I have a "pay as you go" Azure subscription. I am trying to keep costs down.... Do I need the resource "SQL Server" when using the SQL database resource? As I read all the supporting documents SQL Server will be used on Azure VMs to extend on-premises SQL Server. I am not doing this, I am hosting a web application on the Cloud services (Classic) resource that is connecting to the Azure SQL database.
Thanks for the help!
Azure SQL Database gives you most of the functionalities of a "Standard" SQL Server database and is (in most cases) the choise with the lower costs.
It also provides you a set of additional functionalities (some of them needs to be enabled first or are part of the higher service tiers) like an out of the box 3-node failover cluster, geo-redundancy, automated backups, etc.
If you need additional SQL Server features like SQL Server Analysis Services, which are not part of Azure SQL DB or aren't provided as another Azure service, you need to create a Virtual Maschine with a real SQL Server installed.
The "SQL Server", which is hosting your Azure SQL DB, is just a wrapper and provides you only minimal features like user and role management or your firewall settings.
If your application is connecting only to Azure SQL database and using its features, you don't need SQL Server license. You just need to have the Azure subscription and pay for the SQL database(s) that you are using. However when you create an Azure SQL database, it will prompt you to create a "Server" resource which acts as a logical group for all of your SQL databases that you create within that "server". This server is NOT charged separately and just provides a logical grouping as well as a common connection point for your SQL databases. Your billing is always based on the SQL Database(s) that you create and use.
hope this helps.
Srini Acharya
