{"id":1113,"date":"2014-05-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-01-22T22:52:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T06:52:14","slug":"azure-sql-database-service-tiers-performance-qa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/sql-server\/blog\/2014\/05\/05\/azure-sql-database-service-tiers-performance-qa\/","title":{"rendered":"Azure SQL Database: Service Tiers & Performance Q&A"},"content":{"rendered":"
A few days ago, I published a post with some anticipated questions & answers to provide details on the new service tiers for Microsoft Azure SQL Database<\/a>, announced on April 24. In this follow-up post, I want to provide more information about how SQL Database performance is factored into the service tiers.<\/p>\n Like the previous post, this document was originally written to help people on the Microsoft team address common questions about the new service tiers, and the information is certainly relevant to you, as well.<\/p>\n Shawn Bice \u00a0<\/p>\n How is SQL Database performance improving with the new service tiers?<\/b><\/p>\n Our customers have provided consistent feedback that they highly value predictable performance. To address this feedback, we previously introduced a Premium service tier to support database workloads with higher-end throughput needs. We\u2019re continuing our commitment to predictable performance by introducing new service tiers at lower price points (Basic & Standard), which are primarily differentiated on performance. As you move up the performance levels, the available throughput increases. This service design offers customers the opportunity to dial up the right set of resources to get the throughput their database requires.<\/p>\n What changes are being made to Premium?<\/b><\/p>\n Starting April 24, Azure SQL Database Premium preview introduces a new 500 GB max size, another performance level (P3), new business continuity features (active geo-replication and self-service restore), and a streamlined provisioning and billing experience.<\/p>\n What new features are available in Premium?<\/b><\/p>\n Active Geo-Replication:<\/b> Gain control over your disaster recovery process by creating up to four active, readable secondaries in any Azure region and choosing when to failover. For more information on using Active Geo-Replication, see <\/strong>Disaster Recovery documentation<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Self-service Restore:<\/b> SQL Database Premium allows you to restore your database to any point in time within the last 35 days, in the case of a human or programmatic data deletion scenario. Replace import\/export workarounds with self-service control over database restore. For more on using Self-service Restore, see Restore Service documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Larger database size:<\/b> support for up to 500 GB databases is baked into the daily rate (no separate charge for DB size).<\/p>\n Additional Premium performance level:<\/b> Meet high-end throughput needs with a new P3 performance level which delivers the greatest performance for your most demanding database workloads. Learn more about SQL Database Premium and pricing by visiting the SQL Database pricing page<\/a>.<\/p>\n What are performance levels?<\/b><\/p>\n Azure SQL Database service tiers introduce the concept of performance levels. There are six performance levels across the Basic, Standard, and Premium service tiers. The performance levels are Basic, S1, S2, P1, P2, and P3. Each performance level delivers a set of resources required to run light-weight to heavy-weight database workloads.<\/p>\n How does a customer think about the performance power available across the different performance levels?<\/b><\/p>\n As part of providing a more predictable performance experience for customers, SQL Database is introducing the Database Throughput Unit (DTU). A DTU represents the power of the database engine as a blended measure of CPU, memory, and read and write rates. This measure helps a customer assess the relative power of the six SQL Database performance levels (Basic, S1, S2, P1, P2, and P3).\u00a0<\/p>\n Performance levels offer the following DTUs:<\/p>\n
Director of Program Management, Data Platform Group<\/p>\n