Customers with qualifying subscription types* can now try the new serverless SQL pool and Apache Spark pool resources in Azure Synapse Analytics using free quantities until March 31, 2022. Sign-in to your Azure Synapse Analytics account to get started.
Serverless SQL pool
Customers can enjoy up to 1 TB of free queries per month using the serverless SQL pool resource until March 31, 2022.
| Free quantity | |
| Serverless | *1 TB of free queries per month until March 31, 2022 |
The new flexible service model for query processing in Azure Synapse Analytics allows data teams to use both serverless and dedicated options. Organizations can now choose the most cost-effective option for each use case—enjoying the advantages of a data lake for quick data exploration with pay-per-query pricing and or a dedicated data warehouse for more predictable and mission-critical workloads.
A serverless SQL pool is serverless, so there’s no infrastructure to set up or clusters to maintain. A default endpoint for this service is provided within every Azure Synapse Analytics workspace, so customers can start querying data as soon as the workspace is created. Read about how to quickly get started with data lake exploration using the serverless SQL pool in Azure Synapse Analytics in the recent blog.
For a step-by-step guide on using these free quantities for ad-hoc data analysis and data lake exploration, register for the free hands-on training series. Episode 4 of this series, focused on serverless data lake exploration, provides a 60-minute walkthrough on how to use the serverless SQL pool for your first analytics project in Azure Synapse. This episode is now available on-demand.
Apache Spark pool
Customers can enjoy up to 120 free vCore-hours per month using the Apache Spark pool resource until March 31, 2022.
| Free quantity | |
| Memory optimized | *120 free vCore-hours per month until March 31, 2022 |
Recently, Azure Synapse Analytics has made significant investments in the query optimization and execution performance for Apache Spark workloads—including the capability to auto-scale Spark clusters up and down on-demand. As Azure Synapse Analytics brings the worlds of data warehousing, big data, and data integration into a single unified analytics platform—we continue to invest in improving performance for customers that choose Azure Synapse Analytics for multiple types of analytical workloads, including big data workloads.
Read about how to quickly get started with Apache Spark in Azure Synapse Analytics in the recent blog.
For a step-by-step guide on using these free quantities for big data processing and Apache Spark workloads, register for the free hands-on training series. Episode 3 of this series, focused on big data analytics, provides a 60-minute walkthrough on how to create and optimize a Spark pool with auto-scaling and query optimization capabilities. This episode is now available on-demand.
What subscriptions qualify for these free quantities?
*Free quantities apply only to the following subscription types: Pay-as-you-go, Microsoft Azure Enterprise, Microsoft Azure Plan, Azure in CSP, or Enterprise Dev or Test. These included free quantities aggregate at the enrollment level for enterprise agreements and at the subscription level for pay-as-you-go subscriptions.
How do I activate these free quantities?
If you have one of the qualifying subscription types listed above, confirm that that Synapse workspace you are using is indeed linked to that qualifying subscription. There is no need to activate the free quantities anywhere in the Azure portal or your Synapse workspace as they will automatically apply to your usage if you qualify.
Next steps
- Sign-in to your Azure Synapse Analytics account to take advantage of these new free quantities.
- If you haven’t created one already, follow these steps to create a Synapse workspace.