Public Preview: Performance monitoring for Azure SQL
Today we're excited to announce the public preview of performance monitoring for Azure SQL. Performance monitoring gives you deep visibility into the health and performance of your SQL estate, built directly into the Azure SQL platform. It works across: Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance (coming soon) SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Microsoft collects performance-related telemetry, runs the pipeline, and stores the data for you. There's nothing you need to deploy and nothing to operate. You get direct query access to your telemetry. And in Fabric Database Hub, you get prebuilt dashboards and a single view of your whole estate. Why we built this Monitoring SQL performance at scale often meant building and running your own monitoring stack. Before you could effectively answer, "which of my databases need attention right now?", you typically had to: Deploy and configure a collection resource, such as a watcher or an agent Build a telemetry pipeline to move the data Provision a data store, and then pay for it, secure it, and keep it running Build dashboards on top of all of it Repeat for every new server, database, or region That's a lot of work before you see your first chart. And every step is another thing that can break, drift, or quietly stop collecting data. Customers are also turning to AI to make sense of their database estate. They want an AI agent that can spot a performance problem, explain what's causing it, and recommend a fix. But an AI agent is only as good as the data it can reach. It operates best with one consistent source of performance data across every database, not a patchwork of tools and data stores. We heard this feedback loud and clear from customers. You told us you love having at-scale dashboards, query-level visibility, and ownership of your performance data. You also told us that setting up a telemetry stack was time consuming, scale limits got in the way, and running the data store added operational burden and cost overhead. One customer put it simply: They wanted to spend less time managing their telemetry infrastructure and more time managing and improving their databases. Performance monitoring keeps the parts you valued and removes the infrastructure you had to manage. No infrastructure to manage With performance monitoring, you don't need to: Create or manage watcher resources or collection agents Build or operate telemetry pipelines Provision, size, or pay for your own data store Worry about scale limits on how many targets you can monitor It's all managed by Microsoft. Telemetry is collected close to the database engine and sent to a Microsoft-managed telemetry pipeline and data store. Access to that data is governed by Azure role-based access control (RBAC), so people only see telemetry for the resources they already have access to. Key capabilities Consistent telemetry across your SQL estate Performance monitoring collects the same core set of performance data across every supported SQL deployment, whether it runs in Azure, on-premises, or in another cloud. That means one mental model and one set of dashboards, instead of a different tool for every flavor of SQL. The preview collects performance-related telemetry including: CPU and memory utilization Wait statistics Active sessions Storage I/O and database storage utilization Performance counters Client connections Database properties Availability group, replica, and database replica health Prebuilt dashboards in Fabric Database Hub Performance monitoring comes with prebuilt dashboards in Fabric Database Hub, so you can see performance at a glance without building anything yourself. The dashboards are designed to quickly answer two questions: Are my databases healthy? Which ones need my attention? From there, you can drill into resource usage, waits, and session activity to understand what's driving a change in performance. Query your telemetry directly Your telemetry is available through a Microsoft-managed, RBAC-governed Azure Data Explorer endpoint. You can connect from the Azure Data Explorer web UI and query it with Kusto Query Language (KQL). You don't need to create or pay for your own Azure Data Explorer cluster. This opens a lot of options: Build your own reports and dashboards Connect tools you already use, such as Grafana or Power BI Give an AI agent access to investigate performance across your estate Here's a quick example that ranks the resources you can see by 95th-percentile CPU over the last hour: SqlServerCPUUtilization | where SampleTimeUTC > ago(1h) | summarize AvgCPU = round(avg(AvgCPUPercent), 1) , P95CPU = round(percentile(AvgCPUPercent, 95), 1) by ResourceID, ResourceTypeK | top 10 by P95CPU desc To get started, see Query performance monitoring telemetry. The article includes the schema, connection steps, and a set of ready-to-run starter queries. See your entire database estate in Fabric Database Hub Performance monitoring is integrated with Fabric Database Hub, where you can see your entire database estate from Azure in one place, including: Azure SQL Azure Database for PostgreSQL Azure Cosmos DB Fabric Database Hub is built for when you need to look across all your databases, not just one at a time. With Fabric Database Hub, you can: Use prebuilt performance dashboards for your SQL resources Get estate-wide visibility into health and performance across database types Investigate root cause and query performance across many databases Use AI-assisted analysis to find and explain issues faster Build Real-Time Dashboards on top of your performance telemetry Performance monitoring data flows into Fabric Database Hub automatically. There's no separate onboarding step to connect the two. To learn more about Fabric Database Hub, click here. Getting started How you turn on performance monitoring depends on the resource type. Resource type How monitoring is enabled in preview Step-by-step guidance Azure SQL Database Add an extended property to each database you want to monitor. Performance monitoring for Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance (coming soon) Coming soon Coming soon SQL Server on Azure VMs Turn on a feature flag in the SQL IaaS Agent extension. Performance monitoring for SQL Server on Azure VMs SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc On by default once the server is connected to Azure Arc. Monitor SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc To view performance monitoring data, you need: The Reader role, or a role with higher privileges, on each subscription that contains the resources you want to query. The Microsoft.AzureArcData resource provider registered on the subscription. Availability Performance monitoring is available in public preview in the following Azure regions: Americas: Brazil South, Canada Central, Canada East, Central US, East US, East US 2, North Central US, South Central US, West Central US, West US, West US 2, West US 3 Europe, Middle East, and Africa: France Central, North Europe, Norway East, South Africa North, Sweden Central, Switzerland North, UAE North, UK South, UK West, West Europe Asia Pacific: Australia East, Central India, Japan East, Korea Central, Southeast Asia Learn more Query performance monitoring telemetry Fabric Database Hub Monitor SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure PreviewsAzure Data Studio Retirement
We’re announcing the upcoming retirement of Azure Data Studio (ADS) on February 6, 2025, as we focus on delivering a modern, streamlined SQL development experience. ADS will remain supported until February 28, 2026, giving developers ample time to transition. This decision aligns with our commitment to simplifying SQL development by consolidating efforts on Visual Studio Code (VS Code) with the MSSQL extension, a powerful and versatile tool designed for modern developers. Why Retire Azure Data Studio? Azure Data Studio has been an essential tool for SQL developers, but evolving developer needs and the rise of more versatile platforms like VS Code have made it the right time to transition. Here’s why: Focus on innovation VS Code, widely adopted across the developer community, provides a robust platform for delivering advanced features like cutting-edge schema management and improved query execution. Streamlined tools Consolidating SQL development on VS Code eliminates duplication, reduces engineering maintenance overhead, and accelerates feature delivery, ensuring developers have access to the latest innovations. Why Transition to Visual Studio Code? VS Code is the #1 developer tool, trusted by millions worldwide. It is a modern, versatile platform that meets the evolving demands of SQL and application developers. By transitioning, you gain access to cutting-edge tools, seamless workflows, and an expansive ecosystem designed to enhance productivity and innovation. We’re committed to meeting developers where they are, providing a modern SQL development experience within VS Code. Here’s how: Modern development environment VS Code is a lightweight, extensible, and community-supported code editor trusted by millions of developers. It provides: Regular updates. An active extension marketplace. A seamless cross-platform experience for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Comprehensive SQL features With the MSSQL extension in VS Code, you can: Execute queries faster with filtering, sorting, and export options for JSON, Excel, and CSV. Manage schemas visually with Table Designer, Object Explorer, and support for keys, indexes, and constraints. Connect to SQL Server, Azure SQL (all offerings), and SQL database in Fabric using an