much more secure since we moved to Azure Database for PostgreSQL. We use Azure AI to set our security standards and get constant recommendations on how to increase our security even more.” Automated updates and governance: Azure takes care of updating PostgreSQL with the latest security fixes and can even upgrade the database engine version with minimal downtime. Furthermore, features like audit logging, advanced threat protection, and integration with Azure Security Center provide continuous oversight of database activity. Geo-redundancy and backup management: For disaster recovery, Azure allows geo-redundant backups and read replicas in different regions, improving an enterprise’s resilience to regional outages or disasters. Should data restoration be needed, it’s as simple as clicking a button. Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers enterprises a frictionless path to greater efficiency, innovation, and growth. By lowering costs and management burdens, it lets you redirect resources to strategic projects. By boosting performance and scalability, it ensures your applications can keep up with business demands. And by enhancing security and reliability, it safeguards one of your most precious assets—your data—while meeting the strict requirements of enterprise IT. The benefits outlined in the ESG study make a strong business case: migrating on-premises databases to Azure’s managed PostgreSQL can transform your IT operations and deliver tangible business value from day one. Tested, approved, trusted Migrating to a fully managed PostgreSQL service supports digital transformation. It allows enterprises to modernize their data estate without abandoning the familiarity of PostgreSQL. Developers can continue using the open-source tools and skills they know, but now with cloud-powered capabilities at their fingertips. Azure integrations (with AI services, analytics tools, etc.) further enable organizations to do more with their data. For example, companies can readily infuse AI or machine learning into their applications or take advantage of advanced analytics on their PostgreSQL data, since that data is easily accessible in the cloud. Read the full report for more details about the quantified benefits and customer testimonials. If you’re ready to start your journey, check out our migration guides. With Azure’s fully managed PostgreSQL, you can supercharge your data strategy, empower your developers, and ultimately accelerate your path to an AI-driven future.June 2025 updates for Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Big news this month — PostgreSQL 17 is now GA with in-place upgrades, and our Migration Service fully supports PG17, making adoption smoother than ever. Also in this release: Online Migration is now generally available SSD v2 HA (Preview) with 10s failovers and better resilience Azure PostgreSQL now available in Indonesia Central VS Code extension enhancements for smoother dev experience Enhanced role management for improved admin control Ansible collection updated for latest REST API Check all these updates in this month’s recap blog: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/adforpostgresql/june-2025-recap-azure-database-for-postgresql/4412095 Check it out and tell us which feature you're most excited about!QTip: Getting timeouts and exceptions using Azure SQL DB Query Store
Requirements: Azure SQL Database SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) Tables testcodes and testinvoice used for this demo 1-Configure Query Store to collect data and save as soon as possible to be able to review it * Data flush interval is the time to send information to disk ** Statistics collection interval is the time range to collect data , query store is not collecting one record by execution is collecting statistics of each execution and you can get max, min, avg but not excecution by excecution *** Query store capture mode ALL will collect information of all executions query store will not make any kind of filter 2-Create table testcodes CREATE TABLE [dbo].[testcodes]( [Code] [char](5) NULL, [Description] [nchar](10) NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GO 3-Create table testinvoice CREATE TABLE [dbo].[testinvoice]( [code] [char](5) NULL, [pieces] [int] NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GO 4-Add some codes to be used 5-Add some records to invoice Exception ... 6-Run query to get information from invoices and get description from codes select *,description=(select testcodes.Code from testcodes where testcodes.code=invoice.code) from testinvoice invoice Is possible to see execution without error 7-Now add in codes a second code BBB to force exception 8-Run query from point 6 again Result is an exception 9-Run query to see queries with exceptions or timeouts starting 2 days ago (declare @datestart as datetime = dateadd(D,-2,getdate());) declare @datestart as datetime = dateadd(D,-2,getdate()); declare @datefinish as datetime = getdate(); /* if you want to set to specific time */ --set @datestart = '2025-04-09 00:00:00'; --set @datefinish = '2025-04-09 23:59:59'; select rs.last_execution_time, rs.execution_type_desc, qt.query_sql_text, q.query_id, CONVERT(VARCHAR(1000), q.query_hash, 1) as strqueryhash, p.plan_id, rs.last_cpu_time, rs.last_duration, rs.count_executions, rs.last_rowcount, rs.last_logical_io_reads, rs.last_physical_io_reads, rs.last_query_max_used_memory, rs.last_tempdb_space_used, rs.last_dop, p.is_forced_plan, p.last_force_failure_reason, p.last_force_failure_reason_desc