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Difficulty: MediumRelational Data Storage Solutions

An organization is designing the deployment of a new transaction processing system. The database is projected to grow to 55 TB within the first year. The operations team requires that database backups and restores complete in less than 10 minutes, regardless of the size of the database. The solution must minimize administrative effort. Which Azure SQL option should you recommend?

  1. Azure SQL Database HyperscaleAnswer
  2. B
    Azure SQL Database Business Critical
  3. C
    Azure SQL Database General Purpose
  4. D
    SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines

Answer

Azure SQL Database Hyperscale
Azure SQL Database Hyperscale is a cloud-native PaaS solution that supports database sizes up to 100 TB. Its unique storage architecture separates compute from storage and utilizes page servers to perform rapid, file-snapshot-based backups and restores that complete in minutes, independent of the database size. This meets both the 55 TB size requirement, the strict recovery time targets, and the managed service requirement.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the capacity requirement of 55 TB and identify which relational offerings support this scale.
Only Hyperscale (up to 100 TB) and SQL Server on Azure VMs (up to storage limit) support a 55 TB single database. The General Purpose and Business Critical tiers of Azure SQL Database are limited to 4 TB or 16 TB.
Eliminates General Purpose and Business Critical tiers based on database size constraints.
2
Evaluate the backup and restore performance requirement of under 10 minutes for a 55 TB database.
Hyperscale uses a multi-tier storage architecture with page servers, allowing file-snapshot backups that complete in minutes regardless of data volume. Traditional SQL Server backup/restore methods on VMs would scale with the data size and require extensive custom engineering to meet this time threshold.
Identifies the unique architectural feature of Hyperscale that satisfies the time-constrained RTO/RPO.
3
Compare administrative overhead between the remaining options.
Azure SQL Database Hyperscale is a fully managed PaaS solution, whereas SQL Server on Azure VMs requires the organization to manage the OS, database engine patching, and infrastructure maintenance.
Confirms that Hyperscale satisfies the requirement to minimize administrative effort.

Key Concept

Azure SQL Database Hyperscale features and limits
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Topics

Relational Data Storage Solutions

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