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Azure SQL Database vs SQL Managed Instance - Hands-On Comparison

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Azure SQL Database vs SQL Managed Instance

📖 Scenario: You are working as a cloud engineer for a company that wants to move its database workloads to Azure. The company needs to understand the differences between Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance to choose the right service for their needs.

🎯 Goal: Build a simple comparison setup in Azure that shows the basic configuration of an Azure SQL Database and a SQL Managed Instance. This will help the company see how each service is created and configured.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an Azure SQL Database resource with a specific name and configuration

Create an Azure SQL Managed Instance resource with a specific name and configuration

Add configuration variables for performance tier and storage size

Apply tags to both resources for environment and project identification

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Companies moving databases to Azure need to choose between Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance based on their workload requirements. This project shows how to set up both services.

💼 Career

Cloud engineers and database administrators use these skills to deploy and manage Azure database services securely and efficiently.

Progress0 / 4 steps

Create Azure SQL Database resource

Create an Azure SQL Database resource named mySqlDatabase with the server name mySqlServer and the edition set to Basic.

Azure

# Your code here to create Azure SQL Database resource named mySqlDatabase

Hint

Start by defining an azurerm_sql_server resource with the name mySqlServer. Then create an azurerm_sql_database resource named mySqlDatabase that uses this server and sets the edition to Basic.

Add configuration variables for performance and storage

Add two variables: performance_tier set to GeneralPurpose and storage_size_gb set to 32. These will be used to configure the SQL Managed Instance.

Azure

resource "azurerm_sql_server" "mySqlServer" {
  name                         = "mySqlServer"
  resource_group_name          = "myResourceGroup"
  location                     = "eastus"
  version                      = "12.0"
  administrator_login          = "sqladmin"
  administrator_login_password = "P@ssword1234"
}

resource "azurerm_sql_database" "mySqlDatabase" {
  name                = "mySqlDatabase"
  resource_group_name = "myResourceGroup"
  location            = azurerm_sql_server.mySqlServer.location
  server_name         = azurerm_sql_server.mySqlServer.name
  edition             = "Basic"
}

# Define variables for performance tier and storage size

Hint

Use variable blocks to define performance_tier and storage_size_gb with the specified default values.

Create Azure SQL Managed Instance resource

Create an Azure SQL Managed Instance resource named mySqlManagedInstance using the variables performance_tier and storage_size_gb for its configuration. Set the resource group to myResourceGroup and location to eastus.

Azure

variable "performance_tier" {
  type    = string
  default = "GeneralPurpose"
}

variable "storage_size_gb" {
  type    = number
  default = 32
}

# Create Azure SQL Managed Instance resource named mySqlManagedInstance

Hint

Create an azurerm_sql_managed_instance resource named mySqlManagedInstance. Use the variables performance_tier and storage_size_gb for the SKU and storage size. Use a placeholder subnet ID for now.

Add tags to both resources

Add tags to both mySqlDatabase and mySqlManagedInstance resources. Use the tags environment = "dev" and project = "database-migration".

Azure

resource "azurerm_sql_database" "mySqlDatabase" {
  name                = "mySqlDatabase"
  resource_group_name = "myResourceGroup"
  location            = azurerm_sql_server.mySqlServer.location
  server_name         = azurerm_sql_server.mySqlServer.name
  edition             = "Basic"

  # Add tags here
}

resource "azurerm_sql_managed_instance" "mySqlManagedInstance" {
  name                         = "mySqlManagedInstance"
  resource_group_name          = "myResourceGroup"
  location                     = "eastus"
  administrator_login          = "miadmin"
  administrator_login_password = "P@ssword1234"
  sku_name                     = var.performance_tier
  storage_size_in_gb           = var.storage_size_gb
  subnet_id                    = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/myVnet/subnets/mySubnet"

  # Add tags here
}

Hint

Add a tags block inside both resource definitions with the keys environment and project set to the specified values.

Practice

(1/5)

1. Which Azure service provides a fully managed single database with simple setup and maintenance?

easy

A. Azure Cosmos DB

B. SQL Managed Instance

C. Azure Blob Storage

D. Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Database vs SQL Managed Instance - Hands-On Comparison

Start learning this pattern below

Practice

Solution

Step 1: Understand service purpose

Step 2: Compare with other options

Final Answer:

Quick Check:

Solution

Step 1: Identify SQL Managed Instance features

Step 2: Eliminate incorrect options

Final Answer:

Quick Check:

Solution

Step 1: Check feature support

Step 2: Match application needs

Final Answer:

Quick Check:

Solution

Step 1: Understand cross-database query support

Step 2: Compare with SQL Managed Instance

Final Answer:

Quick Check:

Solution

Step 1: Identify required SQL Server features

Step 2: Match features to Azure services

Final Answer:

Quick Check: