Merging changes synced from https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/sql-docs-pr (branch live)

Author: Learn Build Service GitHub App

.openpublishing.redirection.json

@@ -67189,6 +67189,11 @@
       "source_path": "docs/relational-databases/data-tier-applications/validate-a-dac-package.md",
       "redirect_url": "/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/concepts/data-tier-applications/unpack-dacpac-file",
       "redirect_document_id": false
+    },
+    {
+      "source_path": "docs/relational-databases/sql-server-configuration-manager.md",
+      "redirect_url": "/sql/tools/configuration-manager/sql-server-configuration-manager",
+      "redirect_document_id": true
     }
   ]
 }

azure-sql/includes/virtual-machines-best-practices-storage.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 author: MashaMSFT
 ms.author: mathoma
-ms.date: 03/01/2024
+ms.date: 03/17/2024
 ms.service: virtual-machines
 ms.topic: include
 ---
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ ms.topic: include
 - Set [host caching](/azure/virtual-machines/disks-performance#virtual-machine-uncached-vs-cached-limits) to **none** for log file disks.
   - Don't enable read/write caching on disks that contain SQL Server data or log files.
   - Always stop the SQL Server service before changing the cache settings of your disk.
-- When migrating several different workloads to the cloud, [Azure Elastic SAN](../virtual-machines/windows/performance-guidelines-best-practices-storage.md#azure-elastic-san) can be a cost-effective consolidated storage solution. However, when using Azure Elastic SAN, achieving desired IOPS/throughput for SQL Server workloads often requires overprovisioning capacity. While not typically appropriate for single SQL Server workloads, you can attain a cost-effective solution when combining low-performance workloads with SQL Server.
+- When migrating several different workloads to the cloud, [Azure Elastic SAN](../virtual-machines/windows/storage-configuration-azure-elastic-san.md) can be a cost-effective consolidated storage solution. However, when using Azure Elastic SAN, achieving desired IOPS/throughput for SQL Server workloads often requires overprovisioning capacity. While not typically appropriate for single SQL Server workloads, you can attain a cost-effective solution when combining low-performance workloads with SQL Server.
 - For development and test workloads, and long-term backup archival consider using standard storage. It isn't recommended to use Standard HDD/SSD for production workloads.
 - [Credit-based Disk Bursting](/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting#credit-based-bursting) (P1-P20) should only be considered for smaller dev/test workloads and departmental systems.
 - To optimize storage performance, plan for highest uncached IOPS available, and use data caching as a performance feature for data reads while avoiding [virtual machine and disks capping/throttling](/azure/virtual-machines/premium-storage-performance#throttling).

azure-sql/toc.yml

@@ -1690,8 +1690,10 @@
           href: virtual-machines/windows/change-sql-server-edition.md
         - name: Change version
           href: virtual-machines/windows/change-sql-server-version.md
-        - name: Storage configuration
+        - name: Premium SSD storage
           href: virtual-machines/windows/storage-configuration.md
+        - name: Azure Elastic SAN Storage
+          href: virtual-machines/windows/storage-configuration-azure-elastic-san.md
 
         - name: Microsoft Entra authentication
           href: virtual-machines/windows/configure-azure-ad-authentication-for-sql-vm.md

azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/doc-changes-updates-release-notes-whats-new.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ description: Learn about the new features for and improvements to SQL Server on
 author: MashaMSFT
 ms.author: mathoma
 ms.reviewer: randolphwest, mathoma, dpless
-ms.date: 02/16/2025
+ms.date: 03/17/2025
 ms.service: azure-vm-sql-server
 ms.topic: whats-new
 ms.custom:
@@ -46,23 +46,28 @@ The following table lists features of SQL Server on Azure VMs that have been mad
 
