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What is Azure SQL Database?

Azure SQL Database is a relational database-as-a-service (DBaaS) based on the latest stable version of Microsoft SQL Server. It offers high‑availability, automated backups, and built‑in security.

• Automatic patching and upgrades
• Dynamic scaling with no downtime
• Advanced threat protection
• Intelligent performance tuning

Key Features

• Elastic Pools – Share resources across multiple databases.
• Serverless – Auto‑pause during inactivity, pay per compute.
• Hyperscale – Up to 100 TB storage and rapid scaling.
• Geo‑Replication – Active‑geo replicas for high availability.

Pricing Tiers

Choose a tier that fits your workload. Prices are billed per DTU or vCore usage.

Tier	Compute	Storage	Price (per month)
Basic	5 DTUs	2 GB	$5
Standard	100 DTUs	250 GB	$30
Premium	500 DTUs	1 TB	$150

See the official pricing page for detailed regional rates.

Quickstart: Create a Database with Azure CLI

az sql server create \\
    --name myserver \\
    --resource-group MyResourceGroup \\
    --location eastus \\
    --admin-user adminuser \\
    --admin-password MyP@ssw0rd

az sql db create \\
    --resource-group MyResourceGroup \\
    --server myserver \\
    --name mydatabase \\
    --service-objective S0

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Connect using .NET

using System;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var connString = "Server=tcp:myserver.database.windows.net,1433;Initial Catalog=mydatabase;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=adminuser;Password=MyP@ssw0rd;MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=False;Connection Timeout=30;";
        using var conn = new SqlConnection(connString);
        conn.Open();
        Console.WriteLine("Connected!");
    }
}

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