Once again I would like to share with you an article I wrote about backing up (and restoring) a SQL Server database to Azure Blob Storage. In this article I write about some important concepts and show you the code needed to do this. This includes all the lovely components such as SQL Server credentials, secrets and SAS etc.
I wrote a guest article for an IT consultancy on Azure SQL Database, more specifically DTUs and vCore options. At a high level I discuss what both options are, the differences and what you should select. Hopefully you will find it useful. Please see the link below:
Sometimes I like to see and know what SQL server is doing under certain operations and recently I wrote an extended events script to see what sort of I/O patterns my query was doing (This is a fun post). The important event here is sqlserver.file_read_completed.
I clear cache and let the fun begin.
I would like to share a link to my Azure SQL Database Stairway series hosted over at SQLServerCentral.
As stated on the website a stairway guide is a series focused on a single topic and is arranged into no more than a dozen easily-navigable tutorials that we call ‘steps’. Each step is the length of a typical magazine tutorial, and emphasizes practical, hands-on learning, with just enough background theory to help you understand the topic.
If you decide to use IP addresses to control what services have access to your Azure SQL Database, then understanding firewall rules are important. Within this important area you have the ability to create firewall rules that are scoped to the database or server level as shown below.
When learning new technologies many people will go towards training courses (in person or online) but many also go for certifications such as MCSA / MCSE, which I no longer pursue for many reasons.
Microsoft now have this idea of Professional Programs (https://academy.microsoft.com/en-us/professional-program/) with the aim of gaining technical job-ready skills and get real-world experience through online courses, hands-on labs, and expert instruction within a 3 month class period. They offer:
This is kind of a follow up from my last blog post about a scale down request issue. (https://blobeater.blog/2018/11/07/azure-sql-database-aborting-scale-request/) I was confused, so confused that I ended up logging a support request with Microsoft. The issue was I wanted to scale down a database from S1 to Basic however it would take hours for a 1GB database. Obviously something was up, but what?
Scaling up or down an Azure SQL Database is a very common task. Whilst common it is also very easy to do via the Azure portal or even PowerShell. When you scale a database please be aware that it creates a replica of the original database at the new performance level and then switches connections over to the replica but what do you do if you want to cancel the scale request?
One of the features Microsoft wants us to use for Azure SQL Database is Automatic Tuning. Automatic Tuning is a feature where you can think of it as entering the world of self-running and self-tuning databases.
It is said to be safe, reliable and proven using complex algorithms and built-in intelligence where it can do the following (see this link for more details: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sql-database/sql-database-automatic-tuning)
I have finally uploaded my Azure SQL Database presentation, apologies for the delay. I am already working on an improved version which I will be delivering next year. Here is the abstract:
Azure SQL Database is a general-purpose relational database service in Microsoft Azure. With Microsoft’s cloud-first strategy, the newest capabilities of SQL Server are released first to Azure SQL Database and then to SQL Server itself. During this entry level presentation you will get to see the differences in security, high availability, performance, and monitoring of this cloud-first solution. You will also learn about the different service tiers and performance levels that are specific to Azure SQL Database and learn about the different methods that you could use to migrate to Azure.
Link to the PowerPoint – https://blobeater.blog/presentations/