FROM sys.query_store_query_text AS qt JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p ON q.query_id = p.query_id JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs ON p.plan_id = rs.plan_id where rs.last_execution_time>= @datestart and rs.last_execution_time<=@datefinish and (rs.execution_type=3 or rs.execution_type=4) -- 3 timeout, 4 error --and qt.query_sql_text like '%actual%' --and q.query_hash=0x009C458D20394C37 --and p.plan_id=12 ORDER BY rs.last_execution_time DESC 10-In query there are some commented lines that you can use to add more filters or modify them To see all records comment line 20 declare @datestart as datetime = dateadd(D,-2,getdate()); declare @datefinish as datetime = getdate(); /* if you want to set to specific time */ --set @datestart = '2025-04-09 00:00:00'; --set @datefinish = '2025-04-09 23:59:59'; select rs.last_execution_time, rs.execution_type_desc, qt.query_sql_text, q.query_id, CONVERT(VARCHAR(1000), q.query_hash, 1) as strqueryhash, p.plan_id, rs.last_cpu_time, rs.last_duration, rs.count_executions, rs.last_rowcount, rs.last_logical_io_reads, rs.last_physical_io_reads, rs.last_query_max_used_memory, rs.last_tempdb_space_used, rs.last_dop, p.is_forced_plan, p.last_force_failure_reason, p.last_force_failure_reason_desc FROM sys.query_store_query_text AS qt JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q ON qt.query_text_id = q.query_text_id JOIN sys.query_store_plan AS p ON q.query_id = p.query_id JOIN sys.query_store_runtime_stats AS rs ON p.plan_id = rs.plan_id where rs.last_execution_time>= @datestart and rs.last_execution_time<=@datefinish --and (rs.execution_type=3 or rs.execution_type=4) -- 3 timeout, 4 error --and qt.query_sql_text like '%actual%' --and q.query_hash=0x009C458D20394C37 --and p.plan_id=12 ORDER BY rs.last_execution_time DESC Now you can see all records 11-Reproduce error several times within 1 minute to see value in execution count (number of executions inside of statistics collection interval) Timeout ... 12-Configure command timeout different to 0 for this demo use 10 (seconds) in parameters previous to connect Second option 12-Use query below that will run 1000 times and at some point will fail INSERT INTO [dbo].[testinvoice] SELECT * FROM [dbo].[testinvoice] GO 1000 13-Run query from point 9 to see data in query store Now you can reproduce and get data about all excecutions , exceptions and timeouts good luck!Boost your MySQL apps: why enterprises are migrating MySQL databases to Azure
MySQL is one of the world’s most popular open-source databases, and for good reason. It’s cost-effective, scalable, and familiar to millions of developers. But if your enterprise is running MySQL on-premises, you might be missing out on huge benefits in cost savings, performance, and agility. Recent findings from an ESG Economic Validation report, commissioned by Microsoft, reveal just how advantageous it is to migrate on-premises MySQL databases to Azure’s fully managed database- as -a -service platform. Read the full MySQL report TL;DR – benefits of migrating to Azure Database for MySQL Managing data security, quality and privacy as well as general database management are among the most significant challenges facing developer teams. Some even report that database technology is evolving faster than they’re able to keep up with. Migrating to Azure’s fully managed service offloads these responsibilities so teams can focus fully on projects that move their business forward. Some benefits of moving from on premises to Azure Database for MySQL highlighted in the report include: 54% lower total cost of ownership 86% lower MySQL admin costs 25% increase in development velocity “Our developers can now focus on their core job: creating code. We now put out 8 releases per year compared to 2 when we were on premises. This gets features and fixes in the hands of our customers sooner.” Review the Azure Database for MySQL Economic Validation Infographic Zooming in – how fully managed open-source databases on Azure deliver economic wins for the enterprise More than 50% lower costs and total cost of ownership Azure’s fully managed MySQL service delivers the same (or better) database capabilities for almost half the cost. By one estimate, a company could save millions over a few years and even see an ROI above 90% from the migration when factoring in both cost savings and new revenue opportunities. These savings come from a few key areas: No more hardware and maintenance expenses: On-premises MySQL deployments require investing in servers, storage, networking gear – plus ongoing power, cooling, and data center space. Azure Database for MySQL eliminates those needs entirely. You don’t buy or maintain hardware; Microsoft handles the infrastructure. Drastically reduced admin overhead: Companies in the study reported an 86% reduction in the cost of MySQL administration after migrating to Azure. All the routine tasks—installing updates, patching OS and MySQL versions, tuning performance, taking backups, managing high availability—are handled by Azure as part of the service. Pay-as-you-go efficiency: On-premises setups often over-provision resources to handle peak loads, which wastes money during lulls. Azure can scale resources on-demand, so you’re never stuck paying for idle capacity. You can also use cost controls like burstable instances for dev/test, stop/start to pause servers, and reserved instances for discounts. Included