Q92. Key Benefits of SQL Database Service?
We are all familiar with developing applications using SQL Server based on the relational data model. We are also familiar with applications which use SQL Server and client libraries which communicate based on the tabular data stream (TDS) protocol. SQL Database offers the same protocol as in SQL Server and a similar experience to develop Cloud applications. Along with this, SQL Database offers:
- Manageability
- High availability
- Scalability
Manageability
When an organization moves its data to SQL Database, it also moves its database management responsibility to the Cloud which means the personnel’s associated tasks are moved to the Cloud. The responsibility of managing the data and the database is now with Windows Azure and as a result costs of managing the database are reduced dramatically. This also ensures that the IT personnel are fully employed for building business logic and not for database administrative tasks.
High Availability
Azure seeks to offer high availability of database by replicating the copies of the database to multiple servers. In case of a hardware failure, the automatic failover feature kicks in and ensures that the another copy of the database is available. Azure replicates data in SQL Database to three different servers within a datacenter. Azure automatically load balances user requests across these three copies without you asking for it. Additionally, Azure also can create a backup of this data to a data center 500 miles away, if you choose the Geo-replication feature.
Scalability
The scalability feature of SQL Database is quite sophisticated and ensures that as the database grows the storage size you avail keeps pace with it and you will pay the minimum amount. So, scalability does not just mean availability of additional storage space but also means optimizing your expenditure on storage space. There are many issues you have to address to get your SQL Server up and running in a non cloud scenario. Issues such as buying a suitable hardware, software licensing for both the operating system and the database engine, setting up SQL Server and failover solutions require a team of people with varied skill sets. This ends up in high costs to the organization and valuable time to put things together. All this can be avoided if we choose SQL Database as your database solution.
