Seamless end-to-end SQL Server migration to Azure with Azure Arc
Migrating your on-premises SQL Server to Azure used to require multiple tools and involve several disconnected steps. We have addressed these challenges with an integrated all-in-one migration experience for Arc-enabled SQL Servers. Our new solution eliminates the need for additional software or tools, requiring only Arc-enablement of your SQL Server to complete the entire end-to-end migration journey. We refer to this experience as a journey because the migration process can span several days or even weeks. Our solution manages every step along the way, allowing you the flexibility to pick up where you left off at any time. About the solution The Arc-enabled migration integrates all steps of the migration journey into a single, simple-to-use experience. The solution starts by providing an overview of the benefits of Azure SQL services and modernizing your SQL Server in Azure. It offers continuous automated assessments of your SQL Server databases, providing recommendations for migration to various Azure SQL destinations. Based on these recommendations, an appropriate Azure SQL destination is suggested, tailored to your workload needs. Thereafter, you can choose to provision the recommended Azure SQL service in Azure and start the migration process. Throughout the process, you can monitor the ongoing migrations, evaluate data replicated in Azure, and control the cutover point to Azure according to your business requirements. Figure 1: Integrated Arc enabled end to end migrations experience. Note: Functionality, look and feel of preview product experiences are subject to change. This release is limited to migrating SQL Server databases to Azure SQL Managed Instance only using the link feature as one of the best performing minimum downtime migration solutions. It does not provide other migration options or destinations at this time. Hands-on We love hearing back from our customers! Your participation in the private preview and working with the product group can influence the product roadmap. If you're interested in evaluating your SQL Server workloads for migration to Azure or are ready to migrate, please fill out our application form to request an invitation to the private preview: https://aka.ms/arc-migrations-preview Our product team will select candidates on an ongoing basis based on onboarding capacity. Additional resources Migration overview from SQL Server to Azure SQL Server enabled by Azure ArcAzure 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!Managed Instance link with SQL Server 2017 is now GA
We are announcing the general availability of Managed Instance link feature with SQL Server 2017, which enables near-real time data replication from SQL Server to Azure SQL Managed Instance. Link feature is now supported in all SQL Server versions in the mainstream and extended support, from SQL Server 2016 to SQL Server 2022. To use Managed Instance link feature SQL Server 2017, customers need to install “Azure Connect Pack for SQL Server 2017”. We recommend the latest version of SQL Server Management Studio to create and manage links with SQL Server 2017. To learn more about SQL Server – SQL Managed Instance hybrid capabilities which link feature unlocks, see the feature documentation page.What's New in SQL Server and Azure SQL: 2024 Year in Review
Read the 2024 recap of all the Azure SQL and SQL Server news this year or catch the live episode! If you missed the episode, you can find them all at https://aka.ms/AzureSQLYT. This was a special episode because it was live streamed from the PASS Data Community Summit in Seattle. I had the honor to speak to some of the SQL leaders at Microsoft. You can read this blog to get all the updates and references mentioned in the show. Without further ado, here’s the 2024 Year in Review: Azure SQL Database Elastic pools for Hyperscale are now GA Azure SQL Database free ‘forever’ database (details) Copilot in Azure SQL Database (preview) Natural language to SQL in the portal Query Editor (preview) Serverless for Hyperscale (GA) Zone redundancy is now available to be enabled for Hyperscale – Named Replicas in Azure SQL Database (preview). Maintenance windows for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale elastic pools is now available in public preview. Azure SQL Database Hyperscale elastic pools is now available in public preview in Azure U.S. government regions. Guidance on how to migrate from Amazon QLDB to ledger tables in Azure SQL Database Lower auto-pause delay minimums for serverless databases (now 15 minutes!) (GA) Simplified subscription limits Maintenance window support for Hyperscale named replica Shrink for Hyperscale (preview) dbcompat 160 as default for new databases (GA) Enhanced time-based audit log filtering with fn_get_audit_file_v2 UNISTR and || operators to escape Unicode characters and combine characters/binary strings (preview) License-free standby replica (GA) Availability metric in the portal (preview) Elastic jobs (GA) Public preview: Label-based access control for Azure SQL Database using Microsoft Purview policies Advance Maintenance Notifications (GA) Maintenance window support for Hyperscale elastic pools (preview) Mirroring Azure SQL Database to Microsoft Fabric (preview) Server Audit redesign worldwide availability Hyperscale PASS announcements: Max size to 128 TB (GA), log rate increase to 150 mbps (preview), continuous priming (preview) Data virtualization support (Polybase!) (preview) AI Native vector type and functions are in preview in SQL DB and SQL MI SQL Server and Azure SQL can work for hybrid search with Azure AI services or frameworks like LangChain and Semantic Kernel. Azure AI Search works with all deployment options for SQL. A bunch of really cool samples and blogs! Similarity search with FAISS and Azure SQL Tools and developer Data API Builder (GA) (including in-memory caching) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 20 (GA) was released earlier this year, and the upcoming release of SSMS 21 Preview 1 was just announced, which will include many exciting capabilities. Erin Stellato has been collecting feedback through many forums, including blogs. Read the release blog here. SSMS 21 copilot (private preview) Preview release of SDK-style SQL projects in Visual Studio 2022 SSDT for ARM64 in Visual Studio (preview) MSSQL Extension for VS Code v1.25.0: Rich UI