SQL Server as a Cloud Service April 15th 2016 Warner Chaves Data Platform MVP/SQL Server MCM

Bio 10 years as a SQL DBA. Previously an L3 DBA at HP in Costa Rica, now a consultant at Pythian out of Ottawa, Ontario. SQL Server MCM/ Microsoft Data Platform MVP Blog: SQLTurbo.com Company site: Pythian.com 2

Agenda Objective: introduce the concept of SQL as a cloud service and the main providers. Providers I’ll go through: 1.Microsoft Azure SQL Database. 2.Amazon RDS for SQL Server. 3

Fundamental Concepts Public cloud provider. DbaaS (Database as a Service). AKA: PaaS (Platform as a service). Not the same as running SQL on a VM (Infrastructure as a Service). 4

Database as a service (DbaaS) Provider: from the engine down. User/DBA: from the engine up. Common service aspects: High Availability. “On-demand” scalability. Backups. Other pluses depending on the provider. 5

Microsoft Azure SQL Database 6

Service Cost No explicit licensing cost. Existing SQL licenses can not be repurposed. It’s billed by the hour based on service level and model. Storage, compute and backup are baked in to the price. 7

Security There is a server level firewall and database level firewall rules. SQL Logins and Azure AD authentication supported. This allows Windows Authentication when mixed with Windows Server Active Directory. Endpoints are open on the internet, no Virtual Network support yet (it’s coming). 8

Security New security features in parity with the upcoming SQL 2016 release: Dynamic Data Masking. Row Level Security. Always Encrypted. Also cloud only features: Automatic threat detection. 9

Configurations Basic – 2GB Max – 5 DTUs Standard – S0 – S3 – 250 GB Max – 10 a 100 DTUs Premium – P1 – P6 – 500 GB Max – 125 a 1000 DTUs Premium P11 – 1 TB Max – 1750 DTUs 10

DTU? Database Transaction Unit. Blended measure of CPU + memory + storage + concurrency. Used as a comparison point. Example: 100 queries on Basic (5 DTUs) take 10 minutes. 100 queries on Standard 3 (100 DTUs) take 30 seconds. A factor of 20x (5x20=100). 11

Services in the platform Scale up by changing service level (includes the DTU change). Backups with point-in-time restore (retention depending on service). Two types of HA: standard and active. System manages version and deploys new features. TDE (Total Database Encryption) and auditing on all levels. Other Enterprise features like In-Memory and columnstores are also available on all tiers. 12

Service Models Individual db model in the configs described. ‘Elastic db pool’ model can group multiple dbs. Pools in 3 levels: Basic, Standard, Premium. The goal of pools is to provide a better cost/performance ration when dealing with many dbs. 13

Elastic database tools A differentiator from other providers. It’s a stack of tools specific for scale out database tiers:.NET library for easier app coding against a set of databases. Elastic pools for easier resource management. Elastic database queries for querying sets of dbs. Elastic database jobs to run jobs. Distributed db transactions in preview now. 14

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Main Service Limitations Linked servers: link IN only, elastic query out. Replication: subscriber only..NET CLR: it was only ‘safe’ assemblies, removed now. SSRS – SSIS – SSAS are not part of the service. Other instance level tools are not available: Service Broker, Database Mail, Log shipping, etc. 16

DEMO Portal – Azure SQL Database and pools 17

Amazon RDS for SQL Server 18

Service Cost A SQL Server license is required. You can pay ‘as-you-go’ and Amazon provides the license. You can use license mobility if your agreement with MS gives you those rights. There are Express – Web – Standard – Enterprise editions depending on the version. You pay for compute + storage + backups. 19

Security There is a server level firewall. SQL Logins and Windows Authentication method supported (you need to be running a Windows Server AD at Amazon). Endpoints can be restricted to only be accessible for objects in a specific virtual network. Security features limited to the specific SQL version you’re running. 20

Configurations The license is SEPARATE to the config choices. Instance choices are the same as a VM on AWS. Some common ones: M4 (general config) R3 (memory-optimized – more RAM) T2 (burst instance – very small dbs) 21

Storage Choices RDS offers three types of storage: General Storage – SSD – 3 IOPS / GB – bursting to 3000 IOPS. Provisioned Storage – SSD – 300 IOPS/GB up to amount reserved (20000 IOPS max). Magnetic – normal magnetic HDD, no performance reservation. 22

Services in the Platform Instance scale-up (CPU and Memory only). Backups with configurable retention (35 days max). Patches (depending on what Amazon provides). Version Upgrade (depending on Amazon). High availability through Database Mirroring. TDE (Total Database Encryption) if you’re licensed for it. 23

Main Service Limitations Storage CANNOT be changed. 30 dbs max per instance. SQL 2008 R2, 2012, 2014 (up to Standard) on specific versions. No distributed transactions to another SQL Server. Linked servers: link IN, not out. Replication: not officially supported (subscriber works with a few tweaks)..NET CLR: only ‘safe’ assemblies. SSRS – SSIS – SSAS are not part of the service. Other instance features not available: Service Broker, Maintenance Plans, Db Mail, etc. 24

DEMO Portal – Amazon RDS for SQL Server and SQL config method. 25

Migration criteria -Many cross database dependencies. -Database is stable and won’t grow unpredictably. -Does not need anything 2014 Enterprise. -Prefer a setup that mimics the ‘box’ product closely. -New application built or hosted on the cloud. -Elastic scale out capabilities might be needed. -Want to have access to the latest features. -Are OK with the platform oriented approach as opposed to a more similar ‘box’ approach. Amazon RDSAzure SQL Database 26

Q/A 27

Thank you! 28