 | Changes | Month | Details |
 | --- | --- |--- |
-| [FCI with Azure Elastic SAN](failover-cluster-instance-azure-elastic-san-manually-configure.md) | February 2025 | Deploy your SQL Server failover cluster instance (FCI) by using an Azure Elastic SAN. |
+| [Azure Elastic SAN](storage-configuration-azure-elastic-san.md) | March 2025 | Place your SQL Server workloads on an Azure Elastic SAN for improved performance, throughput, and cost. |
+| [FCI with Azure Elastic SAN](failover-cluster-instance-azure-elastic-san-manually-configure.md) | March 2025 | Deploy your SQL Server failover cluster instance (FCI) by using an Azure Elastic SAN. |
 | [Managed identity support for SQL Server 2022 on Azure VM](managed-identity-extensible-key-management.md) | January 2025 | Starting with SQL Server 2022 Cumulative Update 17 (CU17), managed identities are supported for SQL Server on Azure VMs (Windows only). Managed identities can be used with [SQL Server credentials](/sql/t-sql/statements/create-credential-transact-sql) to [back up to and restore SQL Server on Azure VM databases from Azure Blob storage](backup-restore-to-url-using-managed-identities.md). Support for managed identities also enables functionalities like [Extensible Key Management (EKM) with Azure Key Vault (AKV) and Managed Hardware Security Modules (HSM)](managed-identity-extensible-key-management.md) to be used with SQL Server on Azure VMs. |
 | [Mbv3 VM series](performance-guidelines-best-practices-vm-size.md#mbsv3-and-mbdsv3-series) | November 2024 | A powerful new VM series that currently delivers a high level of IOPs and GB throughput, with strong memory capabilities up to the 176 vCore count for a consistent 8:1 memory-to-vCore ratio in this series. Both VMs in the series offer a consistent 64 maximum data disks per VM size, allowing you to maximize storage performance and still allow fully scalability across the table. The Mbdsv3 VMs in the series have the highest IOPS and GB throughput VMs available in Azure and can scale up to 4 TiBs at the 176 vCore level.|
 | [Azure Update Manager](../azure-update-manager-sql-vm.md) | April 2024 | Automatically patch multiple SQL Server VMs at scale with the Azure Update Manager integrated in to the [SQL virtual machines](manage-sql-vm-portal.md) resource in the Azure portal, including Cumulative Updates. |
-| [Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions](/azure/azure-functions/functions-bindings-azure-sql-trigger) | March 2024 | Azure Functions supports function triggers for SQL Server on Azure VMs. |
-| [Azure Elastic SAN](performance-guidelines-best-practices-storage.md#azure-elastic-san) | February 2024 | Place your SQL Server workloads on an Azure Elastic SAN for improved performance, throughput, and cost. | 
-
 
 ## Documentation changes 
 
 Learn about significant changes to the SQL Server on Azure VMs documentation. For previous years, see the [What's new archive](doc-changes-updates-release-notes-whats-new-archive.md).
 
-### February 2025
+### March 2025
 
 | Changes | Details |
 | --- | --- |
+| **Azure Elastic SAN GA** | Configure an Azure Elastic SAN for improved performance, throughput, and cost with both new and existing SQL Server on Azure VMs. Using Azure Elastic SAN with SQL Server on Azure VMs is generally available. Review [Azure Elastic SAN](storage-configuration-azure-elastic-san.md) to learn more. |
 | **FCI with Azure Elastic SAN GA** | Deploy your SQL Server failover cluster instance (FCI) by using an Azure Elastic SAN. Using the Azure Elastic SAN with your failover cluster instance is now generally available. Review [FCI with Azure Elastic SAN](failover-cluster-instance-azure-elastic-san-manually-configure.md) to learn more. |
+
+
+### February 2025
+
+| Changes | Details |
+| --- | --- |
 | **Enable Microsoft Entra authentication for unregistered instances** | It's now possible to enable Microsoft Entra authentication for unregistered instances SQL Server installed to your Azure VMs, such as when you have multiple instances on the same VM. Review [Microsoft Entra authentication](configure-azure-ad-authentication-for-sql-vm.md#enable-microsoft-entra-authentication-for-unregistered-instances) to learn more. |
 
