Your
data is in the cloud, but it really doesn't stop there. Much of the
functionality that DBAs have at their fingertips when dealing with local
data stores doesn't exist in the cloud yet. The operative word in that
sentence is yet. At the time of this writing, SU4 was recently released, and it supports Database Copy functionality.
Database Copy enables you to
copy your database to make a new database on the same SQL Azure server.
Alternative, you can copy to a different SQL Azure server in the same
subregion or data center. This functionality is much needed, but at the
same time it has some shortcomings; some can be worked around, but
others will require future service updates.
1. Copying a Database
The Database Copy feature allows you to create a single copy of a source database. You do so by adding a new argument to the CREATE DATABASE statement: AS COPY OF. As a refresher, the syntax for CREATE DATABASE is as follows:
CREATE DATABASE MyDatabase (MAXSIZE= 10 GB, EDITION= 'Business')
To create a copy of a source database, the syntax now becomes
CREATE DATABASE MyDatabase AS COPY OF [source_server_name].source_database_name]
Thus, if you want to create a copy of your TechBio database, the syntax is
CREATE DATABASE TechBio2 AS COPY OF servername.TechBio
Figure 1
shows the execution of the previous statement. The interesting thing to
note is the message in the Messages window. When you execute the CREATE DATABASE statement with the AS COPY OF
argument, you immediately get the "Command(s) completed successfully"
message. Does this mean the copy finished that quickly? No. This message
means the copy has started. You can also see in Figure 1
that the TechBio2 database is already listed in the list of databases;
however, that doesn't mean the database copy has completed.
