Azure Database Administrator

Recently I found out that I passed the BETA exam for Azure Database Administrator Associate qualification. I wanted to share with you my thoughts on the exam and if you would like to take the test, how best to prepare. Candidate profile for this exam is as follows:

“Candidates for this exam are database administrators and data management specialists that manage on-premises and cloud relational databases built on top of Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Azure data services.”

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Azure SQL Database – Maxdop Updated

About 1.5 years I wrote about MAXDOP setting within Azure SQL DB, more specifically the fact that the default setting being 0.

(https://blobeater.blog/2018/09/12/maxdop-and-azure-sql-db/)

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Azure SQL Database SLA

Can you improve on the baseline (service level agreement) SLA of 99.99 % for Azure SQL Database? How can you get 99.995% as shown below, from official Microsoft documentation?

(source: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/understanding-and-leveraging-azure-sql-database-sla/)
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SQL Server Stretch DB to Azure

Since SQL Server 2016 we could leverage Microsoft Azure to dynamically move “cold” portions of data away from on-premises storage for longer retention time periods. Whilst in theory being a great idea the cost was a blocker for some and with a cumbersome setup process. SQL Server 2019 addresses this by making the costs of storing the data in the cloud more competitive and making the setup more streamlined with the use of the Data Migration Assistant (DMA) tool and SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio).

Note: DMA tool replaces the older Upgrade Advisor tool. To install DMA please see the following link https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/dma/dma-overview?view=sql-server-ver15.

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