Microsoft Azure SQL Database Reviews

I provision the database, perform all the necessary security checks, and then provide access to the application teams that will consume it.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is effective for availability, scalability, and security. The Software as a Service model is more effective and easier to access in terms of security, as Azure provides security at the security layer, reducing the risk of breach. Autoscaling is fantastic, automatically scaling up or down depending on usage parameters set. The database's security features depend on the pricing tiers chosen.

Pricing could be improved to make Microsoft Azure SQL Database more accessible. A reduction in price might encourage more users and bring more profit. Instead of a 20% or 30% reduction immediately, a gradual reduction could attract more users.

I have worked with Microsoft Azure SQL Database for approximately six years.

I haven't encountered any downtime issues. Changing parameters automatically scales up or down the database without any interruptions.

I have never encountered any challenges regarding stability. The database is very stable and straightforward.

The database is extremely scalable, allowing seamless scaling up or down with a simple change in parameters. It's a perfect ten out of ten in terms of scalability.

During my years of experience, I've never encountered an issue with Microsoft Azure SQL Database that I couldn't resolve, so I haven't needed to contact customer support.

Positive

The initial setup is very easy, given that all parameters and requirements from the application units are in place.

The pricing of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap, affecting user uptake. A gradual reduction in price could improve accessibility and user numbers, making it easier for users to adopt the solution.

I have previous experience with 3PAR and StoreOnce from HPE.

I advise users to adopt Microsoft Azure SQL Database, as it simplifies life for users and applications. Applications can connect from anywhere, and it reduces headaches for administrators and infrastructure teams. The disaster recovery plan and backup features are easily enabled. The overall rating is nine out of ten, considering pricing concerns.

Public Cloud

Microsoft Azure

Our primary use case for Microsoft Azure SQL Database is storing customer data and information for user accounts.

It has significantly streamlined our disaster recovery plans, making it much more straightforward to spin up new instances as opposed to setting up a new VM with all necessary packages. The normal cost of our VMs with storage has been significantly reduced.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is fairly easy to use and set up for our DBA teams, who use it for various applications and tools like RabbitMQ. It's easier than standing up an individual VM or installing SQL directly on a machine. We spend less time spinning up the infrastructure. 

While we don't use GenAI, I think it would integrate well with Azure SQL Database because it works well with other Azure applications, but I don't think it would impact us much.

We've had many concurrency issues with it, particularly with applications that do a lot of parallel processing. We noticed that sometimes the Azure SQL databases would spike and peak their CPU units, causing some performance issues for us. It would be helpful if CPU performance were not pinned to the amount of storage you're using, and we could scale different properties of the Azure SQL database independently.

I have been using Microsoft Azure SQL Database for three years.

While latency and availability are fine, we've faced constraints with compute capacity unable to handle our required IOPS.

I think Azure SQL is on the right track. It works well, but we've had issues scaling when parallel processes hit the same database. Large datasets with hundreds of terabytes have caused issues.

We haven't required much support due to our familiarity with Azure SQL Database, aside from a couple of hardware issues.

Neutral

Our biggest challenge is connecting developers to the database. A lot of them weren't familiar with Azure networking, so we had to work a lot with that.

We've reduced costs by about 20 percent after two or three years. We've saved on licenses and also storage costs.

I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database seven out of 10. It streamlines technical work significantly, reducing turnaround time for standing up a new database from six hours to 30 minutes. Training for developers is crucial when implementing this solution.

Public Cloud

Microsoft Azure

I use Azure SQL for data storage and querying for applications.

Azure SQL works well. Our applications are hosted in AKS, and we can easily do the security and authentication. It's easer to set up than an on-premise SQL database, so that has had a positive effect on our productivity. 

We've saved time setting up the databases. While I'm not involved in the maintenance, I'm sure that's also a big factor. It's hosted in the cloud, so we don't have to maintain the servers. 

Azure SQL is really straightforward to use. It's nice that it's just SQL but in the cloud. We've switched from the on-premise SQL databases we use and have Azure SQL for some of our more recent stuff. It's seamless.

The AI applications sound neat. We haven't really gotten to do that yet, but we like that it works so well with Fabric. It seems like something we could easily connect.

One thing we struggled with was the network stuff. We had to figure out how to ensure we were secure. That part took a bit, but we're in a great spot now. We had to work with security to figure out our network policies. We're in a private instance, so you can only connect to it from our VPN. We've made some progress, and it's much easier to use now. Some more documentation and suggestions for network policies could be helpful.

We have used Azure SQL for a couple of years at this point.

