Modernization Advisor (Preview) - SQL Server on Azure VMs
Applies to: 
SQL Server on Azure VM
This article provides an overview of the Modernization Advisor, which assesses your SQL Server on Azure virtual machines (VMs) configuration to determine if you can save on cost, or optimize your performance, by migrating to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
Note
Modernization Advisor is currently in preview for SQL Server on Azure VMs.
Overview
Modernization Advisor is a tool built into the Azure portal that helps you assess whether Azure SQL Managed Instance is a more cost-effective option for your business than SQL Server on Azure VMs. Depending on your SQL Server configuration, you may save money, optimize performance, and simplify management by migrating from SQL Server on Azure VMs to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
Modernization Advisor compares the configuration of your SQL Server on Azure VM, and then provides a list of benefits you can achieve by migrating to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
By using the Modernization Advisor, you can:
- Identify SQL Server configurations that are suitable for migration to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
- Easily match the configuration of Azure SQL Managed Instance to your SQL Server VM configuration.
- Determine a price range for modernizing your SQL Server workload to SQL Managed Instance for a reduced total cost of ownership (TCO).
- Get a detailed report of the benefits you can achieve by migrating to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
Modernization Advisor evaluates the following SQL Server VM resources to match with a suitable Azure SQL Managed Instance configuration:
- The number of vCores
- Memory used per vCore
- Storage size
- Storage type (Standard, Premium SSD, Premium SSDv2)
Potential migration benefits
Take advantage of the following benefits by migrating to Azure SQL Managed Instance:
- Fully managed Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering with built-in high availability, and intelligent performance optimization.
- 24x7 service health monitoring and automitigation services, with Microsoft engineers monitoring and managing the service to ensure stability.
- Easily and dynamically scale, add, or remove resources such as CPU, memory, IO, and storage as online operations without downtime.
- No need to enable or configure backups or patching as both are fully automated in Azure SQL Managed Instance.
- Zone-redundant storage increases the SLA of Azure SQL Managed Instance higher than the SLA for SQL Server on Azure VMs, since the SLA is for the virtual machine, and not the SQL service.
- Retain your backups up to 10 years with long-term retention.
Prerequisites
To use the Modernization Advisor, your SQL Server VM must be registered with the SQL IaaS Agent extension.
View recommendations
Although the Modernization Advisor is available to all SQL Server VM customers, recommendations are only visible to customers with configurations suitable for migration to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
If you don't see the Compare button on the Modernization Advisor (preview) pane, your workload isn't a suitable migration candidate.
To view Modernization Advisor recommendations, go to your SQL virtual machines resource in the Azure portal, and choose Modernization Advisor (preview) under Settings to open the Modernization Advisor (preview) pane.
If your SQL Server VM qualifies for modernization, then you can also navigate to the Modernization Advisor (preview) pane from:
- a recommendation on the Recommendations tab of the Overview pane of your SQL virtual machine resource. Select the recommendation to learn more, and then select Evaluate modernizing this SQL Server to open the Modernization Advisor (preview) pane.
- a banner on the Overview pane of your SQL virtual machine resource advising you to evaluate modernizing this SQL Server. Select the banner to open the Modernization Advisor (preview) pane.
The following options are available on the Modernization Advisor (preview) pane:
- Compare your SQL VM with Azure SQL Managed Instance: use this option to compare your SQL Server VM configuration with a target Azure SQL Managed Instance. This option is only available if your SQL Server VM is a suitable migration candidate.
- Discover benefits of Azure SQL Managed Instance: use this option to open the Discover Azure SQL Managed Instance pane to then Create a free or paid instance.
Note
Running a comparison uses operation Azure VM telemetry without accessing any of your personal data.
Selecting Compare your SQL VM with Azure SQL Managed Instance displays the Comparison results on the Modernization Advisor (preview) pane:
Selecting Discover benefits of Azure SQL Managed Instance opens the Discover Azure SQL Managed Instance pane, where you can navigate to the Create a free or paid instance page, and learn how you can restore your SQL Server database to Azure SQL Managed Instance.
Create instance
After you decide to migrate to Azure SQL Managed Instance, create your instance from the Azure portal, which you can evaluate for free for up to 12 months.
Restore database to Azure SQL Managed Instance
You can use the following methods to migrate a SQL Server database to Azure SQL Managed Instance:
Provide feedback
Use the Feedback button from the command bar of the Modernization Advisor (preview) pane to provide feedback for the Modernization Advisor directly to the product group:
