We’re excited 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!

August 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 last week:

July 2024 updates and announcements

Major Version Upgrades for Azure Database for MySQL flexible servers in the Burstable service tier (General Availability)

You can now perform major version upgrades directly on flexible servers based on the Burstable service tier by using the Azure portal, and with just a few clicks! This feature release removes a previous limitation – the need to manually upgrade to General Purpose or Business Critical tiers, perform the version upgrade, and then downgrade the servers. The key benefits of this functionality include a seamless upgrade process, enhanced reliability, and effective cost management.

Learn more: Announcement Blog | Documentation | Demo video

Azure Key Vault Managed HSM (Hardware Security Module) support for customer managed keys (CMK) (General Availability)

Azure Key Vault Managed HSM (Hardware Security Module) is a fully managed, highly available, single-tenant, standards-compliant cloud service that enables you to safeguard cryptographic keys for your cloud applications, using FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated HSMs.  It ensures your data is stored and processed only within the region that hosts the HSM, ensuring data residency. With the latest feature update, you can now use your own HSM-backed encryption keys to protect your data at rest in MySQL – Flexible Server instances. You can generate HSM-backed keys and import the encryption keys from a physical on-premises HSM using CMK’s bring your own key (BYOK) feature while maintaining full control over the keys.

Learn more: Announcement Blog | Documentation | Demo video

Support for up to 8TB in a single table file (General Availability)

We are excited to announce that Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server now supports up to 8TB in a single table file! Previously, the service supported up to 4TB in a single table file. This increase in storage capacity reduces the need for table partitioning and simplifies database management. Additionally, the increased storage limit allows customers to scale their tables more efficiently without compromising performance.

Learn more: Documentation

Latest feature roadmap

Feature

Description

Release status

Coming soon! 
(Tentative*)

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. Learn more.

Public Preview

General Availability 

in Q3 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.  

Learn more.

Public Preview

General Availability 

in Q3 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

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 Q4 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 Q4 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 Q4 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 Q4 CY24

CMK-enabled support for Accelerated Logs

Accelerated Logs, available with the Business Critical service tier and designed for mission-critical workloads, is a feature provides an increase in throughput of up to two times (2x) for your applications at no additional cost. The feature will soon be supported on servers that have Customer Managed Keys (CMK) enabled.

–

General Availability

in Q4 CY24

*The roadmap features and dates are tentative and subject to change. 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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