Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance Cheat Sheet

Back to DatabasesUpdated 2026-05-15

Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's fully managed PaaS relational database service offering near-infinite scale with Hyperscale architecture supporting databases up to 100TB, intelligent performance optimization through AI-driven automatic tuning and Intelligent Query Processing, and enterprise-grade security with built-in features like Always Encrypted and ledger verification. Azure SQL Managed Instance extends this with near-100% SQL Server compatibility, providing instance-level features like SQL Agent, cross-database queries, and CLR integration—making it the optimal lift-and-shift migration target for on-premises SQL Server workloads moving to the cloud. A key mental model: SQL Database excels for cloud-native greenfield applications requiring elastic scale and serverless compute, while Managed Instance serves as a compatibility bridge preserving existing SQL Server investments and enabling hybrid cloud scenarios with the Managed Instance Link for near real-time replication.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 16 focused tables and 72 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Service Tiers and Purchasing ModelsTable 2: Elastic Pools and Multi-Tenant PatternsTable 3: High Availability and Disaster RecoveryTable 4: Backup and RestoreTable 5: Intelligent Performance FeaturesTable 6: Security and Compliance FeaturesTable 7: Connectivity and Network SecurityTable 8: Serverless and ScalingTable 9: Azure SQL Managed Instance SpecificsTable 10: Data Synchronization and ReplicationTable 11: Advanced Data FeaturesTable 12: Management and AutomationTable 13: Migration and PortabilityTable 14: Monitoring and DiagnosticsTable 15: Elastic Query and Cross-Database OperationsTable 16: Pricing and Cost Optimization

Table 1: Service Tiers and Purchasing Models

Tier	Example	Description
General Purpose (vCore)	`4 vCores, 20 GB storage` `serverless: 0.5-2 vCores`	Budget-balanced tier with remote storage (Azure Premium Storage) separated from compute; supports serverless auto-pause/resume and scales 1-128 vCores; availability SLA: 99.99% with single replica.
Business Critical (vCore)	`8 vCores, zone redundant` `read scale-out: 3 replicas`	Mission-critical tier with local SSD storage for lowest latency; includes 3 secondary replicas (Always On availability groups) with one readable for offloading queries; availability SLA: 99.995% (zone redundant: 99.995%).
Hyperscale (vCore)	`up to 100 TB database` `4 read replicas, rapid scale`	Distributed architecture with tiered storage (page servers + log service) enabling databases up to 100TB; rapid compute scaling (~2 mins regardless of data size) and up to 4 named read replicas for horizontal scale-out; fast backups (file-snapshot based).

Table 1: Service Tiers and Purchasing Models

Tier	Example	Description
General Purpose (vCore)	`4 vCores, 20 GB storage` `serverless: 0.5-2 vCores`	Budget-balanced tier with remote storage (Azure Premium Storage) separated from compute; supports serverless auto-pause/resume and scales 1-128 vCores; availability SLA: 99.99% with single replica.
Business Critical (vCore)	`8 vCores, zone redundant` `read scale-out: 3 replicas`	Mission-critical tier with local SSD storage for lowest latency; includes 3 secondary replicas (Always On availability groups) with one readable for offloading queries; availability SLA: 99.995% (zone redundant: 99.995%).
Hyperscale (vCore)	`up to 100 TB database` `4 read replicas, rapid scale`	Distributed architecture with tiered storage (page servers + log service) enabling databases up to 100TB; rapid compute scaling (~2 mins regardless of data size) and up to 4 named read replicas for horizontal scale-out; fast backups (file-snapshot based).