improved Connection Dialog. Streamline development with scripting, object modifications, and a unified SQL experience. Optimize performance with an enhanced Query Results Pane and execution plans. Integrate with DevOps and CI/CD pipelines using SQL Database Projects. Stay tuned for upcoming features—we’re continuously building new experiences based on feedback from the community. Make sure to follow the MSSQL repository on GitHub to stay updated and contribute to the project! Streamlined workflow VS Code supports cloud-native development, real-time collaboration, and thousands of extensions to enhance your workflows. Transitioning to Visual Studio Code: What You Need to Know We understand that transitioning tools can raise concerns, but moving from Azure Data Studio (ADS) to Visual Studio Code (VS Code) with the MSSQL extension is designed to be straightforward and hassle-free. Here’s why you can feel confident about this transition: No Loss of Functionality If you use ADS to connect to Azure SQL databases, SQL Server, or SQL database in Fabric, you’ll find that the MSSQL extension supports these scenarios seamlessly. Your database projects, queries, and scripts created in ADS are fully compatible with VS Code and can be opened without additional migration steps. Familiar features, enhanced experience VS Code provides advanced tools like improved query execution, modern schema management, and CI/CD integration. Additionally, alternative tools and extensions are available to replace ADS capabilities like SQL Server Agent and Schema Compare. Cross-Platform and extensible Like ADS, VS Code runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring a consistent experience across operating systems. Its extensibility allows you to adapt it to your workflow with thousands of extensions. If you have further questions or need detailed guidance, visit the ADS Retirement page. The page includes step-by-step instructions, recommended alternatives, and additional resources. Continued Support With the Azure Data Studio retirement, we’re committed to supporting you during this transition: Documentation: Find detailed guides, tutorials, and FAQs on the ADS Retirement page. Community Support: Engage with the active Visual Studio Code community for tips and solutions. You can also explore forums like Stack Overflow. GitHub Issues: If you encounter any issues, submit a request or report bugs on the MSSQL extension’s GitHub repository. Microsoft Support: For critical issues, reach out to Microsoft Support directly through your account. Transitioning to VS Code opens the door to a more modern and versatile SQL development experience. We encourage you to explore the new possibilities and start your journey today! Conclusion Azure Data Studio has served the SQL community well,but the Azure Data Studio retirement marks an opportunity to embrace the modern capabilities of Visual Studio Code. Transitioning now ensures you’re equipped with cutting-edge tools and a future-ready platform to enhance your SQL development experience. For a detailed guide on ADS retirement , visit aka.ms/ads-retirement. To get started with the MSSQL extension, check out the official documentation. We’re excited to see what you build with VS Code!Generally Available: SQL Migration to SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines in Azure Architecture
One Migration Experience, More Flexibility Modernizing SQL Server estates is rarely a single-step journey. Organizations often operate across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments while balancing application dependencies, operational requirements, and modernization goals. SQL Server migration enabled by Azure Arc simplifies this process by bringing migration activities into a single experience in the Azure portal. With the July 2026 release, we are announcing General Availability of SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines as a migration target in Azure Arc, allowing customers to have a greater flexibility to choose Azure destination that best aligns with to your needs without introducing additional tools or migration processes. Whether migrating to the fully managed Azure SQL Managed Instance service or to SQL Server running on Azure VMs, the experience remains consistent and familiar. Unified Migration Workflow A key benefit of SQL Server migration enabled by Azure Arc is that the entire migration lifecycle is managed from a single tool in Azure portal. After a SQL Server instance is enabled by Azure Arc, customers can: Assess migration readiness Select a migration target Configure migration settings Monitor migration progress Validate results Perform final cutover All of these activities are performed directly from the Azure portal using a guided workflow designed to simplify migration planning and execution. The prerequisite remains unchanged: source SQL Server instances must be enabled by Azure Arc before migration can begin. The result is a flexible, scalable, and consistent migration experience that supports hybrid realities, reduces operational overhead, and helps customers modernize SQL Server estates at their own pace. Consistent Experience Across Azure SQL Targets Migration to SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines follows the same operational model already available for Azure SQL Managed Instance migration scenarios. Customers use the same migration dashboard, monitoring experience, and guided workflow regardless of the destination. This consistency reduces learning curves, simplifies operational processes, and enables teams to select the most appropriate Azure SQL platform without changing migration methodology. Online Migration Using Backup and Log Shipping Migration to SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines uses backup and restore with log shipping to support online migration scenarios while minimizing downtime. The process begins with a full database backup that is restored to the target SQL Server instance running on an Azure Virtual Machine. Transaction log backups that are uploaded continuously by your workflows to Azure Blob Storage are continuously applied to the target database, keeping it closely synchronized with the source environment. Azure Blob Storage serves as the intermediary staging location between source and target systems. To support efficient data movement and restore operations, both the Azure Blob Storage account and the target SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines must reside in the same Azure region. Within the Azure Arc migration experience, customers select the Azure Blob Storage container that stores the backup files. Azure Arc automatically restores the full backup and continuously applies transaction log backups as they become available. Customers are responsible for configuring and maintaining the continuous upload of transaction log backups to Azure Blob Storage. Customer-Controlled Cutover When the customer is ready to complete migration, upon customer initiated cutover, Azure Arc performs the final synchronization by applying the last uploaded backup and bringing the target database online. This approach gives organizations full control over the migration timeline and cutover window, allowing downtime to be planned according to business requirements while reducing operational complexity. Learn More To learn more about SQL Server migration enabled by Azure Arc, see: Migration Overview For information about migrating to SQL Server in Azure VM, see: Migrate to SQL Server in Azure VMGenerally Available: SQL Migration to SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines in Azure Architecture
One Migration Experience, More Flexibility Modernizing SQL Server estates is rarely a single-step journey. Organizations often operate across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments while balancing application dependencies, operational requirements, and modernization goals. SQL Server migration enabled by Azure Arc simplifies this process by bringing migration activities into a single experience in the Azure portal. With the July 2026 release, we are announcing General Availability of SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines as a migration target in Azure Arc, allowing customers to have a greater flexibility to choose Azure destination that best aligns with to your needs without introducing additional tools or migration processes. Whether migrating to the fully managed Azure SQL Managed Instance service or to SQL Server running on Azure VMs, the experience remains consistent and familiar. Unified Migration Workflow A key benefit of SQL Server migration enabled by Azure Arc is that the entire migration lifecycle is managed from a single tool in Azure portal. After a SQL Server instance is enabled by Azure Arc, customers can: Assess migration readiness Select a migration target Configure migration settings Monitor migration progress Validate results Perform final cutover All of these activities are performed directly from the Azure portal using a guided workflow designed to simplify migration planning and execution. The prerequisite remains unchanged: source SQL Server instances must be enabled by Azure Arc before migration can begin. The result is a flexible, scalable, and consistent migration experience that supports hybrid realities, reduces operational overhead, and helps customers modernize SQL Server estates at their own pace. Consistent Experience Across Azure SQL Targets Migration to SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines follows the same operational model already available for Azure SQL Managed Instance migration scenarios. Customers use the same