SQL Azure : Creating Databases, Logins, and Users (part 1)

You've walked through how to create and manage databases using the SQL Azure Portal, but now let's use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to create and manage a database. This book uses SQL Server 2008 R2 throughout for the examples.

Fire up SQL Server 2008 R2, and enter the FQDN of the database server name in the "Server name" box when the Connect to Server dialog appears (see Figure 1). Enter the administrator login name and password, and click Connect. You're now connected to SQL Azure.

Figure 1. Connecting to SQL Azure via SSMS

At this juncture, the only database available to you is the master database, unless you've created databases via the SQL Azure Portal. Let's spend a few minutes discussing how to create databases and other objects using T-SQL.

1. Databases

When you create databases in a non-Azure environment, you have to know and specify a lot in the CREATE statement. For example, you must provide the path and physical object names of the database and log files, as well as the database size and optionally the maximum size and file growth. A CREATE DATABASE statement in a non-Azure environment might look like the following:

CREATE DATABASE [MyDatabase] ON  PRIMARY
( NAME = N'MyDatabase', FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
Server\MSSQL10.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\MyDatabase.mdf' , SIZE = 32768KB , MAXSIZE =
UNLIMITED, FILEGROWTH = 1024KB )
LOG ON
( NAME = N'MyDatabase_log', FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
Server\MSSQL10.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\MyDatabase_log.ldf' , SIZE = 92864KB , MAXSIZE = 2048GB
, FILEGROWTH = 10%)
GO

					  

As you've learned in the past few chapters, with Azure you don't have to worry about hardware and where objects are located and how hardware is provisioned, which makes statements such CREATE DATABASE much simpler.

CREATE DATABASE MyDatabase

You can optionally supply two parameters with the CREATE DATABASE statement: MAXSIZE, which specifies the maximum size of the database; and EDITION, which specifies the edition of the database (Web or Business). Here's an example:

CREATE DATABASE MyDatabase (MAXSIZE= 10 GB, EDITION= 'Business')

In the current release of SQL Azure, two database sizes are available for the Web edition: 1GB and 5GB. For the Business edition, available sizes range from 10GB to 50GB, in increments of 10GB. If MAXSIZE is set to a value of 1GB or 5GB and EDITION isn't specified, the database edition is automatically set to Web. If MAXSIZE is set to a value between 10BG and 50GB and EDITION isn't specified, the database edition is automatically set to Business. If neither MAXSIZE nor EDITION is specified, a Web database of 1GB is created.

SQL Azure doesn't support additional arguments that you're used to using when working with SQL in a local environment. For example, SQL Azure doesn't support parameters that relate to working with physical files, such as filespec and filegroup. You also can't attach or detach a database.