DB for storing structured data
Sometimes referred as DBaaS (Database as a Service)
It is High Performance, Reliable, Fully Managed and secure DB service
Azure SQL Database
Fully managed SQL database
Fault tolerant, Disaster Recovery, High Availability
Designed to be scalable
It is a PaaS offering
SQL Managed Instance
Costly option but provides the full feature set of on premises SQL Server
Ideal solution existing database that needs to be modernized/ migrated
High availability, Disaster Recovery, Automated Backups
It is a PaaS offering
SQL Server on Virtual Machine
Offers features like Backups, Auto updates, Replication, Monitoring
Allows OS level access
Ideal for Lift and shift workload to the cloud
Have existing license and want to continue using it (Hybrid Benefit)
It is a IaaS offering