 ### January 2025

azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-azure-shared-disks-manually-configure.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ description: "Use Azure shared disks to create a failover cluster instance (FCI)
 author: AbdullahMSFT
 ms.author: amamun
 ms.reviewer: mathoma
-ms.date: 06/18/2024
+ms.date: 03/17/2025
 ms.service: azure-vm-sql-server
 ms.subservice: hadr
 ms.topic: how-to
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ Before you complete the instructions in this article, you should already have:
 
 ## Add Azure shared disk
 
-[Deploy a managed Premium SSD disk with the shared disk feature enabled](/azure/virtual-machines/disks-shared-enable#deploy-a-premium-ssd-as-a-shared-disk). Set `maxShares` to **align with the number of cluster nodes** to make the disk shareable across all FCI nodes.
+[Deploy a managed with the shared disk feature enabled](/azure/virtual-machines/disks-shared-enable#deploy-shared-disks). Set `maxShares` to **align with the number of cluster nodes** to make the disk shareable across all FCI nodes.
+Premium SSD, Premium SSDv2 and Ultra Disk are supported disk types to use with a SQL Server failover cluster instance. 
+
+Use zone-redundant storage (ZRS) whenever possible. 
 
 ## Attach shared disk to VMs
 

azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/failover-cluster-instance-overview.md

@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ The rest of this section lists the benefits and limitations of each storage opti
 
 - Useful for applications looking to migrate to Azure while keeping their high-availability and disaster recovery (HADR) architecture as is.
 - Can migrate clustered applications to Azure as is because of SCSI Persistent Reservations (SCSI PR) support.
-- Supports shared Azure Premium SSD and Azure Ultra Disk storage.
+- Supports shared Azure Premium SSD, Premium SSDv2 and Azure Ultra Disk storage.
 - Can use a single shared disk or stripe multiple shared disks to create a shared storage pool.
 - Supports FILESTREAM.
 - Premium SSDs support availability sets.

azure-sql/virtual-machines/windows/media/storage-configuration-azure-elastic-san/connect-to-san-volumes.png

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 ---
 title: "Storage: Performance best practices & guidelines"
 description: Provides storage best practices and guidelines to optimize the performance of your SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (VM).
-author: bluefooted
-ms.author: pamela
+author: dplessMSFT
+ms.author: dpless
 ms.reviewer: mathoma, randolphwest
-ms.date: 03/01/2024
+ms.date: 02/10/2025
 ms.service: azure-vm-sql-server
 ms.subservice: performance
 ms.topic: best-practice
@@ -88,23 +88,11 @@ If you're deploying your SQL Server VM by using the Azure portal and want to use
 
 ## Azure Elastic SAN
 
-[Azure Elastic SAN](/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-introduction) is a network-attached storage offering that provides customers a flexible and scalable solution with the potential to reduce cost through storage consolidation. Azure Elastic SAN delivers a cost-effective, performant, and reliable block storage solution that connects to a variety of Azure compute services over iSCSI protocol. Elastic SAN enables a seamless transition from an existing SAN storage estate to the cloud without having to refactor customer application architecture. 
+[Azure Elastic SAN](storage-configuration-azure-elastic-san.md) is a network-attached storage offering that provides customers a flexible and scalable solution with the potential to reduce cost through storage consolidation. Azure Elastic SAN delivers a cost-effective, performant, and reliable block storage solution that connects to a variety of Azure compute services over iSCSI protocol. Elastic SAN enables a seamless transition from an existing SAN storage estate to the cloud without having to refactor customer application architecture. 
 
