Azure Database for MySQL – April 2024 updates and latest feature roadmap
We’re pleased to share a summary of the Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server announcements from last month, as well as the latest roadmap of upcoming features!
May 2024 Live webinar
These updates and the latest roadmap are also covered in our Monthly Live Webinar on YouTube (Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel!), which streams the second Wednesday of every month, at 7:30 AM Pacific time. Below is a link to the session recording of the live webinar we delivered this week:
April 2024 announcements
Click-through demos for Azure MySQL’s top 3 uses cases
Explore the power and versatility of Azure Database for MySQL with these three new comprehensive, click-through demos highlighting the top three use cases – integration with WordPress, Moodle, and Magento! By completing these demos, you’ll learn how you can get your web apps up and running, connected securely to Azure Database for MySQL, and performing efficiently and reliably – all with just a few clicks!
Link to demos: Azure Database for MySQL demos
Reminder: Register for Microsoft Build 2024 today!
Register for Microsoft Build 2024 and meet the Azure Database for MySQL product group during our demo session “Industry leading performance with Azure Database for MySQL apps” (on May 22, 1:15pm – 1:30pm PDT), during which we’ll walk you through some exciting new feature updates releasing this month!
Latest feature roadmap
Feature
Description
Release status
Coming soon!
(Tentative*)
Accelerated Logs
This feature, available with the Business Critical service tier and designed for mission-critical workloads, provides a significant performance boost by minimizing latency, which results in faster query execution and more responsive interactions. Take advantage of an impressive increase in throughput of up to two times (2x) for your applications at no additional cost! Learn more.
Public Preview
General Availability
in May CY24
Support for 32TB storage
This feature provides you with the ability to expand the storage for your workloads using the Business-Critical service tier up to 32TB.
Private Preview
General Availability
in May CY24
On-demand backup and export
This feature provides you with the ability to export at-moment physical backup of the server to an Azure storage account (Azure blob storage) using an Azure CLI command. After export, these backups can be used for data recovery, migration, data redundancy and availability, or auditing.
Private Preview
Public Preview
in May CY24
Azure MySQL Import for external migrations
Azure MySQL Import enables you to migrate your MySQL on-premises or Virtual Machine (VM) workload seamlessly to Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server. It takes advantage of a user-provided physical backup file and restores the source server’s physical data files to the target server offering a simple and fast migration path. Based on user inputs, the feature takes up the responsibility of provisioning your target flexible server, then restoring the user-provided physical backup of the source server stored in the Azure Blob storage account to the target Flexible Server instance. Learn more.
Public Preview
General Availability
in Q2 CY24
Flexible maintenance options
Building upon our existing system-managed and custom-managed maintenance windows, the following new flexible maintenance options aim to elevate user convenience and operational flexibility in server maintenance:
Reschedule window: Tailor maintenance schedules to suit your business rhythm.
On-demand maintenance: Instantly initiate maintenance activities using the Reschedule now option.
Public Preview
General Availability
in Q2 CY24
Near-zero downtime maintenance for HA servers
This feature is designed to substantially reduce maintenance downtime for HA-enabled servers, ensuring that in most cases, maintenance downtime is expected to be between 40 to 60 seconds. This capability is pivotal for businesses that demand high availability and minimal interruption in their database operations. Learn more.
Public Preview
General Availability
in Q2 CY24
Virtual Canary
The Virtual Canary feature is an exciting solution for Azure MySQL users who prioritize staying at the forefront of technology by making sure that their servers always run the most current version. Servers opted in for virtual canary receive maintenance updates earlier in advance. You can also take advantage of the feature as an opportunity to perform an additional layer of update testing on your dev, test, or staging servers to help avoid workload-specific issues like application-level compatibility issues. The feature thus offers an efficient way to manage updates, align testing and production environments, and maintain operational stability with minimal disruption.
–
Public Preview
in Q3 CY24
Long Term Retention of Backups
Previously with Azure Database for MySQL, you could retain automated backups and on-demand backups for up to 35 days. With Long Term Retention, you can now retain the backups up to 10 years, further accommodating your audit and compliance needs. Learn more.
Public Preview
General Availability
in early Q3 CY24
Error Logs (in Server Logs)
This feature allows you to maintain MySQL error log files under Server logs and download them for up to seven days. These error logs can help you efficiently identify and troubleshoot performance and reliability issues, and proactively detect and respond to unauthorized access attempts, failed login attempts, and other security-related events. Learn more.
Public Preview
General Availability
in early Q3 CY24
MySQL Discovery & Assessment in Azure Migrate
With this functionality, you can use Azure Migrate to discover MySQL servers in your environment, assess them by identifying their compatibility for moving to Azure Database for MySQL, and receive compute and storage SKU recommendations along with their costs. Learn more.
Private Preview
Public Preview
in Q3 CY24
*The roadmap features and dates are tentative and subject to changes. Please stay tuned for continuous updates.
Conclusion
As we continue to work on new features and functionalities, your feedback is very critical for our improvement. If you wish to enroll in Private Preview for any of the above features, or if you have any suggestions for or queries about our service, email us at AskAzureDBforMySQL@service.microsoft.com.
To learn more about what’s new with Flexible Server, see What’s new in Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server. Stay tuned for more updates and announcements by following us on social media: YouTube | LinkedIn | X.
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