Recently, Microsoft announced the preview of serverless for Hyperscale in the Azure SQL Database, which brings together the benefits of serverless and Hyperscale into a single database solution.
Azure SQL Database is a managed cloud-based relational database service available in several configurations based on the purchase model, deployment model, service tier, compute model, and hardware types.
Within the virtual Core (vCore) purchase model, customers can choose between three service tiers: General Purpose (default), Business Critical, and Hyperscale. The latter is suitable for all workload types and provides independently scalable compute and storage to support the widest variety of traditional and modern applications.
The serverless computer tier is available in the General Purpose service tier and preview in the Hyperscale tier. It’s a compute tier for single databases in Azure SQL Database that automatically scales compute based on workload demand and bills for the amount of compute used per second.
In addition, it also automatically pauses databases during inactive periods when only storage is billed and automatically resumes databases when activity returns. According to the company, the latter feature is scheduled for a later Hyperscale release. Jez Schultz, a Microsoft program manager, tweeted in response to a question on the feature:
I think you're referring to auto-pausing/auto-resuming, in which compute stops at some point of no activity. That's not supported in Hyperscale serverless yet; it is supported in General Purpose serverless.
The benefits for customers choosing the serverless option in the Hyperscale tier are that both compute and storage automatically scale based on workload demand for databases requiring up to 80 vCores and 100 TB. In addition, the auto-scaling is independent of the primary replica, HA replicas, named replicas, CPU, and memory to match workload demand.
Morgan Oslake, a principal program manager at Microsoft, explains in a recent Azure SQL blog post:
Serverless Hyperscale (preview) optimizes price performance and simplifies performance management for databases with intermittent and unpredictable usage while leaving headroom for growing to extreme scale and delivering high performance during active usage periods.
In addition, he states:
Serverless Hyperscale is also well-suited for new applications with compute sizing uncertainty or workloads requiring frequent rescaling in order to reduce costs. The serverless compute tier for Hyperscale helps accelerate application development, minimize operational complexity, and lower total costs.
Lastly, pricing details and availability in Azure regions are available on the pricing page (vCore Purchase model, Hyperscale service tier, and Region).