SQL Server Features and Basic Comparison at IaaS vs PaaS vs On Premise
Introduction
In this article, we will see the basic features comparisons for SQL Server for various platforms as IaaS, PaaS (Azure SQL) and On Premises.
Comparison Table
Classification |
On-Premises* |
IaaS |
PaaS |
Latest version |
SQL Server 2016 |
SQL Server 2016 |
Azure SQL |
Data Storage limitations |
524 PB |
64 TB |
4 TB |
Max in-memory OLTP storage |
Operating System Maximum |
|
32 GB |
Columnstore Index supports |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Always on Availability Group |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Log Shipping |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Database Mirroring |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Backup Compression |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Backup Encryption |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Online indexing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Stretch Database |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Row-level security |
Yes |
Yes |
yes |
Dynamic Data masking |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Change Data Capture |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Security |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Temporal Tables |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Service Broker |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Transact SQL(Endpoints) |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Master Data Services |
Yes (Part of a single license) |
Yes(Part of a single license) |
No |
Analysis Services |
Yes (Part of a single license) |
Yes(Part of a single license) |
No(Separate PaaS available) |
Reporting Services |
Yes (Part of a single license) |
Yes(Part of a single license) |
No |
Integration Services |
Yes (Part of a single license) |
Yes(Part of a single license) |
No |
Spatial Indexes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Graph support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes(Preview) |
Always Encrypted |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Transactions |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
SQL Server Auditing |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Table Partitioning |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (Primary Filegroup only) |
XML Indexes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Transparent Data Encryption |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Stored Procedure |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
SQL Server Agent |
Yes |
Yes |
No (Elastic Jobs) |
Sequence Numbers |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
RESTORE statements |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Resource Governor |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
R Services |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Policy-Based Management |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Polybase |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Point in time database restore |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Log Shipping |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Linked Servers |
Yes |
Yes |
No (Elastic Query) |
JSON data support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Graph Processing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
FileStream |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Extended Events |
Yes |
Yes |
Some |
DMVs |
Yes |
Yes |
Some |
DDL Triggers |
Yes |
Yes |
Database Only |
DDL Statements |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (Most) |
DBCC Statements |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (Most) |
Database Snapshots |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Data Quality Services (DQS) |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Database Mirroring |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Database Mail |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Data compression |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Cursors |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Contained users |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Contained Database |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Common Language Runtime(CLR) |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
ColumnStore Indexes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Collation Statements |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Change Tracking |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Change Data Capture |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Backup Command |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Attach a database |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Application Roles |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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