migration dashboard, monitoring experience, and guided workflow regardless of the destination. This consistency reduces learning curves, simplifies operational processes, and enables teams to select the most appropriate Azure SQL platform without changing migration methodology. Online Migration Using Backup and Log Shipping Migration to SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines uses backup and restore with log shipping to support online migration scenarios while minimizing downtime. The process begins with a full database backup that is restored to the target SQL Server instance running on an Azure Virtual Machine. Transaction log backups that are uploaded continuously by your workflows to Azure Blob Storage are continuously applied to the target database, keeping it closely synchronized with the source environment. Azure Blob Storage serves as the intermediary staging location between source and target systems. To support efficient data movement and restore operations, both the Azure Blob Storage account and the target SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines must reside in the same Azure region. Within the Azure Arc migration experience, customers select the Azure Blob Storage container that stores the backup files. Azure Arc automatically restores the full backup and continuously applies transaction log backups as they become available. Customers are responsible for configuring and maintaining the continuous upload of transaction log backups to Azure Blob Storage. Customer-Controlled Cutover When the customer is ready to complete migration, upon customer initiated cutover, Azure Arc performs the final synchronization by applying the last uploaded backup and bringing the target database online. This approach gives organizations full control over the migration timeline and cutover window, allowing downtime to be planned according to business requirements while reducing operational complexity. Learn More To learn more about SQL Server migration enabled by Azure Arc, see: Migration Overview For information about migrating to SQL Server in Azure VM, see: Migrate to SQL Server in Azure VM3 Reasons Enterprise SQL Server Migrations Slow Down - and How to Avoid Them
Summary Many of Enterprises around the globe have relied on SQL Server for over 3 decades to run their mission critical business applications. Their SQL Server estates face pressure from downtime risk, cost volatility, end of support timelines and modernization demands. As these customers get ready to modernize their data to use the latest capabilities of A.I and cloud native application trends, they want to migrate and modernize their SQL Servers to use Azure SQL with a modernization strategy built on confidence of customer success. Enterprise migrations rarely fail because of migration tools. They slow down because organizations struggle to answer three questions: How much downtime can we tolerate? What will it cost after migration? Are we choosing the right target platform? The organizations that answer these questions early move faster and with less risk. For the DB Administrators, Data architects, application architect and cloud-cost decision makers there are important technical considerations before, during and after data modernization to avoid long term costs and operational concerns. The Microsoft SQL Team has helped many customers modernize their SQL. We discuss important guidelines that can help resolve the 3 major concerns that block or slow SQL Server migration and modernization in Enterprises. This is covered in the episode of DataExposed for which this companion blog goes into the details. What are important triggers that cause customers and partners to consider SQL modernization? There are many business triggers that force Enterprises to migrate their data to public cloud. As SQL Server 2012 to SQL Server 2016 are already in the end of support stage of their lifecycle, customers need to upgrade SQL Server in place or migrate to AzureSQL. Due to cyber security threats, customers are feeling more vulnerable to attackers. Moving their data into a secure environment is essential for protecting not just their data but their business. Customers are reporting the need to free up IT dollars to invest into other parts of the business that may need it more. These may be anything from datacenter contract expirations, need for Hardware refreshes to software license renewals. As the business grows or becomes cyclical, there is surge in demand. Capacity constraints become a barrier for such expansions. These are triggers that cause them to rethink their data modernization strategy. Data modernization and moving the data to a elastic, scalable, secure and resilient data platform such as Azure SQL, becomes essential. The Three Migration Blockers However, data modernization and migration is not without any risk. Based on our customers experience, here are three key reasons that we have commonly encountered that halt or slow down SQL modernization. 1. Downtime Risk Business stakeholders often require strict service level commitments before authorizing production cutovers. Even when migrations are technically feasible, organizations may delay projects if they believe downtime windows could impact revenue, customer experience, or regulatory obligations. Most customers are still offered offline migration paths which can take hours to days, even though zero-downtime migrations are possible which take seconds to minutes. 2. Cost uncertainty Many modernization projects are approved based on expected cost savings. However, if infrastructure sizing, licensing assumptions, storage consumption, or disaster recovery requirements are not evaluated properly, the actual operational cost can exceed initial expectations. Cost uncertainty often slows executive approval processes and extends migration timelines. 3. Compatibility and Feature Fit When migrating SQL Server, Azure SQL has several deployment offerings from IaaS to PaaS. These include SQL Server on Azure VM, Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure SQL DB Hyperscale and Azure SQL in Microsoft Fabric. Many customers maybe using SQL Server features like Cross-database queries, CLR, SSIS, SQL Agent, and linked servers. They make a safe decision to lift and shift migrate to SQL Server on Azure VMs IaaS instead of modernizing to a PaaS service like Azure SQL Managed Instance. However, in the process, they lose the opportunity to use the PaaS capabilities, manageability and AI/Fabric capabilities in Azure by making this choice. Enterprise Architects, Application Architects, Database developers and DB Administrators have to make the right choice taking both development as well as operational costs and compatibility when they make their SQL modernization decisions. Here are best practices some of the biggest and successful SQL migrations have used to make the migration and modernization journey with confidence. While we cannot disclose specific customer names, these guidelines are based on helping many large to small Enterprise customers. Azure SQL Managed Instance as the Resiliency Anchor Azure SQL Managed Instance is often the platform that helps organizations overcome all three concerns simultaneously because it combines near-full SQL Server compatibility with platform-as-a-service benefits. Azure SQL Managed Instance (Azure SQL MI) Next-gen General Purpose is now generally available, bringing a built-in performance and scale upgrade for General Purpose workloads, including up to 500 databases per instance, up to 32 TB storage, lower latency, and higher IOPS. The release also adds more flexible cost-performance tuning with independent vCore, IOPS, and memory scaling, plus faster management operations to adapt to changing workload demand. For enterprise SQL Server modernization, this positions Azure SQL MI as a stronger path for high-compatibility migrations that need better price-performance without moving to a full replatform. Let us dive deeper into how this helps address the downtime risk concerns by enables three levels of resiliency and high availability features. Local Redundancy Azure SQL Managed Instance provides first layer of Local Redundancy — built into every Azure SQL MI instance at no extra cost. Azure SQL Managed Instance uses local redundancy by default to keep workloads available during node, VM, rack, maintenance, and other local failures within a single datacenter, with Service Fabric orchestrating failover. In General Purpose (including Next-gen GP), this is implemented as stateless compute plus remote stateful storage; during failover, the engine process moves to another compute node and reattaches data, which can cause temporary performance impact due to cold cache. In Business Critical, local redundancy uses multiple synchronized replicas with local SSD storage (Always On-like architecture), enabling fast failover and read scale-out on secondaries.Next-gen General Purpose is an architectural upgrade to the existing General Purpose service tier that uses an upgraded remote storage layer that stores instance data and log files on Elastic SAN instead of page blobs and maintains it locally. Local redundancy protects against local infrastructure issues. This gives you a 99.99% SLA but not full datacenter/zone disasters, so zone redundancy (where supported) or disaster recovery (DR) options like failover groups/geo-restore are needed for broader resilience. Zone Redundancy The second layer is Zone Redundancy, which is accomplished placing data replicas across availability zones. Your Azure SQL MI resources are distributed across multiple availability zones within a region. This protects against the failure of an entire datacenter because each Azure availability zone is a separate physical location with independent power, cooling and networking. It relies on synchronous replication using zone-redundant storage for General Purpose. For Business critical, it uses Always On Availability group replicas across zones for Business Critical. Always On availability group technology replicates data changes from the primary instance to standby replicas in other availability zones. In the event of an outage, there's an automatic failover that seamlessly transitions one of the standby replicas to be prima. These replicas are always in sync — which means zero data loss. Failover typically happens in under 30 seconds, and your SLA jumps to 99.995%. Failover Groups The third layer is Failover Groups. This is your cross-region disaster recovery solution. It asynchronously replicates all user databases to a secondary Azure SQL MI instance in a different Azure region. Because it is asynchronous replication, there is potential for momentary data loss in the case of a datacenter outage. But it still protects the data against the worst case failure — a full regional outage. If the replica is a standby replica, there is no license required and it is used only for disaster recovery. Using these options, business stakeholders can get their assurance that they have Enterprise grade availability and resiliency platform of AzureSQL for running their mission critical workloads. You can read more about these HA and Resiliency options in Microsoft Learn. Cost Governance for Enterprise Buyers The total cost of data modernization and migration is not a one-time estimate but an ongoing one. In this case, Azure SQL MI provides Enterprise DB Administrators many levers through pricing model choice, right-sizing, elasticity, serverless options and dev/test free tiers. Let us explore how these can be combined for smart cost estimations. Lets also look at the best offering for the cost-conscious Enterprises - Azure SQL DB Hyperscale. With Azure SQL DB Hyperscale, you get the SQL Server engine, T-SQL compatibility, High Availability, Disaster recovery, security, backups, and management all bundled into the service price. No separate cost for SQL Server license. Hyperscale separates compute and storage that can scale independently and does not force you to overprovision. You have to only pay what you use which is ideal for seasonal workloads, Dev/Test, SaaS applications, predictable daytime trends, and up to 60% savings when you use Elastic pools. Azure Hybrid benefit (AHB)- Azure Hybrid Benefit lets you bring your existing SQL Server investments to Azure and reduce compute costs, accelerating your ROI from cloud migration while preserving all the benefits of Azure SQL Azure SQL DB Free offer – is the strongest product offering. Enterprises can use all features of Azure SQL at no cost for up to 10 Azure SQL DB free-tier. 100,000 vCore-seconds of serverless compute per month, 32GB data storage, 32 GB backup storage, serverless auto-scaling and auto-pause if you hit the limit per month. Run your POCs at no cost and evaluate before you move to Azure SQLDB, especially SMB& some enterprise Azure SQL Managed Instance also offers 1 free Azure SQL MI instance per Azure subscription giving you 720vCore hours per month, 64GB storage, up to 500 databases, automated backups and 12 months free. And if data migration is not possible due to data compliance or data proximity purposes, Azure Arc Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) gives you cloud-style SQL licensing for servers running anywhere—on-premises, at the edge, or in other clouds. Instead of making large up-front licensing investments, you only pay for SQL Server while it's running, while still gaining access to Azure Arc management, security, monitoring, and modernization capabilities. For seasonal, variable, or growth-oriented workloads, PAYG can improve cash flow and reduce licensing complexity. Reserved instances allow Enterprise customers to commit to using Azure SQL resource for a period of one or three years to receive a significant discount. This option combined with AHB can save you even more up to 80%. We have a comprehensive licensing guide for on-premises SQL Server for your reference. Azure SQL enables a variety of cloud cost-models for a wide range of enterprise workload needs to help Enterprise cloud cost decision makers and DB Administrators make the right choice for their workloads. Target selection guidance While Azure SQL has multiple deployment options to migrate your on-premises work loads, it is critical to make the right choice long term. Customers can install SQL Server on-premises, they can use Azure SQL deployment options, and also run SQL Server in other clouds like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. If there is an Enterprise workload that is not ready to modernize, you have the ability to lift and shift into SQL Server in Azure VM. It is a low cost migration option, because the application does not need any modification and it gives DB Administrators full control over the SQL server and underlying Windows or Linux OS. This can be a first step to modernization for some customers who are risk-averse. For those Enterprise customers who are willing to modernize their workloads and SQL Server instances, Azure SQL DB Hyperscale is the best option. Azure SQL Database Hyperscale helps organizations modernize their most demanding database workloads with virtually unlimited growth, high performance, and cloud-scale economics. Customers can scale storage and compute independently, support large multi-terabyte databases, accelerate application performance with read-scale replicas, and eliminate the operational complexity of managing infrastructure, backups, patching, and high availability. They can build cloud-native applications or cloud-enable existing applications. However, if Enterprise customers want good compatibility with their on-premises SQL Server but continue down the modernization path - their best option is Azure SQL Managed Instance. They can modernize the instance and not impact the application as there is no application change required. Applications will continue to work and the DB Administrators do not need to worry about managing infrastructure and all the overhead that comes with managing, self-managing your SQL Server virtual machines. For SQL Server customers, PostgreSQL may look like an attractive low cost option. However, it requires re-platforming that could add significant hidden cost due to retraining all their DBAs and their developers to do performance optimization, performance best practices and operational maintenance. Lastly, our same SQL engine is also available to customers as a SaaS-ified version, Fabric SQL database as well. All these options use the exact same SQL engine which makes it easier for Database developers and DB Administrators continue to use the same expertise, tools and process. Making the right choice of Azure SQL deployment is not just on the fastest way to modernize but the right long term approach. Conclusion and Next steps Enterprise SQL Server migrations rarely stall because of migration technology. More often, they are delayed by concerns around downtime, cost predictability, and platform selection. Organizations that address these questions early can accelerate modernization while reducing operational risk. Azure SQL provides multiple modernization paths—from SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines to Azure SQL Managed Instance and Azure SQL Database—allowing organizations to balance compatibility, operational simplicity, resiliency, and cost efficiency based on their business requirements. As modernization initiatives accelerate, the most successful projects are those that treat migration not as a one-time infrastructure event, but as a long-term platform strategy. Whether its the newest and the fastest way for us to migrate customers, we have all the comprehensive Copilot enabled AI-assisted migration tooling, technical training and support you need. Look for more blogs, whitepapers, guides and training based on best practices used real-world data modernization projects.Regex support for LOB types in T-SQL—available in Azure SQL & SQL Server 2025
