SQL Server Feature Limitations (SQL Azure Database)
Microsoft SQL Azure Database is very similar to SQL Server in terms of Transact-SQL support and the tabular data stream (TDS) protocol that it uses to communicate with your database client. In terms of feature support, there are some differences between SQL Azure Database and the SQL Server product. This topic lists some of the features from SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2005, and earlier versions of SQL Server that are not supported by SQL Azure Database.
For more information about SQL Azure Database Transact-SQL support, see Transact-SQL Support (SQL Azure Database). For more information about the differences between SQL Azure Database and SQL Server in general, see SQL Azure Overview.
SQL Server 2008 R2 Features Not Supported by SQL Azure Database
The following features that were new to SQL Server 2008 R2 are not supported by SQL Azure Database:
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SQL Server Utility
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SQL Server PowerShell Provider. PowerShell scripts can be run on an on-premise computer, however, and connect to SQL Azure Database using supported objects (such as System Management Objects or Data-tier Applications Framework).
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Master Data Services
SQL Server 2008 Features Not Supported by SQL Azure Database
The following features that were new to SQL Server 2008 are not supported by SQL Azure Database:
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Change Data Capture
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Data Auditing
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Data Compression
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Extended Events
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Extension of spatial types and methods through Common Language Runtime (CLR)
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External Key Management / Extensible Key Management
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FILESTREAM Data
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Integrated Full-Text Search
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Large User-Defined Aggregates (UDAs)
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Large User-Defined Types (UDTs)
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Performance Data Collection (Data Collector)
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Policy-Based Management
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Resource Governor
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SQL Server Replication
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Transparent Data Encryption
SQL Server 2005 Features Not Supported by SQL Azure Database
The following features that were new to SQL Server 2005 are not supported by SQL Azure Database:
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Common Language Runtime (CLR) and CLR User-Defined Types
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Database Mirroring
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Service Broker
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Table Partitioning
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Typed XML and XML indexing is not supported. The XML data type is supported by SQL Azure Database.
Other SQL Server Features Not Supported by SQL Azure Database
The following features from earlier versions of SQL Server are not supported by SQL Azure Database:
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Backup and Restore
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Replication
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Extended Stored Procedures
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SQL Server Agent/Jobs
See Also