The stability is great. I haven't noticed any problems with it so far.

The scalability is useful. Unlike our on-premise SQL Database, which is not easily scalable, Azure SQL allows us to increase the tier and get more performance as needed.

We switched from on-premise SQL databases to Azure SQL for more recent projects because it's easier to set up in the cloud without dealing with complex network rules.

We have a lot of people who are experts in Microsoft SQL stuff, so switching to Azure SQL was just a piece of cake for them because it's basically the same thing. 

We used our internal team, who are experts in Microsoft SQL, to switch to Azure SQL, finding it to be a seamless transition.

I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 out of 10.

Private Cloud

Microsoft Azure

We primarily use Microsoft Azure SQL Database for application databases for web applications and sometimes native iOS and Android platforms. We also employ it for the backend and analytics, often migrating data over to Fabric and One Lake for Power BI analytics.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is quite impactful as we use it for most projects. 

I like that Microsoft Azure SQL Database is almost identical to an on-premise SQL Server except for a few things, like how you edit rows and some jobs that you can't run. It has some useful features and integrations, like Microsoft Fabric.

They could improve Azure SQL by adding some of the features available on-prem, such as cross-database queries and the ability to run particular jobs. We need to migrate those to something else, like a function or logic app. 

Data transformation units are also confusing to sell to our clients because they're these weird, nebulous things. Do you need five or 50? 

I have been using Microsoft Azure SQL Database since it first started in 2009.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database does not seem to have any significant latency issues and handles millions of rows well.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database scales well, allowing us to increase our compute level or add more instances as required.

The learning resources and documentation provided by Microsoft are very helpful. There are many free learning segments and videos available to guide users through various aspects of Azure SQL Database.

Positive

I worked with SQL Server since version 6.5 in the late nineties and have continued to use it through various versions. I have also used other database platforms like ADB and MongoDB, but I prefer SQL Server due to its superior tools and features. I've used Cosmos DB for a few things, and we use Azure AI Search, a cognitive search pronounced by a different name. So use that, you know, Azure AI services. 

Azure SQL and Cosmos DB are our main solutions unless the client wants to use Oracle, Postgres, or MySQL. We will use whatever they want to use. On the analytics side, we use Fabric and One Lake, and we do the analytics of Power BI.

If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive.

Other database solutions I have used include Cosmos DB for certain AI applications, as well as Oracle, Postgres, and MySQL when clients prefer those solutions.

I started working with SQL at SQL Server six point five in the late nineties. So, I mean, I went to SQL seven, two thousand, and then, you know, just been using it ever since. I've used other platforms, like I said, with ADB and, like, even with MongoDB and DevOps. It's just kinda my favorite one. I like the tools the best. Yeah. Seeking Server Management Studio is probably the best IDE out there for databases. All the other ones, are a little bit slow and clunky. Okay. So

I would rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database a nine out of 10.

Public Cloud

Microsoft Azure

We primarily use SQL on Azure for reporting and incident situation awareness around our area. It's utilized for public information dissemination regarding different safety programs, ensuring nothing too complicated or in-depth.

Azure SQL is easy to integrate and simplifies things from a licensing perspective. We're comfortable with SQL versus other types of databases, so we feel better talking to Microsoft.

Reporting and incident situation awareness around our area and just reporting public information. The database seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft applications like SharePoint Online, PowerApps, and PowerFlow. We don't have to worry about maintenance, such as patching the servers. Leveraging other Microsoft technologies outside of our network is a lot easier.

It's a lot easier to create databases. There are some limitations in terms of permissions, but you can create databases by clicking a few buttons. You only need to provide the user authentication, and that's it.

Adding users to Azure SQL could be easier. You need to script it out, but it would be nice if it had a UI where you can click and add them. It's not a major thing because we script things all the time, but it would be a minor thing that helps us.

I have been using SQL on Azure for about ten years.

I haven't encountered any real latency issues. Our internal database is heavily utilized, but externally on the Azure SQL, we don’t push it to its limit.

Based on our limited use cases, Azure SQL appears highly scalable without any issues.

It's really a non-factor at this point, as we are comfortable with the system's ease of use.

Positive

I've used MySQL and other databases before, but our organization decided to go with Microsoft, and it felt natural due to my background as a .NET developer.

The initial setup was straightforward, and the integration process has become much easier over time.

I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database nine out of 10. 

Public Cloud

Microsoft Azure

Our primary use case for Microsoft Azure SQL Database is OLTP workloads.

We've reduced costs a little on the dev side, but not so much in our production workloads. Our productivity is the same as that of on-prem SQL.