extras: Many capabilities that would incur extra cost on-premises (or require separate licenses) are bundled into Azure Database for MySQL. For example, security features, monitoring and performance tuning tools, backup storage, and high availability options come built-in at no extra charge in Azure’s service tiers. Improved performance and scalability Beyond cost, Azure Database for MySQL helps your applications run faster and scale seamlessly to meet demand. In on-premises environments, you might need to tune configs, add hardware, or handle sharding as usage grows. Azure takes a lot of that burden away and offers cloud-scale performance out of the box: Better throughput: Azure’s managed MySQL runs on high-performance cloud infrastructure (with fast SSD storage, plenty of memory, and low-latency networking). Microsoft has also added capabilities like accelerated I/O logs and intelligent caching that improve MySQL’s throughput and response times compared to typical on-premises setups. Elastic scaling on demand: With Azure, scaling up a MySQL server is as simple as a configuration change. No new hardware is required. You can scale vertically (bigger machine) or horizontally (add read replicas) in minutes. Azure even supports autoscaling of IOPS and storage based on set thresholds. This flexibility means your database can handle traffic spikes or growth without manual intervention. No wasted capacity: On-premises, you often must deploy extra servers “just in case” future demand increases, and that hardware sits underutilized most of the time. Azure’s model avoids this waste. Enterprises reported that Azure’s ability to fine-tune resources helped them avoid overprovisioning and maintain a better price/performance mix. Reliable high performance at scale: Whether you have 10 users or 10 million, Azure’s global infrastructure can scale to meet your needs. One customer in the study found that after migrating, they could provide MySQL services 5× faster than when they were on-premises. Faster development cycles and greater developer productivity For developers, one of the biggest wins of moving MySQL to Azure is time back to innovate. When you no longer have to babysit your database infrastructure, you can focus on building features and improving your applications. The ESG report highlighted that companies saw significantly improved developer productivity and agility after migrating. Faster development: Organizations reported that their development cycles became 25% faster on average once on Azure. One customer shared that “our developers can now focus on their core job: creating code.” The customer went from shipping two software releases per year to eight releases per year after migrating to Azure. Elimination of toil: Azure’s fully managed platform lifts the burden of routine DB administration from your team. No more worrying about backups, failover, or OS patches. The service continuously applies best practices and optimizations automatically, so your team doesn’t have to. Teams can be more agile because they’re not bogged down by lengthy processes or constant maintenance. Faster time-to-market: ESG modeled that by releasing features earlier and more often, thanks to Azure MySQL, a mid-sized software company could realize an additional $15 million in revenue over three years by being first-to-market with new capabilities can capture customers and market share. Stronger security and high availability Running MySQL in Azure doesn’t just make life easier and cheaper. It also makes your databases more secure and resilient. Enterprises often struggle to keep up with patches, security threats, and high availability when managing databases on-premises. Azure Database for MySQL is hardened with enterprise-grade security and reliability features that can significantly reduce your risk. Fully managed security updates: In the ESG survey, nearly half of organizations (46%) said they needed outside expertise to help manage database platforms on-premises often because of the complexity of securing and tuning them. Azure takes care of patching the MySQL engine and underlying OS for you, ensuring you’re always on a supported, secure version. Enhanced data protection: By default, Azure Database for MySQL encrypts data at rest and in transit. It also offers network isolation options to lock down access to your database. Many customers found that after migrating, their security posture was stronger than before. They could easily implement role-based access control via Azure AD, set up threat detection alerts, and use Azure’s monitoring to audit activity with just a few clicks. High availability and disaster recovery built In: Azure Database for MySQL can be deployed with high availability configurations across availability zones. In case of an outage, it can switch to a standby replica usually in under 60 seconds, dramatically reducing downtime for your apps. Companies in the study experienced 70% less downtime incidents after moving to Azure. Compliance and governance: Azure Database for MySQL is compliant with a broad set of industry standards and certifications, easing the audit burden. Many organizations found that moving to Azure made it simpler to adhere to internal security policies and compliance standards because so many controls are built into the platform. Enterprise-ready MySQL is just a few clicks away Azure provides a hardened, enterprise-ready environment for MySQL that most companies would be hard-pressed to build on their own. By entrusting MySQL to Azure’s managed service, you benefit from Microsoft’s investments in security and infrastructure resiliency. The result is peace of mind: your data is safer, your databases are more stable, and your team has far fewer 3 AM incidents to deal with. Read the full report for more details about the quantified benefits and customer testimonials. If you’re ready to start your journey, check out our migration guides. With Azure’s fully managed open-source databases, you can supercharge your data strategy, empower your developers, and ultimately accelerate your path to an AI-driven future.PostgreSQL 17 General Availability with In-Place Upgrade Support