At a glance — Native regular expression (regex) functions in T-SQL now accept varchar(max) and nvarchar(max) inputs of up to 2 MB across all seven regex functions, including the two table-valued functions (REGEXP_MATCHES and REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE). This capability ships in SQL Server 2025 CU5 and is already available in Azure SQL Database, SQL Database in Fabric and Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with the Always-up-to-date update policy. It will reach Managed Instances on the SQL Server 2025 update policy as part of the CU5 rollout. You no longer need to split log files, HTML documents, or large JSON payloads into 8,000-byte chunks just to run a pattern match. 1. Introduction Regular expressions have long been a cornerstone of modern data processing — used for validation, parsing, transformation, and extracting structured insights from unstructured text. With SQL Server 2025 and Azure SQL, regex is now a first-class T-SQL capability, removing the historical need to rely on SQLCLR functions or application-tier processing. While the initial release made native regex broadly available, large-object (LOB) inputs were not yet supported on every function. CU5 closes that gap. Under the hood, T-SQL regex implements POSIX Extended Regular Expression (ERE) semantics, augmented by a curated set of Perl-style features, and is powered by the RE2 engine. RE2 is a linear-time, non-backtracking implementation, which means it is not susceptible to catastrophic backtracking (a class of denial-of-service issue commonly known as ReDoS). That guarantee becomes far more important when the input is a 1.8 MB log blob than when it is an 8,000-byte string. Release timeline Milestone What shipped Ignite 2025 — General Availability Regex went GA in SQL Server 2025 and Azure SQL. LOB inputs were initially supported only on REGEXP_LIKE, REGEXP_COUNT, and REGEXP_INSTR. LOB support on REGEXP_REPLACE and REGEXP_SUBSTR was deferred, and the two table-valued functions (TVFs) accepted only non-LOB string types. Azure SQL (post-GA service updates) LOB inputs enabled across all seven functions. SQL Server 2025 CU5 LOB inputs up to 2 MB enabled on all seven functions in the SQL Server. What’s new in CU5 varchar(max) and nvarchar(max) inputs are accepted on every regex function. The input string is capped at 2 MB per function call. The pattern is still capped at 8,000 bytes, which is far larger than any maintainable regular expression should ever need. Behavior is consistent between Azure SQL and SQL Server, so code you write today is fully portable. Note — The 2 MB limit applies to the input passed to a single function call, not to the column or row. A single value in a varchar(max) column can still store up to 2 GB; the constraint is that no single regex evaluation can consume more than 2 MB of that value. Prerequisites SQL Server 2025 CU5 or later, or Azure SQL Database, or SQL Database in Fabric or Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with the SQL Server 2025 / Always-up-to-date update policy. The two table-valued functions (REGEXP_MATCHES and REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE) require database compatibility level 170, unless the database-scoped configuration ALLOW_BUILTIN_TVF_IN_ALL_COMPAT_LEVELS (preview) is enabled. Note — On Azure SQL Managed Instance (Always-up-to-date), this capability is rolling out region by region. It is already live in regions where the rollout has completed and will light up in the remaining regions as the deployment finishes. Instances on the SQL Server 2025 update policy will receive it as part of the CU5 rollout — coming soon. Verify compatibility level (170 required for the TVFs) – SELECT name, compatibility_level FROM sys.databases WHERE name = DB_NAME(); -- If necessary: -- ALTER DATABASE [<your-database>] SET COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL = 170; 2. Working with LOB Data This section demonstrates the CU5 capabilities against a realistic LOB data. We build a LogEntries table whose RawPayload column holds multi-KB to multi-MB chunks of web server and application output, plus an HtmlPages table for HTML cleansing examples. 2.1 Create the sample schema and data IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.LogEntries', 'U') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.LogEntries; IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.HtmlPages', 'U') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.HtmlPages; CREATE TABLE dbo.LogEntries ( LogId BIGINT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY, Source SYSNAME NOT NULL, IngestedAt DATETIME2(3) NOT NULL DEFAULT SYSUTCDATETIME(), RawPayload VARCHAR(MAX) NOT NULL -- LOB column ); CREATE TABLE dbo.HtmlPages ( PageId INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY, Url NVARCHAR(2048) NOT NULL, Body NVARCHAR(MAX) NOT NULL -- LOB column (Unicode) ); Now generate realistically large rows. The REPLICATE(CAST(... AS varchar(max)), n) pattern is required because REPLICATE returns NULL when the result would exceed 8,000 bytes unless its first argument is a max type. -- Synthetic web access-log payload (~252 KB in row 1, plus a separate ~586 KB row). DECLARE @logLine VARCHAR(500) = '127.0.0.1 - alice [21/May/2026:10:15:32 +0000] "GET /api/orders/42 HTTP/1.1" 200 1532 ' + 'user-agent="Mozilla/5.0" ip=10.0.0.7 email=alice@contoso.com card=4111-1111-1111-1234' + CHAR(10); DECLARE @bigLog VARCHAR(MAX) = REPLICATE(CAST(@logLine AS VARCHAR(MAX)), 1500) -- ~252 KB + '127.0.0.1 - mallory [21/May/2026:10:16:01 +0000] "POST /login HTTP/1.1" 500 0 ' + 'ip=203.0.113.99 ssn=123-45-6789' + CHAR(10); INSERT INTO dbo.LogEntries (Source, RawPayload) VALUES ('web-01', @bigLog), -- ~252 KB ('web-02', REPLICATE(CAST('OK ' AS VARCHAR(MAX)), 200000)); -- ~586 KB -- Synthetic HTML page (~775 KB / ~396,000 characters). DECLARE @htmlChunk NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'<div class="row"><p>Hello <b>world</b>! Contact <a href="mailto:bob@contoso.com">bob</a>.</p></div>'; INSERT INTO dbo.HtmlPages (Url, Body) VALUES (N'https://contoso.example/page-1', N'<html><head><title>Big Page</title></head><body>' + REPLICATE(@htmlChunk, 4000) + N'</body></html>'); -- Confirm payload sizes in bytes. SELECT LogId, Source, DATALENGTH(RawPayload) AS PayloadBytes FROM dbo.LogEntries; SELECT PageId, DATALENGTH(Body) AS BodyBytes, LEN(Body) AS BodyChars FROM dbo.HtmlPages; Results: LogId Source PayloadBytes 1 web-01 258,110 2 web-02 600,000 PageId BodyBytes BodyChars 1 792,124 396,062 Before CU5, feeding any of these payloads into REGEXP_REPLACE, REGEXP_SUBSTR, REGEXP_MATCHES, or REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE would have failed with a type-mismatch error or required a LEFT(RawPayload, 8000)-style truncation. The same queries now run end-to-end. 2.2 REGEXP_LIKE — Filter rows by LOB content -- Find logs that contain at least one HTTP 5xx response. SELECT LogId, Source, DATALENGTH(RawPayload) AS PayloadBytes FROM dbo.LogEntries WHERE REGEXP_LIKE(RawPayload, '"[A-Z]+\s[^"]+\sHTTP/1\.[01]"\s5[0-9]{2}\s'); REGEXP_LIKE is a Boolean predicate: it evaluates to true when the pattern matches anywhere in the input and false otherwise. Because it returns a Boolean rather than a bit, use it directly in WHERE, CASE WHEN, IIF, or CHECK constraint contexts — do not compare it with = 1 or = 0 (the parser rejects that syntax). Note — REGEXP_LIKE itself requires database compatibility level 170. The other scalar regex functions (REGEXP_COUNT, REGEXP_INSTR, REGEXP_REPLACE, REGEXP_SUBSTR) are available at all compatibility levels. Results: LogId Source PayloadBytes 1 web-01 258,110 2.3 REGEXP_COUNT — Counting at scale -- Per-row tally of GET requests, POST requests, and 5xx responses -- across the entire LOB payload. SELECT LogId, Source, REGEXP_COUNT(RawPayload, '"GET\s') AS Gets, REGEXP_COUNT(RawPayload, '"POST\s') AS Posts, REGEXP_COUNT(RawPayload, '\s5[0-9]{2}\s') AS ServerErrors FROM dbo.LogEntries; Results: LogId Source Gets Posts ServerErrors 1 web-01 1,500 1 1 2 web-02 0 0 0 2.4 REGEXP_INSTR — Locate the first error -- 1-based character position (or 0 if no match) of the FIRST 5xx response in each payload. SELECT LogId, Source, REGEXP_INSTR(RawPayload, '\s5[0-9]{2}\s', 1, 1, 0) AS FirstErrorPos FROM dbo.LogEntries; Parameter recap: REGEXP_INSTR(string, pattern, start, occurrence, return_option [, flags [, group ]]). A return_option of 0 returns the starting position of the match; 1 returns the position immediately after the last character of the match. Results: LogId Source FirstErrorPos 1 web-01 258,072 2 web-02 0 2.5 REGEXP_REPLACE — Redact sensitive data in place PII redaction over LOB payloads was one of the most-requested CU5 scenarios. Before CU5, it required a custom chunked-replace routine; it is now a single expression. -- Redact credit-card-shaped tokens, U.S. SSN-shaped tokens, and email addresses -- across the entire payload. SELECT LogId, REGEXP_REPLACE( REGEXP_REPLACE( REGEXP_REPLACE( RawPayload, '\b[0-9]{4}[- ]?[0-9]{4}[- ]?[0-9]{4}[- ]?[0-9]{4}\b', '****-****-****-****'), '\b[0-9]{3}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{4}\b', '***-**-****'), '\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+\-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.\-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}\b', '[redacted-email]' ) AS RedactedPayload FROM dbo.LogEntries; Or strip every HTML tag from an nvarchar(max) page in a single call: SELECT PageId, LEN(Body) AS OriginalLen, LEN(REGEXP_REPLACE(Body, N'<[^>]+>', N'')) AS TextOnlyLen FROM dbo.HtmlPages; Results — the ~775 KB HTML document collapses from 396,062 to 100,008 characters of plain text in a single call: PageId OriginalLen TextOnlyLen 1 396,062 100,008 2.6 REGEXP_SUBSTR — Extract a single value -- Pull the first IPv4 address out of each log payload. SELECT LogId, REGEXP_SUBSTR(RawPayload, '\b(?:[0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3}\b', 1, -- start position 1, -- occurrence 'c', -- flags: case-sensitive 0 -- group: 0 returns the whole match ) AS FirstIp FROM dbo.LogEntries; To return the contents of a specific capture group instead of the entire match, pass its 1-based group number as the final argument. Results: LogId FirstIp 1 127.0.0.1 2 NULL 2.7 REGEXP_MATCHES — Every match, set-based This is where the combination of TVF and LOB delivers the largest productivity gain: extract every structured value from a megabyte of unstructured text in a single set-based query, with no client round-trips. REGEXP_MATCHES returns one row per match with these columns: Column Type Description match_id bigint Sequence number of the match (1-based). start_position int 1-based start index of the match. end_position int 1-based end index of the match. match_value same type as string_expression The entire matched substring. substring_matches json JSON array describing each capture group, with the shape [{"value":"…","start":N,"length":N}, …]. -- Every email address in every log payload, alongside its row of origin. SELECT l.LogId, m.match_id, m.match_value AS EmailFound FROM dbo.LogEntries AS l CROSS APPLY REGEXP_MATCHES( l.RawPayload, '\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+\-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.