Can Azure SQL Database be set to auto scale up?

David Thielen 2,506 Reputation points
2024-04-01T11:33:50.74+00:00

Hi all;

Once I take my system live, I have the SQL Database set to Standard, 10 DTUs, 2GB. Is there a way I can have it scale up/down as needed depending on demand?

My application at first should be hitting the database with 0 - 100 queries/minute. With a single web page display causing up to 12 queries (the dashboard page and Entity Framework using split queries).

As time goes on, hopefully, this will increase. But even at the busiest, it'll be minimal in the middle of the night and it will likely have times of day and days of the week that are busier. There should not be giant spikes though. Aside from the system's hourly (minimal) and nightly (a bit more) processing, it's all users hitting web pages, at random times, for random use.

So, what can I do for auto-scaling up/down?

thanks - dave

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  1. TP 82,656 Reputation points
    2024-04-01T12:21:28.2833333+00:00

    Hi Dave,

    For Standard tier, currently there is no built-in mechanism to scale up/down automatically. You could set up an alert that triggers a script to scale up. Below is article that describes this method:

    How-to auto-scale Azure SQL Databases

    https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-database-support-blog/how-to-auto-scale-azure-sql-databases/ba-p/2235441

    For Serverless tier, you can set min/max number of vCores and it will scale based on demand. Please note that your workload needs to be appropriate for serverless tier. Serverless is mainly for intermittent use cases whereby you are okay with the database auto-pausing after inactivity and then there being a delay (about a minute) next time you connect to it.

    The other thing is cost--if your Serverless database will spend too much time being Online vs Paused then it will wind up costing more than if you had provisioned tier that is Online 24x7. Article below describes Serverless tier in more detail as well as mentions the autoscaling:

    Serverless compute tier for Azure SQL Database

    https://video2.skills-academy.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/serverless-tier-overview

    In my experience only a relatively small number of applications are suitable for serverless, but you should run the numbers for yourself. If you need help calculating potential cost of serverless let me know and I can help.-TP

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