features (Preview). Dev Container for Data API Builder (DAB) and SQL Server came out: https://aka.ms/try-dab Dev Container templates for Azure SQL Database (Demo) Use the debugger in SSDT New JSON data type (preview) for Azure SQL DB and SQL MI RegEx in Azure SQL Database (private preview) Several Microsoft.Data.SqlClient versions were released including a 6.0 preview JDBC driver updates and hotfixes System.Data.SqlClient was deprecated ODBC Driver 18.4 Hotfix for OLE DB driver SqlPackage and DacFx updates Azure SQL trigger (GA) Database watcher for Azure SQL (preview) Azure SQL Managed Instance 12-month free Azure SQL Managed Instance Instance pools public preview refresh The next generation of General Purpose Managed Instance (preview) Azure SQL Managed Instance General Purpose (GP) instances now have zone-redundant configuration available as an option (preview), billing began as well Premium-series memory optimized hardware is now available in all regions Premium-series memory optimized business critical, 16TB of storage is now available Business critical gives more granularity over the number of vCores Cross-subscription database copy and move has been updated to include support for online, cross-instance database copy and move operations across all instances under the same Azure tenant Authenticate with Microsoft Entra ID using windows principals metadata (preview) Advance Notifications for planned maintenance (GA) Update Policy configuration of Managed Instance (GA) Native JSON data type support (preview) Online disaster recovery (DR) GA between SQL Server 2022 and Azure SQL Managed Instance External REST Endpoint Invocation for Managed Instance (private preview) Vector support (private preview) Regular Expressions (private preview) SQL Server on Azure VMs Provision Premium SSD v2 Storage within the Azure portal (preview) Automated Patching Retirement and replacement with Azure Update Manager, which also went GA earlier this year New I/O analysis and best practices tabs in portal (preview) Place your SQL Server workloads on an Azure Elastic SAN for improved performance, throughput, and cost (GA) Deploy your SQL Server failover cluster instance (FCI) by using an Azure Elastic SAN (preview) New memory and storage optimized Mbsv3 size series (GA) New compute optimized Azure FXv2 series (preview) SQL Server on Linux AD utility, adutil, is available on RHEL 9 and Ubuntu 22.04 Sample for SQL Server on Linux Azure VM and Azure AI Search Always On Availability Group on AKS with DH2i’s DxOperator and Rancher by SUSE Enabling Azure Key vault support for SQL Server on Linux Azure Arc enabled SQL Server Azure SQL migration assessment support in portal for Azure Arc enabled SQL Server (preview) Extended Security Updates for SQL Server 2014 are available through Arc Move resources across resource groups and subscription (GA) Inventory of availability groups is now GA Inventory of failover cluster instances is now GA Manage automated backups at the instance and database level (preview) Inventory of SQL Server Services (SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, and PBIRS) is now in public preview SQL Server There have been several CUs for SQL Server various versions, including several security updates. Updates for SCOM Management Packs for SQL Server, RS, AS (7.6.0.0) SQL Server 2014 reached end of support on July 9, 2024. A ton of AI samples with SQL Retirement of SQL Server Stretch Database SQL Server 2022 is EAL 2 Common Criteria certified Migrations Migrate Arc enabled SQL Servers with Azure Arc enabled migrations experience (Private Preview) Price and performance optimized Next-gen Azure SQL Managed Instance General Purpose service tier is now available as a migration recommendation Simplify you Azure SQL migration journey with a single click SHIR configuration Migrate larger scale Oracle databases to Azure SQL using Azure Database Migration Service in SSMA 10 Migrate large scale DB2 databases to Azure SQL using Azure Data Factory in SSMA 9.5 Improve your SQL migration success rate with early validations for login migrations with Azure SQL Migration extension in Azure Data Studio Accelerate your SQL migration journey by provisioning targets using the ARM templates generated by Azure SQL Migration extension in Azure Data Studio Fabric and Power BI October Fabric Update October Power BI Update Ignite Microsoft Ignite is just two weeks away. I promise you we have some exciting announcements planned for there as well. Please be sure to follow along and check back on the blog site updates! Data Exposed We released so many episodes of Data Exposed this year (around 60!). It’s such an honor to get to learn and share about all the new and exciting things the team is working on, and stories from MVPs and customers. Thank you READER and VIEWER for supporting the show by following along! Until next time… That’s it for now! We release new episodes on Thursdays at 9AM PT and new #MVPTuesday episodes on the last Tuesday of every month at 9AM PT at aka.ms/DataExposedyt. Having trouble keeping up? Be sure to follow us on X to get the latest updates on everything, @AzureSQL. We hope to see you next YEAR, on Data Exposed :-) --Anna and MarisaAzure Backup for SQL Server in Azure VM: Tips and Tricks from the Field
Authored by: Michael Piskorski, Laura Grob, Wilson Souza, Armen Kaleshian, David Pless, Anna Hoffman We recently worked with a customer that migrated their Windows and SQL Servers to Azure that wanted to use Azure Backup for a consistent enterprise backup experience. The SQL Servers had multiple databases of varying sizes, some that were multi-terabyte. A single Azure Backup vault was deployed using a policy that was distributed to all the SQL Servers. During the migration process, the customer observed issues with the quality of the backups and poor virtual machine performance while the backups were running. We worked through the issues by reviewing the best practices, modifying the Azure Backup configuration, and changing the virtual machine SKU. For this specific example, the customer needed to change their SKU from Standard_E8bds_v5 to Standard_E16bds_v5 to support the additional IOPS and throughput required for the backups. They used premium SSD v1 and the configuration met the IOPS and throughput requirements. In this post, we share some of the techniques we used to identify and resolve the performance issues that were observed.