-This solution can scale up to millions of IOPS, double-digit GB/s of throughput, and low single-digit millisecond latencies, with built-in resiliency to minimize downtime. Use Azure Elastic SAN if you need to consolidate storage, work with multiple compute services, or have workloads that require high throughput levels when driving storage over network bandwidth. However, since achieving desired IOPS/throughput for SQL Server workloads often requires overprovisioning capacity, _it's not typically appropriate for single SQL Server workloads_. Combining other low-performance workloads with SQL Server might be necessary to attain the most cost-effective solution. 
-
-When considering VM sizing and performance for Azure Elastic SAN, it's important to understand that storage communication occurs over the network. For example, the VM size E4d_v5 does not support Azure Premium Storage but works well with Azure Elastic SAN as it supports up to 12,500-Mbps network throughput. When using Azure Elastic SAN with this VM size, you must ensure the network and storage throughput requirements for your workload fall under the 12,500-Mbps network throughput limit. 
-
-Determine your network and storage requirements before deploying your SQL Server VM with an Azure Elastic SAN, and then carefully monitor network and storage utilization to confirm the chosen VM can accommodate the workload. To learn more, review [VM performance with Elastic SAN volumes](/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-performance) and [Elastic SAN metrics](/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-metrics). 
-
-> [!CAUTION]
-> - VM sizing with Elastic SAN must accommodate production (VM to VM) network throughput requirements in addition to storage throughput. When using Elastic SAN, VM sizes that optimize for IO throughput might not be as cost-effective as VM sizes that optimize for network bandwidth. 
-
-
-Consider placing SQL Server workloads on Elastic SAN for better cost efficiency because: 
-
-- **Storage consolidation and dynamic performance sharing**: Normally for SQL Server on Azure VM workloads, disk storage is provisioned on a per VM basis based on your capacity and peak performance requirements for that VM. This overprovisioned performance is available when needed but the unused performance can't be shared with workloads on other VMs. Elastic SAN, similar to on-premises SAN, allows consolidating storage needs of multiple SQL and non-SQL workloads to achieve better cost efficiency, with the ability to dynamically share provisioned performance across the volumes provisioned to these different workloads based on IO demands. For example, in the East US region, say you have 10 workloads that require 2-TiB capacity and 10K IOPS each, but collectively they don't need more than 60,000 IOPS at any point in time. You can configure an Elastic SAN with 12 base units (1 base unit = $0.08 per GiB/month) that will give you 12 TiB capacity and the needed 60K IOPS, and 8 capacity-only units (1 capacity-only unit = $0.06 per GiB/month), which gives you the remaining 8-TiB capacity at a lower cost. This optimal storage configuration provides better cost efficiency while providing the necessary performance (10K IOPS) to each of these workloads. For more information on Elastic SAN base and capacity-only provisioning units, see [Planning for an Azure Elastic SAN](/azure/storage/elastic-san/elastic-san-planning#storage-and-performance) and for pricing, visit [Azure Elastic SAN - Pricing](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/details/elastic-san/).
-- **To drive higher storage throughput**: SQL Server on Azure VM deployments occasionally require overprovisioning a VM due to disk throughput limits for that VM. You can avoid this with Elastic SAN, since you drive higher storage throughput over compute network bandwidth with the iSCSI protocol. For example, a Standard_E32ds_v5 VM is capped at 51,200 IOPS and 865 MBps for disk/storage throughput, but it can achieve up to a maximum of 2,000 MBps network throughput. If the storage throughput requirement for your workload is greater than 865 MBps, you won't have to upgrade the VM to a larger SKU since it can now support up to 2,000 MBps by using Elastic SAN.
+This solution can scale up to millions of IOPS, double-digit GB/s of throughput, and low single-digit millisecond latencies, with built-in resiliency to minimize downtime. Use Azure Elastic SAN if you need to consolidate storage, work with multiple compute services, or have workloads that require high throughput levels when driving storage over network bandwidth. However, since achieving desired IOPS/throughput for SQL Server workloads often requires overprovisioning capacity, _it's not typically appropriate for **single** SQL Server workloads_. To attain the most cost-effective solution with Elastic SAN, consider using it as storage for multiple SQL server workloads, or a combination of SQL Server and other low-performance workloads.
 
+Consider placing SQL Server workloads on Elastic SAN for better cost efficiency, storage consolidation, dynamic performance sharing, and to drive higher storage throughput. 
 
 ## Premium SSD