Improvement
In Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Cumulative Update 18 and Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Cumulative Update 31, new functionality is added to the Stretch Database service. Previous versions of Stretch Database can migrate warm and cold transactional data dynamically from SQL Server to an Azure SQL Database that is hosted inside a dedicated SQL pool (formerly SQL DW) infrastructure in Azure Synapse Analytics. Unlike typical cold data storage, data is always online and available to query by using Stretch Database.
After this enhancement is made, the default Azure SQL Database that is provisioned when you stretch a table to a remote archive by using the Stretch Database feature will be hosted within an Azure SQL Database logical server. The default Service Level Objective (SLO) will be an S3 database. We introduced a new trace flag (TF 10460) that can be used to provision stretched tables within the Hyperscale service tier. This trace flag can be enabled as a startup or global trace flag. It takes effect immediately for any subsequently stretched tables after it is applied.
Summary
Although Stretch Database will be deprecated in SQL Server 2022 (16.x), we encourage existing users of the Stretch Database feature to use this improved functionality after you apply this latest cumulative update. If you have existing tables that use Stretch Database, you can migrate or bring your data back from Azure to on-premises and disable the feature. Then, you can reenable the feature and stretch your tables again to use one of the new Azure SQL Database service tiers. This action doesn't require you to create a new Azure SQL Database logical server. For more information, see Disable Stretch Database and bring back remote data.
After you apply this update, data will be migrated to an Azure SQL Database service tier (S3 or Hyperscale). Pricing for Stretch Database will vary depending on the Azure SQL Database service tier that is chosen. Performance-level pricing that is based on Database Stretch Units (DSUs) will no longer apply.
More information
This improvement updates the Azure SQL database service tier that is used by the Stretch Database feature for on-premises SQL Server instances to enable Stretch Database to continue working after it is deprecated in SQL Server 2022.
This improvement is included in the following cumulative updates for SQL Server:
Each new cumulative update for SQL Server contains all the hotfixes and security fixes that were in the previous build. We recommend that you install the latest build for your version of SQL Server:
References
Learn about the terminology that Microsoft uses to describe software updates.
