Running SQL Server in a Virtual Machine is the classic IaaS solution in the cloud: it’s a solid option with the advantage of familiarity, and it works well for hybrid integration scenarios between cloud and on-premises. However, it does not significantly reduce day-to-day management costs or the complexities related to scalability, high availability, and disaster recovery.

Azure SQL Database is the PaaS/SaaS solution that provides a relational database service with functional coverage that is now practically identical to that of the Database Engine in a traditional SQL Server, while reducing implementation and maintenance costs and offering the benefit of new features typically introduced ahead of on-premises releases. The recent introduction of “Managed Instances” further narrows the gap with on-premises versions, expanding the range of possible migration scenarios with minimal impact in terms of application changes.

This session is aimed at both developers and database administrators who want to dive deeper into its features, implementation scenarios, and the differences compared to similar offerings such as Amazon RDS.