August 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.Fix Broken Migrations with AI Powered Debugging in VS Code Using GitHub Copilot
Data is at the heart of every application. But evolving your schema is risky business. One broken migration, and your dev or prod environment can go down. We've all experienced it: mismatched columns, orphaned constraints, missing fields, or that dreaded "table already exists" error. But what if debugging migrations didn’t have to be painful? What if you could simply describe the error or broken state, and AI could fix your migration in seconds? In this blog, you’ll learn how to: Use GitHub Copilot to describe and fix broken migrations with natural language Catch schema issues like incorrect foreign keys before they block your workflow Validate and deploy your database changes using GibsonAI CLI Broken migrations are nothing new. Whether you're working on a side project or part of a large team, it’s all too easy to introduce schema issues that can block deployments or corrupt local environments. Traditionally, fixing them means scanning SQL files, reading error logs, and manually tracking down what went wrong. But what if you could skip all that? What if you could simply describe the issue in plain English and AI would fix it for you? That’s exactly what GitHub Copilot let you do, right from within VS Code. What You Need: Visual Studio Code Installed Account in GitHub Sign up with GitHub Copilot GibsonAI CLI installed and logged in Let’s Break (and Fix) a Migration: Here’s a common mistake. Say you create two tables: users and posts. CREATE TABLE users ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT, email TEXT UNIQUE ); CREATE TABLE posts ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY, title TEXT, user_id UUID REFERENCES user(id) ); The problem? The posts table refers to a table called user, but you named it users. This one-word mistake breaks the migration. If you've worked with relational databases, you’ve probably run into this exact thing. Just Ask a GitHub Copilot: Instead of troubleshooting manually, open Copilot Chat and ask: “My migration fails because posts.user_id references a missing user table. Can you fix the foreign key?” Copilot understands what you're asking. It reads the context and suggests the fix: CREATE TABLE posts ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY, title TEXT, user_id UUID REFERENCES users(id) ); It even explains what changed, so you learn along the way. Wait — how does Copilot know what I mean? GitHub Copilot is smart enough to understand your code, your errors, and even what you’re asking in plain English. It doesn’t directly connect to GibsonAI. You’ll use the GibsonAI CLI for that, but Copilot helps you figure things out and fix your code faster. Validating with GibsonAI Once Copilot gives you the fixed migration, it’s time to test it. Run: gibson validate This checks your migration and schema consistency. When you're ready to apply it, just run: gibson deploy GibsonAI handles the rest so no broken chains, no surprises. Why This Works Manual debugging of migrations is frustrating and error prone. GibsonAI with GitHub Copilot: Eliminates guesswork in debugging You don’t need to Google every error Reduces time to fix production schema issues You stay in one tool: VS Code You learn while debugging Whether you're a student learning SQL or a developer on a fast moving team, this setup helps you recover faster and ship safer. Fixing migrations used to be all trial and error, digging through files and hoping nothing broke. It was time-consuming and stressful. Now with GitHub Copilot and GibsonAI, fixing issues is fast and simple. Copilot helps you write and correct migrations. GibsonAI lets you validate and deploy with confidence. So next time your migration fails, don’t panic. Just describe the issue to GitHub Copilot, run a quick check with GibsonAI, and get back to building. Ready to try it yourself? Sign up atgibsonai.com Want to Go Further? If you’re ready to explore more powerful workflows with GibsonAI, here are two great next steps: GibsonAI MCP Server – Enable Copilot Agent Mode to integrate schema intelligence directly into your dev environment. Automatic PR Creation for Schema Changes – The in-depth guide on how to automate pull requests for database updates using GibsonAI. Want to Know More About GitHub Copilot? Explore these resources to get the most out of Copilot: Get Started with GitHub Copilot Introduction to prompt engineering with GitHub Copilot GitHub Copilot Agent Mode GitHub Copilot Customization Use GitHub Copilot Agent Mode to create a Copilot Chat application in 5 minutes Deploy Your First App Using GitHub Copilot for Azure: A Beginner’s Guide That's it, folks! But the best part? You can become part of a thriving community of learners and builders by joining the Microsoft Student Ambassadors Community. Connect with like minded individuals, explore hands-on projects, and stay updated with the latest in cloud and AI. 💬 Join the community on Discord here and explore more benefits on the Microsoft Learn Student Hub.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.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.Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server for Azure Database for MySQL
