Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Azure SQL News Update: April 2022

Today Data Exposed goes live at 9AM PT on LearnTV. Every 4 weeks, we’ll do a News Update. We’ll include product updates, videos, blogs, etc. as well as upcoming events and things to look out for. If you missed the episode, you can find them all at https://aka.ms/AzureSQLYT.

 

You can read this blog to get all the updates and references mentioned in the show. Here’s the April 2022 update:

 

Product updates

Last month, we covered the updates in February plus some from March that we announced at SQLBits. There were quite a few exciting ones, so if you missed it, you should check it out.

 

In mid-March, we announced a couple exciting things for Azure SQL Managed Instance in preview, including link feature which enables real-time database replication between SQL Server and Azure SQL Managed Instance, advanced maintenance notifications, and Service Broker messaging exchange with SQL Servers anywhere. For Azure SQL Database, we announced the ability to do import and export with private endpoints (highly requested feature!).

 

Just last week, we enabled Windows Authentication for Azure SQL Managed Instance AAD Principals in public preview. Windows Authentication for managed instances empowers customers to move existing services to the cloud while maintaining a seamless user experience and provides the basis for infrastructure modernization.

 

Last week we also announced in public preview the ability to monitor database restore progress at a more granular level in Azure SQL Database. In the preview, you can use a DMV to get actual percentage progress, continuous from 0 to 100. Abhiman Tiwari came on to tell us about the new mssql-django driver and how it works with Azure SQL Database. More in the blog.

 

Yesterday, we announced a new DMV that will help you troubleshoot out of memory errors in your database (Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server). More details can be found in the announcement blog.

 

Last but certainly not least, we announced the Azure SQL migration extension in Azure Data Studio with support for Azure PowerShell and CLI. This means that you can use Azure Data Studio, Azure PowerShell (Az.DataMigration), or Azure CLI comments (az datamigration) to assess and receive intelligent sizing recommendations, plus scripting and automation for migrating at scale.

 

Other database updates

Starting in 2022 we’re trying to keep you updated on what’s going on with other database services at Microsoft, as we understand that oftentimes you’re using more than one service. Here are the updates I gathered from March 2022.

 

Azure Cosmos DB

Azure Database for PostgreSQL

Azure Database for MySQL

General availability: Always Encrypted for Azure Cosmos DB

 

Public preview: Azure Cosmos DB partition key advisor notebook

 

Public preview: Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB partitioning Spark 3.1

 

 

General availability: Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Hyperscale (Citus) now FedRAMP High compliant

 

General availability: Azure Database for PostgreSQL—Hyperscale (Citus) supports PostgreSQL minor versions

 

General availability: New extensions for Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server

 

General availability: Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server—new US government regions

 

General availability: Azure Database for PostgreSQL - Flexible Server supports PostgreSQL minor versions

 

General availability: Azure Database for MySQL—Flexible Server - New US government region

 

Generally available: Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server in two new regions

 

 

 

 

We also had special guest Claire Giordano join us live to tell us more about Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Hyperscale (Citus) including what it is, what’s new, and a special event for PostgreSQL that is coming up. Citus Con: An Event for Postgres is a virtual and free developer event happening on April 12-13, with 38 Postgres and Citus talks delivered across 3 different livestreams, plus a collection of pre-recorded, on-demand talks too. The livestreams each have unique content and are in three different time zones: Americas, APAC, and EMEA. The keynote speakers include Andy Pavlo of Carnegie Mellon University, Magnus Hagander of the Postgres core team, and Umur Cubukcu of the Postgres team at Microsoft, also the former co-founder of Citus Data. Check out the schedule and mark your calendar—and be sure to follow @CitusCon on Twitter, too.

 

Videos

We continued to release new and exciting Azure SQL episodes this month. Here is the list, or you can just see the playlist we created with all the episodes!

 

  • [Hasura]: Instant real-time GraphQL on Azure SQL with Hasura
  • [MVP Edition] Tim Radney: What You Need to Know About Azure VM Sizing
  • Kevin Warren: SQL 911: A DBA’s Guidebook using Notebooks in Azure Data Studio
  • Noelle Li + friends: Exciting New Features in Azure Data Factory

We’ve also had some great Data Exposed Live sessions. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see them all and get notified when we stream. Here are some of the recent live streams.

 

  • Azure SQL March 2022 News Updates – Live from SQLBits!
  • Azure SQL & SQL Server 2022: Intelligent Database Futures
  • Azure SQL News Update: Year in Review
  • Welcome to SQL Server 2022 Live!

 

Blogs

As always, our team is busy writing blogs to share with you all. Blogs contain announcements, tips and tricks, deep dives, and more. Here’s the list I have of SQL-related topics you might want to check out.

 

 

Events

We have several in-person and virtual events coming this Spring. Here are a few to put on your calendar and register for from the Azure Data team:   

 

April 5-7: SQL Server & Azure SQL Conference, Las Vegas, NV
May 2-5: DELL Technologies World, Las Vegas, NV
May 10: Intel Vision, Dallas, TX
May 24-26: Microsoft Build, Virtual
June 6-8: Pure//Accelerate techfest, Virtual
June 13-15: Visual Studio Live!, Austin, TX
June 28-30: HPE Discover, Las Vegas, NV

 

And, if you can’t make it to our events, find new, on-demand Data Exposed episodes released every Thursday at https://aka.ms/dataexposedyt

 

Featured Microsoft Learn Module

Learn with us! This month I highlighted the learning path: Build serverless, full stack applications in Azure (https://aka.ms/AzureModernApps). In the learning path, you’ll learn how to create, build, and deploy modern full stack applications in Azure by using the language of your choice (Python, Node.js, or .NET) and with a frontend. Bits of this learning path have been highlighted before, but in the past month there have been a ton of updates, including using the latest versions of the Azure SQL and Azure Static Web App GitHub Actions, simplification of the code, and upgrade of the .NET code from 3.1 to 6.0. Check it out!

 

Anna’s Pick of the Month

I mentioned SQLBits at the beginning of this blog as having a ton of great announcements. My pick of the month is definitely the keynote from SQLBits. It is a hilarious, demo-heavy, informative piece that I have enjoyed watching several times over! You, too, can be in Bob’s dream!

 

Until next time…

That’s it for now! Be sure to check back next month for the latest updates on LearnTV. We also release new episodes on Thursdays at 9AM PST and new #MVPTuesday episodes on the last Tuesday of every month at 9AM PST at aka.ms/DataExposedyt.

 

Having trouble keeping up? Be sure to follow us on twitter to get the latest updates on everything, @AzureSQL.

 

We hope to see you next time, on Data Exposed :)

--Anna and Marisa

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