We’re excited to share that PostgreSQL 17 is now Generally Available on Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server! This release brings community-driven enhancements including improved vacuum performance, smarter query planning, enhanced JSON functions, and dynamic logical replication. It also includes support for in-place major version upgrades, allowing customers to upgrade directly from PostgreSQL 11–16 to 17 without needing to migrate data or change connection strings. PostgreSQL 17 is now the default version for new server creations and major version upgrades. 📖 Read the full blog post: http://aka.ms/PG17 Let us know if you have feedback or questions!Scaling PostgreSQL at OpenAI: Lessons in Reliability, Efficiency, and Innovation
At POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2025, Bohan Zhang of OpenAI delivered a compelling talk on how OpenAI has scaled Azure Database for PostgreSQL- Flexible Server to meet the demands of one of the world’s most advanced AI platforms running at planetary scale. The Postgres team at Microsoft has partnered deeply with OpenAI for years to enhance the service to meet their performance, scale, and availability requirements, and it is great to see how OpenAI is now deploying and depending on Flexible Server as a core component of ChatGPT. Hearing firsthand about their challenges and breakthroughs is a reminder of what’s possible when innovation meets real-world needs. This blog post captures the key insights from Bohan’s POSETTE talk, paired with how Azure’s cloud platform supports innovation at scale. PostgreSQL at the Heart of OpenAI As Bohan shared during his talk, PostgreSQL is the backbone of OpenAI’s most critical systems. Because PostgreSQL plays a critical role in powering services like ChatGPT, Open AI has prioritized making it more resilient and scalable to avoid any disruptions. That’s why OpenAI has invested deeply in optimizing PostgreSQL for reliability and scale. Why Azure Database for PostgreSQL? OpenAI has long operated PostgreSQL on Azure, initially using a single primary instance without sharding. This architecture worked well—until write scalability limits emerged. Azure’s managed PostgreSQL service provides the flexibility to scale read replicas, optimize performance, and maintain high availability to provide global low latency reads without the burden of managing infrastructure. This is why we designed Azure Database for PostgreSQL to support precisely these kinds of high-scale, mission-critical workloads, and OpenAI’s use case is a powerful validation of that vision. Tackling Write Bottlenecks PostgreSQL’s MVCC (Multi-Version Concurrency Control) design presents challenges for write-heavy workloads—such as index bloat, autovacuum tuning complexity, and version churn. OpenAI addressed this by: Reducing unnecessary writes at the application level Using lazy writes and controlled backfills to smooth spikes Migrating extreme write-heavy workloads with natural sharding keys to other systems. These strategies allowed OpenAI to preserve PostgreSQL’s strengths while mitigating its limitations. Optimizing Read-Heavy Workloads With writes offloaded, OpenAI focused on scaling read-heavy workloads. Key optimizations included: Offloading read queries to replicas Avoiding long-running queries and expensive multi-way join queries Using PgBouncer for connection pooling, reducing latency from 50ms to under 5ms Categorizing requests by priority and assigning dedicated read replicas to high-priority traffic As Bohan noted, “After all the optimization we did, we are super happy with Postgres right now for our read-heavy workloads.” Schema Governance and Resilience OpenAI also implemented strict schema governance to avoid full table rewrites and production disruptions. Only lightweight schema changes are allowed, and long-running queries are monitored to prevent them from blocking migrations. To ensure resilience, we categorized requests by priority and implemented multi-level rate limiting—at the application, connection, and query digest levels. This helped prevent resource exhaustion and service degradation. Takeaway OpenAI’s journey is a masterclass in how to operate PostgreSQL at hyper-scale. By offloading writes, scaling read replicas, and enforcing strict schema governance, OpenAI demonstrated PostgreSQL on Azure meets the demands of cutting-edge AI systems. It also reinforces the value of Azure’s managed database services in enabling teams to focus on innovation rather than infrastructure. We’re proud of the work we’ve done to co-innovate with OpenAI and excited to see how other organizations can apply these lessons to their own PostgreSQL deployments. Check out the on-demand talk “Scaling Postgres to the next level at OpenAI” and many more PostgreSQL community sessions from POSETTE.