We are excited to introduce a new MCP Server for integrating your AI models with data hosted in Azure Database for MySQL. By utilizing this server, you can effortlessly connect any AI application that supports MCP to your MySQL flexible server (using either MySQL password-based authentication or Microsoft Entra authentication methods), enabling you to provide your business data as meaningful context in a standardized and secure manner.Azure Database for MySQL bindings for Azure Functions (General Availability)
We’re thrilled to announce the general availability (GA) of Azure Database for MySQL Input and Output bindings for Azure Functions—a powerful way to build event-driven, serverless applications that seamlessly integrate with your MySQL databases. Key Capabilities With this GA release, your applications can use: Input bindings that allow your function to retrieve data from a MySQL database without writing any connection or query logic. Output bindings that allow your function to insert or update data in a MySQL table without writing explicit SQL commands. In addition you can use both the input and output bindings in the same function to read-modify-write data patterns. For example, retrieve a record, update a field, and write it back—all without managing connections or writing SQL. These bindings are fully supported for both in-process and isolated worker models, giving you flexibility in how you build and deploy your Azure Functions. How It Works Azure Functions bindings abstract away the boilerplate code required to connect to external services. With the MySQL Input and Output bindings, you can now declaratively connect your serverless functions to your Azure Database for MySQL database with minimal configuration. You can configure these bindings using attributes in C#, decorators in Python, or annotations in JavaScript/Java. The bindings use the MySql.Data.MySqlClient library under the hood and support Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server. Getting Started To use the bindings, install the appropriate NuGet or npm package: # For isolated worker model (C#) dotnet add package Microsoft.Azure.Functions.Worker.Extensions.MySql # For in-process model (C#) dotnet add package Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Extensions.MySql Then, configure your function with a connection string and binding metadata. Full samples for all the supported programming frameworks are available in our github repository. Here is a sample C# in-process function example where you want to retrieve a user by ID, increment their login count, and save the updated record back to the MySQL database for lightweight data transformations, modifying status fields or updating counters and timestamps. public class User { public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public int LoginCount { get; set; } } public static class UpdateLoginCountFunction { [FunctionName("UpdateLoginCount")] public static async Task<IActionResult> Run( [HttpTrigger(AuthorizationLevel.Function, "post", Route = "user/{id}/login")] HttpRequest req, [MySql("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = @id", CommandType = System.Data.CommandType.Text, Parameters = "@id={id}", ConnectionStringSetting = "MySqlConnectionString")] User user, [MySql("users", ConnectionStringSetting = "MySqlConnectionString")] IAsyncCollector<User> userCollector, ILogger log) { if (user == null) { return new NotFoundObjectResult("User not found."); } // Modify the user object user.LoginCount += 1; // Write the updated user back to the database await userCollector.AddAsync(user); return new OkObjectResult($"Login count updated to {user.LoginCount} for user {user. Name}."); } } Learn More Azure Functions MySQL Bindings Azure Functions Conclusion With input and output bindings for Azure Database for MySQL now generally available, building serverless apps on Azure with MySQL has never been simpler or more efficient. By eliminating the need for manual connection management and boilerplate code, these bindings empower you to focus on what matters most: building scalable, event-driven applications with clean, maintainable code. Whether you're building real-time dashboards, automating workflows, or syncing data across systems, these bindings unlock new levels of productivity and performance. We can’t wait to see what you’ll build with them. If you have any feedback or questions about the information provided above, please leave a comment below or email us at AskAzureDBforMySQL@service.microsoft.com. Thank you!Deploying Moodle on Azure – things you should know
Moodle is one of the most popular open-source learning management platform empowering educators and researchers across the world to disseminate their work efficiently. It is also one of the most mature and robust OSS applications that the community has developed and improvised over the years. We have seen customers from small, medium, and large enterprises to schools, public sector, and government organizations deploying Moodle in Azure. In this blog post, I’ll share some best practices and tips for deploying Moodle on Azure based on our experiences working with several of our customers.