\-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}\b' ) AS m ORDER BY l.LogId, m.match_id; Capture groups are even more useful — you can project the parts of every log line as columns by reading from the substring_matches JSON document: -- Parse Common-Log-Format-ish entries into ip, user, status, and bytes columns. -- The pattern has four capture groups, accessed below as $[0] through $[3]. SELECT l.LogId, m.match_id, JSON_VALUE(m.substring_matches, '$[0].value') AS Ip, JSON_VALUE(m.substring_matches, '$[1].value') AS UserName, JSON_VALUE(m.substring_matches, '$[2].value') AS Status, JSON_VALUE(m.substring_matches, '$[3].value') AS Bytes FROM dbo.LogEntries AS l CROSS APPLY REGEXP_MATCHES( l.RawPayload, '^([0-9.]+)\s-\s(\S+)\s\[[^\]]+\]\s"[^"]+"\s([0-9]{3})\s([0-9]+)', 'm' -- multi-line: ^ and $ anchor to each line, not just the whole input ) AS m ORDER BY l.LogId, m.match_id; Important — Without the 'm' flag, the ^ anchor matches only at the start of the entire 250 KB input, so you would receive exactly one match for the first line. The multi-line flag is what unlocks per-line extraction. Results (first two parsed rows): LogId match_id Ip UserName Status Bytes 1 1 127.0.0.1 alice 200 1532 1 2 127.0.0.1 alice 200 1532 2.8 REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE — Shred a LOB into rows -- Project the entire log payload as one row per non-empty line. SELECT l.LogId, s.ordinal AS [LineNo], s.value AS LineText FROM dbo.LogEntries AS l CROSS APPLY REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE(l.RawPayload, '\r?\n') AS s WHERE l.LogId = 1 AND s.value <> '' ORDER BY s.ordinal; You now have a tabular projection of a multi-megabyte text blob without leaving the engine. You can feed it into a CTE, aggregate it, join it to dimension tables, or materialize it into a staging table — all set-based. Results (first three rows): LogId ordinal LineText (first 80 chars) 1 1 127.0.0.1 - alice [21/May/2026:10:15:32 +0000] "GET /api/orders/42 HTTP/1.1" 200 1 2 127.0.0.1 - alice [21/May/2026:10:15:32 +0000] "GET /api/orders/42 HTTP/1.1" 200 1 3 127.0.0.1 - alice [21/May/2026:10:15:32 +0000] "GET /api/orders/42 HTTP/1.1" 200 Tip — composing LOB regex pipelines — CROSS APPLY (and OUTER APPLY when you need to preserve rows that produce no matches) is the primary composition primitive. You can stack REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE (lines) feeding REGEXP_MATCHES (fields per line) feeding ordinary aggregates, all within a single query plan. 2.9 The 2 MB ceiling — strategies for larger inputs The 2 MB limit applies to the input string of a single regex call. If the value passed to a regex function exceeds 2 MB, the call raises an error (error number 19311, severity 16) rather than silently truncating. That is the intended behavior — silent truncation would hide correctness bugs. In practice, 2 MB is a generous ceiling: a single log file or HTML document of that size is already unusual, and most real-world LOB data sit comfortably below it. When individual values do exceed the limit, the most reliable approach is to split them into smaller logical units before they land in the column you want to query — for example, by writing one log line, one document section, or one record per row at ingestion time. Because every regex function (including the two TVFs) shares the same 2 MB ceiling, sharding at query time is not generally feasible; doing it at the load path keeps every regex call well under the limit and avoids per-query workarounds. Bytes vs. characters — The 2 MB limit is measured in bytes, not characters, and the byte count is based on the UTF-8 encoding of the input regardless of the column’s declared type. ASCII characters take 1 byte each, so plain ASCII text can run to roughly two million characters; non-ASCII characters take 2–4 bytes in UTF-8, so fewer characters fit. Keep in mind that DATALENGTH() reports storage size in the column’s own encoding, which may differ from the UTF-8 byte count used by the limit, and LEN() (which counts characters) is best avoided as a sizing check here. To measure the UTF-8 byte length that the limit actually checks, cast the value to varchar(max) under a UTF-8 collation and take its DATALENGTH: SELECT DATALENGTH( CONVERT(varchar(max), Body COLLATE Latin1_General_100_CI_AS_SC_UTF8) ) AS Utf8Bytes FROM dbo.HtmlPages; Anything above 2 * 1024 * 1024 (2,097,152) bytes will be rejected by a regex call on that value. Have a scenario that genuinely needs more than 2 MB? If your workload requires regex evaluation on individual values larger than the current 2 MB ceiling, we would like to hear about it. Please share the details — data shape, payload size, pattern, and business need — on the Azure SQL feedback portal. Customer feedback directly informs how we prioritize future limit changes. 2.10 Cleanup DROP TABLE IF EXISTS dbo.LogEntries; DROP TABLE IF EXISTS dbo.HtmlPages; 3. Summary What changed in CU5 Before CU5 — LOB inputs were accepted on REGEXP_LIKE, REGEXP_COUNT, and REGEXP_INSTR. The remaining functions — REGEXP_REPLACE, REGEXP_SUBSTR, and the two TVFs (REGEXP_MATCHES, REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE) — required non-LOB string inputs, which often meant truncating with LEFT(..., 8000) or chunking in the application tier. After CU5 (and already in Azure SQL) — All seven functions accept varchar(max) and nvarchar(max) inputs of up to 2 MB. The pattern remains capped at 8,000 bytes. Quick reference Function Returns LOB input (CU5) Common use case REGEXP_LIKE Boolean (predicate) Yes Filter rows in WHERE / CASE / CHECK predicates REGEXP_COUNT int Yes Count occurrences of a pattern REGEXP_INSTR int Yes Position of the nth match REGEXP_REPLACE string Yes Redact, cleanse, or normalize text REGEXP_SUBSTR string Yes Extract a single value REGEXP_MATCHES (TVF) (match_id, start_position, end_position, match_value, substring_matches) Yes Extract every match plus capture groups (via JSON), set-based REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE (TVF) (value, ordinal) Yes Split a LOB into rows by a regex delimiter Further reading Official documentation: REGEXP_LIKE, REGEXP_COUNT, REGEXP_INSTR, REGEXP_REPLACE, REGEXP_SUBSTR, REGEXP_MATCHES, REGEXP_SPLIT_TO_TABLE. Regular expressions overview. SQL Server 2025 CU5 release notes. Closing thought. Native regex was already a significant quality-of-life improvement when it became generally available. CU5 completes the picture: every function, every input size up to 2 MB, every shape — scalar or table-valued. The next time you are tempted to export a column out of the database in order to grep it, try one of the seven regex functions first. Happy matching. 🧠Dynamic Data Masking – What it is, What it isn’t, and How to use it effectively
In this post, we’ll explain the core purpose of Dynamic Data Masking (to ease application development), how it works, and its proper use cases – as well as its limitations. If you’re considering using Dynamic Data Masking or reviewing your data security strategy, this information will help you make informed decisions. What Dynamic Data Masking is designed for Dynamic Data Masking Dynamic Data Masking - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn is a database feature that can be used to alter how certain data elements are presented in query results for users who do not have privileged access or required permission. For example, a query on an email column may return a masked value such as jXXX@XXXX.com rather than the full address, depending on user permissions, while the original data remains unchanged in storage. Masking rules are defined within the database schema and are applied to query results for applicable users at runtime. This approach can simplify application developer’s job and reduce the need for application‑level logic that modifies how sensitive values are displayed across different application(s) or reports. DDM can help prevent accidental or casual exposure of sensitive information. How Does DDM differ from other security features? Dynamic Data Masking affects only what users see in query results—it does not protect the underlying data. Unlike encryption Always Encrypted - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn or Row‑Level security Row-Level Security - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn, DDM does not encrypt data, filter rows, or override SQL permissions. Users with elevated privileges (such as UNMASK, db_owner, or sysadmin) always see unmasked data or can modify or remove masking rules. What DDM doesn’t protect against Because Dynamic Data Masking is applied when query results are returned, there are several considerations to be aware of: Inference through queries: In some scenarios, users with database access may be able to make inferences about masked values by applying query filters or conditions that rely on underlying stored data. The database is still comparing the real values under the hood, so these queries work. It’s an expected behavior given DDM’s design. Privileged users: Users who are granted sufficient database permissions, such as the ability to alter table schemas, can directly disable or remove masking. Users with sysadmin, db_owner or CONTROL permission can view unmasked data. Thus, controlling and auditing who holds such privileges is vital. Metadata visibility: Masking rules and associated columns can be discoverable through system metadata. Data movement: Because masking is defined at the schema level in