topic<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhich service tier is used when a customer copies or restores a database?<\/b><\/p>\n
Copying and restoring a database creates a new database in the same service tier as the original database. If copying a database via the portal (new) or using the T-SQL CREATE DATABASE \u2026 AS A COPY OF statement, the new database will have the same performance level as the original. When restoring a database, it will have the service tier applied at the point in time from which the database was restored and the default performance level, which is S1 for Standard tier and P1 for Premium tier. Customers can choose to downgrade a database after copying or restoring, if its size permits, but you will be charged for at least one day at the initial rate. Note that this is a change in behavior for Premium databases. Previously as premium database quota was limited, T-SQL copy and restore created a Suspended Premium database without reserved resources, which was charged at the same rate as a Business database. Suspended Premium databases are no longer supported. Existing Suspended Premium databases will be converted to Business edition as part of the April 24 release.<\/p>\n
How often can a customer change the edition or performance level of a database?<\/b><\/p>\n
Changing the edition or performance level of a database should be done as a considered and deliberate action. Customers are allowed up to 4 changes in a 24 hour period that alter the service tier or performance level of a database. Be mindful that you are still billed based on the highest database day rate for that day regardless of downgrades. Changes between Web and Business are excluded from this limit.<\/p>\n
How does the billing approach within the new service tiers improve a customer\u2019s bill?<\/b><\/p>\n
With Basic, Standard and Premium, you are billed based on a predictable daily rate which you choose. Additionally, performance levels (eg. Basic, S1, and P2) are broken out in the bill to make it easier to see the number of database days you incurred in a single month for each performance level.<\/p>\n
What pricing (or cost) benefits are realized using the new service tiers?<\/strong><\/p>\nBased on early conversations with customers, we have found these common scenarios where the new service tiers remove costly workarounds and streamline the overall experience:<\/p>\n
Backups workaround via import\/export<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n\nScenario: Customer uses DB Copy & export to create database copies as backups which incurs additional database cost.<\/li>\n Solution: Restore removes the need for the customer to carry the extra DB cost which can cut their database count by up to 50%, leaving headroom to dial-up performance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nDisaster Recovery via Data Sync<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n\nScenario: Customer uses Azure DataSync (in preview) <\/i>to create geo-replicated databases which incurs additional database cost and doesn\u2019t assure transactional consistency after failover.<\/li>\nSolution: Geo-Replication in Standard is built-in and will discount the passive, secondary database by 25% which can save money on the total bill and assures transactional consistency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nLarger databases for less money<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n\nScenario: Today, customers pay $45 and $225 for 10GB and 150GB databases, respectively.<\/li>\n Solution: With Standard S1 costing $40 a month and Standard S2 costing $200 a month, customers gain access to 250GB databases at a flat rate of $40 and $200 with greater performance assurance and business continuity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWhen does the billing rate change as a customer changes the <\/strong>service tier<\/strong> or performance level of a database?<\/strong><\/p>\nAll databases are charged on a daily basis based on the highest service tier and performance level that applied during the day. When changing service tier or performance levels, the new rate applies once the change has completed. For example, if you upgrade a database to Premium at 10:00 pm, and the upgrade completes at 1:00 am on the following day, you will only be charged the Premium rate on the day it completes. If you downgrade a database from Premium at 11:00 am, and it completes at 5:00 pm the same day, the database will be charged at the Premium rate throughout that day and will be charged at the downgraded rate beginning the following day.<\/p>\n
What if a customer\u2019s database is active for less than a day?<\/b><\/p>\n
The minimum granularity of billing is one day. Customers are billed the flat rate for each day the database exists, regardless of usage or if the database is active for less than a day. For example, if you create a database and delete it five minutes later, the bill will reflect a charge for one database day for that database. If a database is deleted and then another one is created with the same name, the bill will reflect a charge for two separate databases on that day.<\/p>\n
If the new service tiers are not priced based on the database size, why is Max Size still supported as a property?<\/b><\/p>\n
While the new service tier prices are based on their performance level, the size of the database is still significant. Some customer scenarios are size-sensitive and require set size limits. For example, some CSVs may place size limits on their customers\u2019 databases.<\/p>\n
In addition, while each service tier has a maximum possible size (eg. Standard supports up to 250 GB), customers should be aware that for certain workloads, there will be a correlation between the size of the database and the throughput achieved at any given performance level. This will be noticed particularly with operations that act on the entire database, such as import, export, or copy. Customers should not assume that because a service tier allows a specific max size that their workloads will necessarily perform satisfactorily at that size. Customers should evaluate the effect of database size on the performance of a database and may need to upgrade to a higher performance level as the database grows before reaching size limits of a service tier.<\/p>\n
What is the Service Level Agreement (SLA) for the Basic, Standard, and Premium databases?<\/b><\/p>\n
Microsoft does not provide any SLA for SQL Database Basic, Standard, or Premium during preview. At the time of general availability (GA), Basic, Standard, and Premium will have a 99.95% SLA.<\/p>\n
When will Basic, Standard and Premium become Generally Available (GA)?<\/b><\/p>\n
Microsoft has not disclosed the General Availability date for Basic, Standard, and Premium service tiers. Customers in the previews will receive notice via email at least 30 days prior to GA pricing taking effect.<\/p>\n
How will customers engage support for these new offers during the preview?<\/b><\/p>\n
All customers participating in the preview will have access to an MSDN public forum. Furthermore, we are introducing a policy that Azure SQL Database public previews will receive GA-level CSS support. Customers with Microsoft Azure paid support and\/or Premium Support hours can access Customer Support for questions and incidents relating to SQL Database Basic, Standard, or Premium databases.<\/p>\n
Where can I learn more?<\/b><\/p>\n
SQL Database pricing page<\/a><\/p>\nChoosing an Azure SQL Database Edition<\/a><\/p>\nManage Azure SQL Database Editions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this month, we celebrated the launch of Microsoft SQL Server 2014, announced that the Analytics Platform System is generally available, and shared a preview of the Intelligent Systems Service. Quentin Clark summarized his keynote speech at the Accelerate Your Insights event in a blog post entitled, \u201cThe data platform for a new era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","footnotes":""},"post_tag":[],"product":[5226,2391],"content-type":[2448],"topic":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","product-azure","product-azure-sql-database","content-type-updates","review-flag-1593580427-503","review-flag-1593580414-58","review-flag-1593580410-819","review-flag-1593580770-633","review-flag-1-1593580431-15","review-flag-2-1593580436-981","review-flag-3-1593580441-293","review-flag-4-1593580446-456","review-flag-5-1593580452-31","review-flag-6-1593580457-144","review-flag-7-1593580462-294","review-flag-9-1593580472-173","review-flag-alway-1593580309-407","review-flag-and-o-1593580423-560","review-flag-disco-1593580331-102","review-flag-ga-1593580755-860","review-flag-gener-1593580750-651","review-flag-new-1593580247-437"],"yoast_head":"\n
Azure SQL Database: New Service Tiers Q&A - Microsoft SQL Server Blog<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n