Database Reference
In-Depth Information
The Server Administration portal displays three categories of information that are vital to
administering, connecting to, and working with SQL Azure. You see information about your server,
including its name and location. You also have two tabs: one showing your firewall settings and the
other listing your databases.
Server Information
The Server Information box is at the top of the Summary tab. Figure 3-3 shows that box in context, and
Figure 3-4 focuses in so you can read the details.
Figure 3-4.
Server Information
The Server Information box displays the following:
•
Server Name
. The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your logical database
server—a physical machine name that resolves to an IP address at the Microsoft
data center. This is
not
the database server name. When a connection is made to
this IP address, your connection is routed to the physical database server based on
your login name and the database (master, for example).
•
Administrator Username.
The name you entered in the pop-up dialog when you
clicked the project name in Figure 3-2. Whenever you connect to SQL Azure, for
example through SQL Server Management Studio, this is the username you use,
along with the associated password.
Server Location.
The geo location where your Azure server resides. As of this
writing, there are seven locations: Anywhere Asia, Anywhere Europe, Anywhere
US, North Central US, North Europe, South Central US, and Southeast Asia.
Microsoft recommends that when creating your logical servers, you should put them in the same
geo location. If you don't, you incur data charges. For example, if you put your Windows Azure web
application in the North Central US location and your SQL Azure database in the South Central US
location, you incur data-transfer and other transactional charges. If your application and database are
located in the same geo location, you don't incur these charges. Another reason to put your application
and database in the same geo location is performance. However, spreading your services across geo
locations helps with redundancy.
A quick note about the Drop Server button in the Server Information box: dropping a SQL Azure
server deletes all databases associated with the server and removes the server from your account. When
you drop a server, you're informed that dropping the server can't be undone and asked whether you
want to continue. If you choose to continue, no databases can be recovered, and you must start the
server-creation process all over again, including creating a new administrator and selecting the location.
•
