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Microsoft SQL Server VS Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compare Microsoft SQL Server VS Microsoft Azure SQL Database and see what are their differences

Microsoft SQL Server logo Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft Azure is an open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform. Move faster, do more, and save money with IaaS + PaaS. Try for FREE.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database logo Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Database lets you create, extend and scale relational applications into the cloud.
  • Microsoft SQL Server Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17
  • Microsoft Azure SQL Database Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-06

Microsoft SQL Server features and specs

  • Performance
    Microsoft SQL Server offers high performance and efficient database management capabilities, optimized for both OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing).
  • Security Features
    SQL Server comes with advanced security features such as encryption, data masking, and advanced threat protection to ensure data integrity and privacy.
  • Scalability
    The server supports horizontal and vertical scaling to accommodate growing amounts of data and increasing number of users.
  • Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem
    Seamless integration with other Microsoft products such as Azure, Power BI, and Visual Studio, making it a versatile choice for businesses already using Microsoft services.
  • Ease of Use
    The server provides a user-friendly interface and helpful tools such as SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for database maintenance and management.
  • Comprehensive Support
    Microsoft offers extensive support and documentation, along with a strong community that provides additional resources and insights.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft SQL Server

  • Cost
    Licensing and operational costs can be high, especially for larger enterprises, making it a significant investment.
  • Complexity
    Initial setup and configuration can be complex, often requiring expert knowledge to deploy and maintain effectively.
  • Resource Intensive
    The server can be resource-heavy, requiring significant hardware and computational resources to run efficiently, especially for larger databases.
  • Limited Cross-Platform Support
    Although improvements have been made, SQL Server is primarily optimized for Windows environments, which can limit its use in cross-platform scenarios.
  • Proprietary Software
    Being a proprietary software solution, it lacks the flexibility and cost benefits that come with open-source alternatives.
  • Updates and Patches
    Frequent updates and patches can sometimes disrupt service, requiring periodic maintenance that could result in downtime.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database features and specs

  • Scalability
    Azure SQL Database offers the ability to scale dynamically and on-demand, allowing businesses to adjust their resources based on current needs, which ensures that applications have the capacity to handle workloads efficiently.
  • Managed Service
    As a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering, Azure SQL Database eliminates the need for physical maintenance and database management tasks such as patching, backups, and hardware provisioning.
  • High Availability
    Azure SQL Database provides built-in high availability and automated failover, ensuring minimal downtime and reliability for mission-critical applications without additional configuration.
  • Advanced Security
    Azure SQL Database includes advanced security features like data encryption, threat detection, and compliance certifications, helping to protect sensitive data and meet regulatory requirements.
  • Integration and Compatibility
    It integrates well with other Microsoft services and supports a wide range of SQL Server features, which aids businesses in leveraging existing tools and expertise.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft Azure SQL Database

  • Cost
    For some businesses, the subscription-based model and additional costs for features like backups and geo-replication can make Azure SQL Database more expensive compared to self-managed solutions.
  • Limited Access to Server-Level Features
    Being a PaaS offering, Azure SQL Database does not provide access to server-level functionalities, making certain configurations and customizations impossible compared to on-premise SQL Server instances.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Organizations that commit to using Azure SQL Database might find it challenging to migrate away, potentially resulting in vendor lock-in due to dependencies on Microsoft's ecosystem and technologies.
  • Performance Variability
    While Azure SQL Database is scalable, the performance can sometimes be unpredictable due to various factors such as shared resources and noisy neighbors in a multi-tenant environment.
  • Learning Curve
    Organizations may face a learning curve when adapting to Microsoft Azure's cloud-based systems, requiring initial time and resources for training and deployment.

Microsoft SQL Server videos

What is Microsoft SQL Server?

Microsoft Azure SQL Database videos

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Azure SQL Database)
Databases
81 81%
19% 19
NoSQL Databases
82 82%
18% 18
Relational Databases
79 79%
21% 21
Development
77 77%
23% 23

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Microsoft SQL Server Reviews

20 Best SQL Management Tools in 2020
It is a SQL management tool for analysing the differences in Microsoft SQL Server database structures. It allows comparing database objects like tables, columns, indexes, foreign keys, schemas, etc.
Source: www.guru99.com

Microsoft Azure SQL Database Reviews

Top 6 Cloud Data Warehouses in 2023
The Azure SQL database is prominent for cloud-based hosting with an interactive user journey from creating SQL servers to configuring databases. It is also widely preferred because of its easy-to-use interface and many functionalities for manipulating data. Also, it is scalable to reduce costs and optimize performance on low usage.
Source: geekflare.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Microsoft SQL Server should be more popular than Microsoft Azure SQL Database. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Microsoft SQL Server mentions (5)

  • Cloud provider comparison 2024: VM Performance / Price
    Azure is the #2 overall Cloud provider and, as expected, it's the best choice for most Microsoft/Windows-based solutions. That said, it does offer many types of Linux VMs, with quite similar abilities as AWS/GCP. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Amdocs, NVIDIA and Microsoft Azure build custom LLMs for telcos
    Amdocs has partnered with NVIDIA and Microsoft Azure to build custom Large Language Models (LLMs) for the $1.7 trillion global telecoms industry. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Windows Azure: Microsoft's crown jewel
    You can utilise various tools on the platform to significantly improve your IT performance. Due to its flexibility, even official recommendations for Azure might need to be clarified and easier to comprehend. Simply put, Azure (formerly Windows Azure) is Microsoft's cloud computing operating system. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • From developer to (solutions) architect. A simple guide.
    This is not to say there aren't architects still working on premise in self managed environments, but if you're planning to join the forces, you probably want to have an idea of who are the 3 public cloud providers (AWS, Azure and GCP), and their offering and topology. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • Can You Learn AWS (And Get Certified) With No Experience? e.g. No IT background or degree
    Right now, AWS couldn’t be a better choice. AWS has been for many years—and continues to be—the market leader between all the cloud platforms. Whilst the competitors like GCP and Azure are catching up, they’ve still not toppled AWS which continues to be, by far, the biggest cloud provider. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

Microsoft Azure SQL Database mentions (2)

  • What is SQL Injection and How to prevent it?
    Any website or web application that uses a SQL database, such as Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, or others, may be vulnerable to SQL Injection. Criminals may use it to get illegal access to your sensitive data, including customer information, personal information, trade secrets, intellectual property, and other information. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • System Design: The complete course
    Since the data is not strongly relational, NoSQL databases such as Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Cassandra, or MongoDB will be a better choice here, if we do decide to use an SQL database then we can use something like Azure SQL Database or Amazon RDS. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Azure SQL Database, you can also consider the following products

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

MariaDB - An enhanced, drop-in replacement for MySQL

PostgreSQL - PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system.

Amazon RDS - Easy to manage relational databases optimized for total cost of ownership.

Redis - Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

MySQL - The world's most popular open source database