Azure SQL is highly available, and I have not really noticed any performance difference compared to my on-prem environment. While we don't have any AI-related workloads on Azure Database, I believe they will be native to SQL 2025, so that might change. 

I would like to see more compatibility with SSMS and more backward compatibility with regular on-prem SQL. The solution is somewhat user-friendly, but it's limited by the lack of full backward compatibility. 

I have been using Azure SQL for three to four years.

I have not really noticed any performance difference compared to my on-prem environment. It's been pretty good.

It is easy to scale in Azure in a way that I cannot scale on-prem. However, it comes at a cost, but overall, it's been beneficial.

We currently have a unified support contract with Microsoft, and we contact them when necessary. However, we have not needed Microsft's help for our migration processes or any regular workloads.

Positive

We did not encounter any challenges during migration or implementation.

We handled our migration processes without needing help from Microsoft.

The cost was a factor in choosing Azure SQL over other options out there.

We chose Azure SQL because it's easy to implement and integrate with our existing tools and and technologies. Most of what we have is within the Microsoft stack, so Azure made sense.

I rate Azure SQL Database eight out of 10. 

Our primary use case for Microsoft Azure SQL Database is to bring up our products and run them on Azure as we have our own TCX products. We have been using AWS in the back end, but we are now expanding to Microsoft Azure.

The native SQL runs great on Microsoft, and the integration with Microsoft applications like Office makes it seamless.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database significantly reduces our operational overhead, freeing us from backup worries and allowing us to focus on other priorities. Additionally, SQL Managed Instance provides clear usage visibility and enables on-demand scaling to meet our evolving needs.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is our go-to database for our products, such as SQL or Oracle. The usability, ease of use, and fine-tuning are beneficial, especially for our IO-intensive application. It empowers us by running our availability through the product side.

Provisioning the instance, connecting to it, and deploying full-stack applications end-to-end on Azure is much easier than AWS. 

Azure SQL provides built-in security and useful troubleshooting tools for identifying and taking action whenever issues arise.

We need improvement in the latency between availability zones. The managed SQL MI does not allow us to control the zone it runs in, which affects latency. It's crucial for us that customers should not be concerned about which availability zone it's running as long as the response time and latency are consistent.

I've been using Microsoft Azure SQL Database for approximately three months.

We experience some latency issues.

We are working on a scalability performance test for SQL MI and comparing it with AWS.

We are expanding our cloud infrastructure from AWS to include Microsoft Azure. Azure's managed database services eliminate the operational overhead of running our own database, allowing us to quickly deploy and connect to pre-configured instances without manual tuning or backups.

The setup is straightforward, being a managed service, so operational overhead is minimized.

We anticipate seeing savings as we start using Microsoft Azure SQL more extensively.

I would rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database eight out of ten. Our experience has been good overall, except for the latency issue. If latency issues are resolved in future releases, I would rate it higher.

Microsoft's expertise in SQL Server is a significant advantage. Their resources are beneficial, and a primary reason for choosing SQL MI is the reduced operational overhead. By eliminating the need for a dedicated database administration team, we can avoid the costs and complexities associated with managing and distributing the database. This is a crucial factor in our decision-making process.

We use nearly all of Azure's services, including virtual machines, application gateways, firewalls, load balancers, and SQL Managed Instances. Our projects involve a comprehensive engagement with the Azure platform.

Hybrid Cloud

Microsoft Azure

We utilize Microsoft Azure SQL Database for tool and AI analysis on the backend. Its primary function is to analyze backend processes and key performance indicators.

Using Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not difficult.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database has the potential to empower next-generation AI applications, as it has the necessary built-in capabilities. However, cost remains a significant barrier to its widespread adoption for such purposes.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers excellent integration with other Microsoft applications.

The most valuable aspect of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is its accessibility. Its global reach makes it far superior to on-premises servers, as worldwide access is significantly easier to manage than navigating on-site security protocols.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database would benefit from enhanced documentation, along with ongoing improvements to scalability and cost-effectiveness.

I have been using Microsoft Azure SQL Database for three years in production and three years in development before that.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database latency is good as long as we set it up right.

We don't have a restriction on scaling. Microsoft Azure SQL Database is cloud-based, so it's great for scaling workloads.

Neutral

We previously utilized an on-premises solution, but the robust security features and seamless integrations offered by Azure SQL Database influenced our decision to migrate.

The deployment was straightforward, with the only challenge being the initial complexity of the documentation, which we overcame by locating additional resources.

I would rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database seven out of ten.

Public Cloud

Microsoft Azure