What's new in Azure SQL Database?
Applies to: 
Azure SQL Database
This article summarizes the documentation changes associated with new features and improvements in the recent releases of Azure SQL Database. For more information about Azure SQL Database, see What is Azure SQL Database?.
Note
Microsoft Entra ID was previously known as Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).
Preview
The following table lists the features of Azure SQL Database that are currently in preview.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Elastic jobs | Updated with a preview refresh and new capabilities in November 2023, elastic jobs are the SQL Server Agent replacement for Azure SQL Database. Elastic jobs now support Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) authentication, private endpoints, management via REST APIs, Azure Alerts, and new capabilities and user interface in the Azure portal. Job Agents now provide four capacity tiers to scale concurrency for job execution. |
| Elastic queries | The elastic queries feature allows for cross-database queries in Azure SQL Database. |
| Elastic transactions | Elastic transactions allow you to execute transactions distributed among cloud databases in Azure SQL Database. |
| Hyperscale named replica zone redundant support | Zone redundancy support for Hyperscale named replicas is in preview. |
| Microsoft Entra nonunique name support | The CREATE USER Transact-SQL (T-SQL) syntax has been extended to include WITH OBJECT_ID to support creating Microsoft Entra logins and users in Azure SQL Database that have nonunique names. |
| Query editor in the Azure portal | The query editor in the portal allows you to run queries against your Azure SQL Database directly from the Azure portal. |
| SQL Database emulator | The Azure SQL Database emulator provides the ability to locally validate database and query design together with client application code in a simple and frictionless model as part of the application development process. |
General availability (GA)
The following table lists features of Azure SQL Database that have been made generally available (GA) within the last 12 months:
| Feature | GA Month | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance window advance notifications | March 2024 | Advance notifications are now generally available for databases configured to use a nondefault maintenance window. |
| Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions | March 2024 | Azure Functions supports function triggers for Azure SQL Database. |
| Serverless Hyperscale | February 2024 | Automatically scale your Hyperscale databases up and down based on usage when using the serverless compute tier, now generally available. |
| Lower, simplified pricing for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale | December 2023 | Simplified pricing for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale has arrived! For pricing change details, see Azure SQL Database Hyperscale - lower, simplified pricing!. |
Documentation changes
Learn about significant changes to the Azure SQL Database documentation. For previous years, see the What's new archive.
March 2024
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| Advanced notifications for maintenance windows in Azure SQL Database | Advance notifications for maintenance windows are now generally available for Azure SQL Database. |
| Hyperscale named replica zone redundant support preview | Zone redundancy support for Hyperscale named replicas is now available in preview. For more information, see Blog: Zone redundancy for Hyperscale named replicas. |
| Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions GA | Azure Functions supports function triggers for Azure SQL Database. This feature is now generally available. Review Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions to learn more. |
February 2024
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| Serverless Hyperscale GA | Automatically scale your Hyperscale databases up and down based on usage when using the Serverless Hyperscale tier, now generally available. |
| OBJECT_ID T-SQL syntax preview | The CREATE USER Transact-SQL (T-SQL) syntax has been extended to include WITH OBJECT_ID to support creating Microsoft Entra logins and users in Azure SQL Database that have nonunique names. Using WITH OBJECT_ID to create users and logins in Azure SQL Database is currently in preview. To learn more, review Microsoft Entra nonunique name support. |
January 2024
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| New tutorial: Develop a Kubernetes Application for Azure SQL Database | A new tutorial is available to demonstrate how to develop a modern application using Python, Docker Containers, Kubernetes, and Azure SQL Database. |
December 2023
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| Lower, simplified Hyperscale pricing | Simplified pricing for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale has arrived! Review the new pricing tier for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale announcement, and for pricing change details, see Azure SQL Database Hyperscale - lower, simplified pricing!. |
November 2023
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| Use Azure Monitor metrics to monitor databases and elastic pools | A new reference for monitoring Azure SQL Database with Azure Monitor is available, including a set of recommended alert rules to monitor Azure SQL Database with Azure Monitor metrics and alerts. |
| Elastic jobs preview | Updated with a preview refresh and new capabilities, elastic jobs are the SQL Server Agent replacement for Azure SQL Database. Elastic jobs now support Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) authentication, private endpoints, management via REST APIs, Azure Alerts, and new capabilities and user interface in the Azure portal. Job Agents now provide four capacity tiers to scale concurrency for job execution. |
Archive
For previous updates, see the What's new archive.