SQL Azure is a relational database service in the cloud, which can be used to store business data or system data. It is like database-as-a-service for cloud applications, which is hosted by Microsoft. Its predecessor, SQL Data Services (SDS) built on architecture with full scalability, fault tolerance, and high availability features, has been enhanced to offer the relational database services on top of existing SDS architecture, named SQL Azure
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Like all other Windows Azure services in the cloud, SQL Azure is scalable and Microsoft data centers provide these services with load balancing, failover, and replication capabilities. SQL Azure services comprise three layers: infrastructure, platform, and services that run inside the Microsoft data center and the client layer from the user side. At any point in time, SQL Azure maintains three replicas of user application databases. In case one replica fails, the infrastructure and platform create a new...