With the July updates to Windows Azure, some great enhancements have been made to SQL Database. I already talked about one of the great features, “Automated SQL Export.” So now I’ll let you know about another great feature, “Premium Databases.” Since the “Premium” feature is a preview feature you will need to specifically sign up for it and be accepted. You can also request for access from the management portal under your SQL Database server.
SQL Database has seen a lot of improvements over the years and it is only getting better in my opinion. With the new premium feature you are able to increase performance for your business-critical systems. SQL Database has always had some automatic features, including: high-availability, load balancing, and built-in management. Now with the premium offering you are able to use reserved capacity for performance gains on specific databases. You won’t have to wait for Windows Azure to see your database needs to be scaled up. The most common use cases for the premium features are: high peak load, many concurrent requests, and low latency. If you are going to use this feature there are several ways to manage it (management portal, PowerShell, and in some cases T-SQL). There is a great whitepaper on guidance from the Customer Advisory Team as well. The whitepaper will discuss several reasons why you would need to use the premium feature.
By the way, if you need a Windows Azure subscription, here is the link for a free trial.
