Another “be what’s next” moment
In yet another instance of getting real, I just swapped out the backend database for SnowstormLife.com to a SQL Azure Database. (The website itself is still on a 3rd party host, not on Windows Azure yet.)
It wasn’t that difficult. I simply needed to
- Create a SQL Azure Database (I already had an account)
- Create the Transact-SQL script for the table schema and data
- Run that script against the new SQL Azure database.
Don’t have an Azure account? Microsoft currently has a free trial available: https://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/free-trial/
For steps 2 & 3, you can find step-by-step instructions with a sample here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee621790.aspx
I needed to add one piece to the script generated in step 2: the creation of a clustered primary key, which I discovered is a requirement in SQL Azure. (I didn’t have any primary keys defined in the old database.) It only took a couple of additional lines:
For more information about SQL Azure, head on over to the MSDN library: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg619386(BTS.70).aspx
Another helpful resource is the SQL Azure FAQ: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/sql-azure-faq.aspx
Enjoy.
-- bliz