SQL Azure - What's new in SQL Azure Q2 2011 Service Update - Part I

Introduction:
 
In this article we are going to see the list of enhancements done with the SQL Azure Q2 2011 Database Service Update officially announced on 9th September 2011. Microsoft provides this update with a much enhanced user interface for the administration of the server and the database in an effective way.
 
Overview:
 
Previously, the Microsoft Azure Team provided the online Data Manager Tool for administering the Schema and data of SQL Azure databases. But with this release they have replaced the Online Data Manager tool with the new SQL Azure Data Management Portal which includes all the functionality of the Data Manager Tool along with the Data Administration Capability including the ability including the Import and Export (CTP). Let's jump start to see the step by step process on the new enhancements of this release.
 
 Steps:
 
 Login to the Windows Azure Management Portal using the below link(Need to have valid subscription)
 www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/
 


We need to provide our login credentials by clicking on the Sign in to management portal as highlighted in the above screen, after successful login we will redirected to a nice interface as shown in the screen below.




Now click on the Database tab in the left side menu of the Management portal and we can see a nice interface as shown in the screen below.

We can see the subscription listed, clicking on the subscription list will list down the servers and the databases inside the servers as shown in the screen below. Also we can see the enhanced Ribbon menu at the top as highlighted in the screen below.

1. Shows the Database server Name listed under the subscription.
2. Shows the list of database available for the particular server selected.
3. New Ribbon Menu with the list of enhanced features which we are going to see in details in upcoming sections.

The first enhancement we can see is the Server and Database Manage, before the Q2 2011 Service update release we don't have an option for server management. Now click on the Server Manage button as highlighted in the screen below.



Clicking on Manage Database server button will launch a new SQL Azure Management Portal. We need to provide the Administrator credentials(Which we gave while creating the server) to get authenticated and login to the server. The SQL Azure Management Portal will look as shown in the screen below.



Provide valid credentials and click on the Log On button will provide some error while connecting to the server as shown in the screen below.



Clicking on the error "There was an error connecting to the server" will provide the exact error which indicates that the Firewall blocked us. We need to enable the Firewall rule (Check our previous article on how to enable a firewall rule using the link) as shown in the screen below.



After successfully adding the firewall rule, now click on the logon button to get authenticated to the server. Upon successful login we can see a nice interface for Database server administration as shown in the screen below.



Conclusion:
 
In our next article we will see the other enhancements related to the SQL Azure Management Portal and the SQL Azure Q2 2011 service release. We have more enhanced features available with the release and thanks to Microsoft Azure team for providing the enhancements which gives developers and administrators much control over the database and server online.