Author : MD TAREQ HASSAN | Updated : 2021/01/25
Feature comparison
| Feature | Azure SQL Database | Azure SQL Managed Instance |
|---|---|---|
| Collation | No (default server collation SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS is always used) |
Yes (can be set when the instance is created and can’t be updated later) |
| Time zone choice | No | Yes (and it must be configured when the SQL Managed Instance is created) |
| SQL Data Sync | Yes | No |
| Auto-scale | Yes | No |
| Availability Zones | Yes | No |
| Hyperscale architecture | Yes | No |
| Pause/resume | Yes | No |
| Automatic tuning (indexes) | Yes | No |
| VNet Service endpoint | Yes | No |
More details: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/features-comparison
Limitations
| Feature | Azure SQL Database | Azure SQL Managed Instance | Solution |
|---|---|---|---|
| SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) | No | No | Azure Analysis Services |
| SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) | No | No | Power BI |
| Windows authentication | No | No | SQL Server Authentication |
More details: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/features-comparison#platform-capabilities
Choosing the right deployment
| Purpose | Azure SQL Database | Azure SQL Database - Elastic pool | Azure SQL Managed Instance | Azure SQL Managed Instance - Instance pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syncing on-premise database to Azure | Use | X | X | X |
| Managed Single SQL Database | Use | X | X | X |
| Multi-tenancy in a single app | X | Use | X | X |
| 100% compatibility with SQL server engine | X | X | Use | X |
| Fully managed SQL Server in the cloud | X | X | Use | X |
| Fully managed SQL Server with scaling | X | X | X | Use |