This chapter covered the new features of SQL Server 2014 that allow you, as the database administrator, to work with SQL Server on Microsoft's cloud platform. With the introduction of Microsoft Azure Storage for SQL Server database, the line between on-premise and off-premise has become blurred. Windows Azure SQL Databases offer a fully managed solution for housing your database. If you prefer, you can make use of SQL Server 2014 VM that is hosted in Microsoft Azure so that you, as the DBA, have more control and a greater ability to manage the server while the server is still hosted in the cloud.

In the next chapter, we will be looking at how the new features of SQL Server 2014 will help us develop a more comprehensive disaster and recovery strategy, and it's no surprise that there has been greater cloud integration in this area too.