Why did my free Azure SQL database disappear?

Question

I spent several days creating a free Azure SQL database, and it used up all the resources for two months to do it. Later in the second month, it disappeared. What's up?

Answer 1

@Christopher Tillman
Thank you for the question and for using Microsoft Q&A platform.

The Azure SQL Database free offer allows you to use a database for free indefinitely, but it comes with monthly limits on resources.

If your database disappeared after using resources for two months, it could be due to exceeding the free limits. Once the free limits are reached, the database may become inaccessible until the next month unless you opted to continue using it for additional charges.

If you selected the Auto-pause option, the database would become inaccessible after reaching the free limits, and you would need to wait until the start of the next month to access it again.

To prevent such issues in the future, you can monitor your resource usage and set up alerts for any unusual activity.

You can check the Free amount remaining and Free amount consumed metrics to keep track of your resource usage.

If you find that your vCore seconds are being consumed faster than expected, consider disconnecting any querying tools when not in use, as they can prevent auto-pause and continue consuming resources.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/free-offer-faq?view=azuresql#my-vcore-seconds-are-being-used-faster-than-i-expected--how-can-i-see-what-is-using-the-vcore-seconds

For more help, please refer to the below links:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/free-offer-faq?view=azuresql#my-vcore-seconds-are-being-used-faster-than-i-expected--how-can-i-see-what-is-using-the-vcore-seconds
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1726495/i-am-being-charged-for-a-free-azure-sql-database-w
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/free-offer?view=azuresql

Hope this helps. Do let us know if you have any further queries.

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