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SQL Server Stretch Database pricing

Dynamically stretch on-premises SQL Server databases to Azure

With SQL Server Stretch Database, you can dynamically stretch warm and cold transactional data from Microsoft SQL Server to Azure. Unlike typical cold data management solutions, with Stretch Database your data is always at hand. Stretch Database lets you provide longer retention times for large amounts of data without scaling up enterprise storage. Depending on your performance requirements, choose a performance level, then scale up or down as needed.

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Prices are estimates only and are not intended as actual price quotes. Actual pricing may vary depending on the type of agreement entered with Microsoft, date of purchase, and the currency exchange rate. Prices are calculated based on US dollars and converted using London closing spot rates that are captured in the two business days prior to the last business day of the previous month end. If the two business days prior to the end of the month fall on a bank holiday in major markets, the rate setting day is generally the day immediately preceding the two business days. This rate applies to all transactions during the upcoming month. Sign in to the Azure pricing calculator to see pricing based on your current program/offer with Microsoft. Contact an Azure sales specialist for more information on pricing or to request a price quote. See frequently asked questions about Azure pricing.

Stretch Database bills Compute and Storage separately. Compute usage is represented with Database Stretch Unit (DSU) and customers can scale up and down the level of performance/DSUs they need at any time.

Compute

Performance Level (DSU) Price
100 $-
200 $-
300 $-
400 $-
500 $-
600 $-
1000 $-
1200 $-
1500 $-
2000 $-

Database sizes are limited to 240 TB.

Monthly price estimates are based on 730 hours per month at constant DSU level.

Outbound Data Transfer Rate

Outbound data transfers are charged at regular data transfer rates.

Data Storage and Snapshots

Data storage is charged based at $-/GB/month. Data storage includes the size of your Stretch DB and backup snapshots. All Stretch databases have 7 days of incremental backup snapshots.

Note: Storage transactions are not billed. You only pay for stored data and not storage transactions.

Geo-Backup

You can also choose to make a geo-redundant copy of your Stretch database for disaster recovery. Storage for geo-redundant copies is billed at Azure Standard Disk RA-GRS rates of $-/GB/month.

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Additional resources

SQL Server Stretch Database

Learn more about SQL Server Stretch Database features and capabilities.

Pricing calculator

Estimate your expected monthly costs for using any combination of Azure products.

SLA

Review the Service Level Agreement for SQL Server Stretch Database.

Documentation

Review technical tutorials, videos, and more SQL Server Stretch Database resources.

  • Stretch Database is a feature of SQL Server 2016. It is available on all editions of SQL Server 2016. To learn more about Stretch Database, see SQL Server 2016 Stretch Database overview.

  • You can adjust the performance level of your Stretch Database. Changing performance levels takes a matter of minutes and your databases are online and available during the change.
  • A SQL Stretch Database Stretch Unit (DSU) represents the power of the query and is quantified by workload objectives: how fast rows are written, read and computed against. This measure helps customers assess the relative amount of performance needed for their workload.

  • Your bill will be comprised of a predictable monthly fee for storage, plus a variable fee for compute. Compute can vary by month, depending on quantity of compute resources (DSUs) consumed. Storage and compute are broken out separately on your bill to make it easier to see the level of compute resources consumed.

  • You are billed for each hour the Stretch database exists, regardless of activity or if the database exists for less than an hour. For example, if you create a Stretch Database and delete it 5 minutes later your bill will reflect a charge for 1 database hour of compute, plus the storage used for that database. If you delete a database and then create another with the same name, your bill will reflect a charge for two separate databases (compute and storage charges) within that hour.

  • DSUs will be charged on an hourly basis at the highest level of performance that applied during the hour. If you create a Stretch Database with 100 DSU and then immediately scale it up to 400 DSU, you will be charged at the 400 DSU compute rate for the first hour.

  • You can adjust the performance level of your Stretch Database. Changing performance levels takes a matter of minutes and your databases are online and available during the change.

  • You can stretch up to 240TB of data with Stretch Database.

  • You can move your data back to the on-premises environment at any time. If you decide to unsubscribe from Stretch Database, you must move data back on premises via un-stretching or export to a storage service in order to retain access to the data. Note: egress charges apply for data moving out of Azure. For more information on un-stretch or exporting data, please see the SQL Server 2016 Stretch Database documentation.

  • You will consume approximately the same amount of storage in Stretch Database as you currently do in SQL Server as the data originally stored in SQL Server is moved to Stretch Database.

  • Stretch Database currently does not support stretching to another SQL Server. You cannot stretch a SQL Server database to another SQL Server database. If you would like to stretch your SQL Server database/table into another SQL Server instead of Stretch Database, please provide detailed feedback here.

  • Direct upgrade is not supported. If you need to retain data already stretched to Azure, you will need to first un-migrate the data from Azure to your SQL Server database. Upon completion, you can upgrade and re-stretch to the new Stretch Database service. Please note that un-migrating data from Azure will incur data egress charges. If you are on RC1 or later, you may upgrade to a newer version using any existing upgrade methods supported by SQL Server.

  • You will need to first un-migrate the data from Azure back to your SQL Server database. Upon completion, you can upgrade and re-stretch to the new Stretch Database service. Please note that un-migrating data from Azure will incur data egress charges.

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