a given database instance, backups or exported datasets may contain unmasked values depending on permissions and configuration. Understanding these design characteristics is important when incorporating DDM into a broader data governance or privacy strategy. Proper use and best practices for DDM Organizations may consider using Dynamic Data Masking in scenarios where consistent display of sensitive values is needed across application(s) or reporting environments. Some implementation considerations include: Using DDM to help standardize how sensitive fields are displayed in query results and reduce developmental effort for data masking Combining DDM with other database or access‑control features as part of a layered data protection strategy Reviewing which users are granted permissions to view unmask data or alter masking configurations. Implementing auditing or monitoring database activity as part of broader governance practices Educating internal stakeholders on how masking operates at the query‑result level Testing masking configurations in non‑production environments prior to deployment Conclusion Dynamic Data Masking can be useful in scenarios where organizations want to manage how sensitive data is displayed in application outputs without modifying stored values. It is designed to operate as part of a broader data access or governance approach rather than as a standalone protection mechanism for stored data. When implemented alongside complementary database features and appropriate access controls, DDM may help support more consistent handling of sensitive values across environments.Expanding Azure Arc SQL Migration with a New Target: SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines
Modernizing a SQL Server estate is rarely a single-step effort. It typically involves multiple phases, from discovery and assessment to migration and optimization, often spanning on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments. SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc simplifies this process by bringing all migration steps into a single, cohesive experience in the Azure portal. With the March 2026 release, this integrated experience is extended by adding SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines as a new migration target in Azure Arc. Arc-enabled SQL Server instances can now be migrated not only to Azure SQL Managed Instance, but also to SQL Server running on Azure infrastructure, using the same unified workflow. Expanding Choice Without Adding Complexity By introducing SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines as a migration target, Azure Arc now supports a broader range of migration strategies while preserving a single operational model. It becomes possible to choose between Azure SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server on Azure VMs without fragmenting migration tooling or processes. The result is a flexible, scalable, and consistent migration experience that supports hybrid environments, reduces operational overhead, and enables modernization at a controlled and predictable pace. One Integrated Migration Journey A core value of SQL Server migration in Azure Arc is that the entire migration lifecycle is managed from one place. Once a SQL Server instance is enabled by Azure Arc, readiness can be assessed, a migration target selected, a migration method chosen, progress monitored, and cutover completed directly in the Azure portal. This approach removes the need for disconnected tools or custom orchestration. The only prerequisite remains unchanged: the source SQL Server needs to be enabled by Azure Arc. From there, migration is fully integrated into the Azure Arc SQL experience. A Consistent Experience Across Migration Targets The migration experience for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines follows the same model already available for Azure SQL Managed Instance migrations in Azure Arc. The same guided workflow, migration dashboard, and monitoring capabilities are used regardless of the selected target. This consistency is intentional. It allows teams to choose the destination that best fits their technical, operational, or regulatory requirements without having to learn a new migration process. Whether migrating to a fully managed PaaS service or to SQL Server on Azure infrastructure, the experience remains predictable and familiar. Backup Log Shipping Migration to SQL Server in Azure VM Migration to SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines is based on backup and restore, specifically using log shipping mechanism. This is a well-established approach for online migrations that minimizes downtime while maintaining control over the cutover window. In this model, database backups need to be uploaded from the source SQL Server to Azure Blob Storage. The migration engine will restore the initial full backup followed by ongoing transaction log and diff. backups. Azure Blob Storage acts as the intermediary staging location between the source and the target. The Azure Blob Storage account and the target SQL Server running on an Azure Virtual Machine must be co-located in the same Azure region. This regional alignment is required to ensure efficient data transfer, reliable restore operations, and predictable migration performance. Within the Azure Arc migration experience, a simple and guided UX is used to select the Azure Blob Storage container that holds the backup files. Both the selected storage account and the Azure VM hosting SQL Server must reside in the same Azure region. Once the migration job is started, Azure Arc automatically restores the backup files to SQL Server on the Azure VM. As new log backups are uploaded to Blob Storage, they are continuously detected and applied to the target database, keeping it closely synchronized with the source. Controlled Cutover on Your Terms This automated restore process continues until the final cutover is initiated. When the cutover command is issued, Azure Arc applies the final backup to the target SQL Server on the Azure Virtual Machine and completes the migration. The target database is then brought online, and applications can be redirected to the new environment. This controlled cutover model allows downtime to be planned precisely, rather than being dictated by long-running restore operations. Getting started To get started, Arc enable you SQL Server. Then, in the Azure portal, navigate to your Arc enabled SQL Server and select Database migration under the Migration menu on the left. For more information, see the SQL Server migration in Azure Arc documentation.Zero Trust for data: Make Microsoft Entra authentication for SQL your policy baseline
A policy-driven path from enabled to enforced. Why this matters now Security and compliance programs were once built on an assumption that internal networks were inherently safer. Cloud adoption, remote work, and supply-chain compromise have steadily invalidated that model. U.S. federal guidance has now formalized this shift: Executive Order 14028 calls for modernizing cybersecurity and accelerating Zero Trust adoption, and OMB Memorandum M-22-09 sets a federal Zero Trust strategy with specific objectives and timelines. Meanwhile, attacker economics are changing. Automation and AI make reconnaissance, phishing, and credential abuse cheaper and faster. That concentrates risk on identity—the control plane that sits in front of systems, applications, and data. In Zero Trust, the question is no longer “is the network trusted,” but “is this request verified, governed by policy, and least-privilege?” Why database authentication is a first‑order Zero Trust control Databases are universally treated as crown-jewel infrastructure. Yet many data estates still rely on legacy patterns: password-based SQL authentication, long-lived secrets embedded in apps, and shared administrative accounts that persist because migration feels risky. This is exactly the kind of implicit trust Zero Trust architectures aim to remove. NIST SP 800-207 defines Zero Trust as eliminating implicit trust based solely on network location or ownership and focusing controls on protecting resources. In that model, every new database connection is not “plumbing”—it is an access decision to sensitive data. If the authentication mechanism sits outside the enterprise identity plane, governance becomes fragmented and policy enforcement becomes inconsistent. What changes when SQL uses Microsoft Entra authentication Microsoft Entra authentication enables users and applications to connect to SQL using enterprise identities, instead of usernames and passwords. Across Azure SQL and SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc, Entra-based authentication helps align database access with the same identity controls organizations use elsewhere. The security and compliance outcomes that leaders care about Reduce password and secret risk: move away from static passwords and embedded credentials. Centralize governance: bring database access under the same identity policies, access reviews, and lifecycle controls used across the enterprise. Improve auditability: tie access to enterprise identities and create a consistent control surface for reporting. Enable policy enforcement at scale: move from “configured” controls to “enforced” controls through governance and tooling. This is why Entra authentication is a high-ROI modernization step: it collapses multiple security and operational objectives into one effort (identity modernization) rather than a set of ongoing compensating programs (password rotation programs, bespoke exceptions, and perpetual secret hygiene projects). Why AI makes this a high priority