Top 7 Things You Want To Do In Windows Azure SQL Database, But Can’t

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Clik here to view.I’m a huge fan of Windows Azure SQL Database (WASD), I really am.

I know there are other fans out there as well. With each passing day we help transport more of the old-school DBAs into the 21st century by showing them what Azure has to offer.

Unfortunately there are always a few folks that tend to focus on what is “missing” from WASD. They don’t see WASD as a different version of SQL Server meant to solve a different set of problems than the traditional on-premises version of SQL Server. They only see WASD as something incomplete.

In short, someone moved their cheese.

So I decided to list out my top seven features that users will find are currently unsupported in WASD. I think this approach works best as it lists out the items, rather than WASD being a mystery. Once you spend some time reviewing these seven items you can decide for yourself where WASD is the right solution for your projects.

I put together a quick slide deck and posted it to Slideshare, but you can also view it here:

I’d suggest you look at the items in the slides which include:

• Database file placement
• Database mirroring
• Trace flags
• BACKUP and RESTORE commands
• CLR objects
• Distributed queries
• Service Broker

If you have a system that does not require any of those seven features then you should consider WASD as a platform for future deployments. Note that I am not telling you that WASD is the right solution for you simply because you don’t have a requirement for one of the seven items listed above. What I want to make clear is that you should use WASD when it makes sense for you to do so.

Those seven items are a good start for you to use as a guide. You can see the full list of SQL Server limitations in WASD here.

Come join us in the 21st century, we have the best frozen yogurt.

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