decision AI accelerates both reconnaissance and credential abuse, which concentrates risk on identity. As a result, policy makers increasingly treat phishing-resistant authentication and centralized identity enforcement as foundational—not optional. A practical path: from enabled to enforced Successful security programs define a clear end state, a measurable glide path, and an enforcement model. A pragmatic approach to modernizing SQL access typically includes: Discover active usage: Identify which logins and users are actively connecting and which are no longer required. Establish Entra as the identity authority: Enable Entra authentication on SQL logical servers, starting in mixed mode to reduce disruption. Recreate principals using Entra identities: Replace SQL Authentication logins/users with Entra users, groups, service principals, and managed identities. Modernize application connectivity: Update drivers and connection patterns to use Entra-based authentication and managed identities. Validate, then enforce: Confirm the absence of password‑based SQL authentication traffic, then move to Entra‑only where available and enforce via policy. By adopting this sequencing, organizations can mitigate risks at an early stage and postpone enforcement until the validation process concludes. For a comprehensive migration strategy, refer to Securing Azure SQL Database with Microsoft Entra Password-less Authentication: Migration Guide. Choosing which projects to fund — and which ones to stop When making investment decisions, priority is given to database identity projects that can demonstrate clear risk reduction and lasting security benefits. Microsoft Entra authentication as the default for new SQL workloads, with a defined migration path for the existing workloads. Managed identities for application-to-database connectivity to eliminate stored secrets. Centralized governance for privileged database access using enterprise identity controls. At the same time, organizations should explicitly de-prioritize investments that perpetuate password risk: password rotation projects that preserve SQL Authentication, bespoke scripts maintaining shared logins, and exception processes that do not scale. Security and scale are not competing goals Security is often seen as something that slows down innovation, but database identity offers unique benefits. When enterprise identity is used for access controls, bringing in new applications and users shifts from handing out credentials to overseeing policies. Compliance reporting also becomes uniform rather than customized, making it easier to grow consistently thanks to a single control framework. Modern database authentication is not solely about mitigating risk— it establishes a scalable operational framework for secure data access. A scorecard designed for leadership readiness To elevate the conversation from implementation to governance, use outcome-based metrics: Coverage: Percentage of SQL workloads with Entra authentication enabled. Enforcement: Percentage operating in Entra-only mode after validation. Secret reduction: Applications still relying on stored database passwords. Privilege hygiene: Admin access governed through enterprise identity controls. Audit evidence: Ability to produce identity-backed access reports on demand. These map directly to Zero Trust maturity expectations and provide a defensible definition of “done.” Closing Zero Trust is an operating posture, not a single control. For most organizations, the fastest way to make that posture measurable is to standardize database access on the same identity plane used everywhere else. If you are looking for a single investment that improves security, reduces audit friction, and supports responsible AI adoption, modernizing SQL access with Microsoft Entra authentication — and driving it from enabled to enforced — is one of the most durable choices you can make. References US Government sets forth Zero Trust architecture strategy and requirements (Microsoft Security Blog) Securing Azure SQL Database with Microsoft Entra Password-less Authentication: Migration Guide (Microsoft Tech Community) OMB Memorandum M-22-09: Federal Zero Trust Strategy (White House) NIST SP 800-207: Zero Trust Architecture CISA: Zero Trust Enforce Microsoft Entra-only authentication for Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed InstanceWhy Developers and DBAs love SQL’s Dynamic Data Masking (Series-Part 1)
Dynamic Data Masking (DDM) is one of those SQL features (available in SQL Server, Azure SQL DB, Azure SQL MI, SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric) that both developers and DBAs can rally behind. Why? Because it delivers a simple, built-in way to protect sensitive data—like phone numbers, emails, or IDs—without rewriting application logic or duplicating security rules across layers. With just a single line of T-SQL, you can configure masking directly at the column level, ensuring that non-privileged users see only obfuscated values while privileged users retain full access. This not only streamlines development but also supports compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, etc. by minimizing exposure to personally identifiable information (PII). In this first post of our DDM series, we’ll walk through a real-world scenario using the default masking function to show how easy it is to implement and how much development effort it can save. Scenario: Hiding customer phone numbers from support queries Imagine you have a support application where agents can look up customer profiles. They need to know if a phone number exists for the customer but shouldn’t see the actual digits for privacy. In a traditional approach, a developer might implement custom logic in the app (or a SQL view) to replace phone numbers with placeholders like “XXXX” for non-privileged users. This adds complexity and duplicate logic across the app. With DDM’s default masking, the database can handle this automatically. By applying a mask to the phone number column, any query by a non-privileged user will return a generic masked value (e.g. “XXXX”) instead of the real number. The support agent gets the information they need (that a number is on file) without revealing the actual phone number, and the developer writes zero masking code in the app. This not only simplifies the application codebase but also ensures consistent data protection across all query access paths. As Microsoft’s documentation puts it, DDM lets you control how much sensitive data to reveal “with minimal effect on the application layer” – exactly what our scenario achieves. Using the ‘Default’ Mask in T-SQL : The ‘Default’ masking function is the simplest mask: it fully replaces the actual value with a fixed default based on data type. For text data, that default is XXXX. Let’s apply this to our phone number example. The following T-SQL snippet works in Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL MI and SQL Server: SQL -- Step 1: Create the table with a default mask on the Phone column CREATE TABLE SupportCustomers ( CustomerID INT PRIMARY KEY, Name NVARCHAR(100), Phone NVARCHAR(15) MASKED WITH (FUNCTION = 'default()') -- Apply default masking ); GO -- Step 2: Insert sample data INSERT INTO SupportCustomers (CustomerID, Name, Phone) VALUES (1, 'Alice Johnson', '222-555-1234'); GO -- Step 3: Create a non-privileged user (no login for simplicity) CREATE USER SupportAgent WITHOUT LOGIN; GO -- Step 4: Grant SELECT permission on the table to the user GRANT SELECT ON SupportCustomers TO SupportAgent; GO -- Step 5: Execute a SELECT as the non-privileged user EXECUTE AS USER = 'SupportAgent'; SELECT Name, Phone FROM SupportCustomers WHERE CustomerID = 1 Alternatively, you can use Azure Portal to configure masking as shown in the following screenshot: Expected result: The query above would return Alice’s name and a masked phone number. Instead of seeing 222-555-1234, the Phone column would show XXXX. Alice’s actual number remains safely stored in the database, but it’s dynamically obscured for the support agent’s query. Meanwhile, privileged users such as administrator or db_owner which has CONTROL permission on the database or user with proper UNMASK permission would see the real phone number when running the same query. How this helps Developers : By pushing the masking logic down to the database, developers and DBAs avoid writing repetitive masking code in every app or report that touches this data. In our scenario, without DDM you might implement a check in the application like: If user_role == “Support”, then show “XXXX” for phone number, else show full phone. With DDM, such conditional code isn’t needed – the database takes care of it. This means: Less application code to write and maintain for masking Consistent masking everywhere (whether data is accessed via app, report, or ad-hoc query). Quick changes to masking rules in one place if requirements change, without hunting through application code. From a security standpoint, DDM reduces the risk of accidental data exposure and helps in compliance scenarios where personal data must be protected in lower environments or by certain roles, while reducing the developer effort drastically. In the next posts of this series, we’ll explore other masking functions (like Email, Partial, and Random etc) with different scenarios. By the end, you’ll see how each built-in mask can be applied to make data security and compliance more developer-friendly! Reference Links : Dynamic Data Masking - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn Dynamic Data Masking - Azure SQL Database & Azure SQL Managed Instance & Azure Synapse Analytics | Microsoft Learn
