In this post I want to share my recommended Azure SQL Database learning resources. I thought I would do this for a couple of reasons.
First reason is because I have been asked a lot about this recently.
Second reason is due to the fact that aware that a lot more people are working from home at the moment. Which means more of you will have access to these resources during the day.
In reality, I have shared links to both SQL Server and Azure resources in previous posts. For example, the post I did previously about study tips for SQL Server and Azure exams. Which you can read in detail here.
However, I thought I would dedicate this one solely to Azure SQL Database.
Just to clarify though, I will be focusing on the original Platform as a Service Azure SQL Database offering. Which is based on a single database.
Online videos
Now there are plenty of online resources you can use as a starting point. With this in mind, I want to point out some that I recommend as a starting point.
YouTube videos
I thought I would start with videos that are free first. With this in mind, I thought YouTube would be a good starting point. Because it is so popular.
Of course, if you type in Azure SQL database you get a large number of videos returned. Question is then, which ones do you watch?
You could filter by most viewed, but are they really the best ones to watch? My advice is to add a name of a well-known speaker or team to your YouTube search.
For example, if you click the link here you can see I added Microsoft Mechanics to the end of the search.
SQLBits videos
Next up are videos from past SQLBits conferences. Which you are allowed to view from the SQLBits website for free.
In reality, these videos provide you with some high-quality content.
However, using the Azure tag on their website instead of the Azure SQL database tag provides some more relevant videos. With this in mind, I am providing the link for that here.
Microsoft Learn
For those of you who do not know, Microsoft Learn is the replacement for the Microsoft Virtual Academy.
It has expanded its material over time. In fact, I have used it myself for Azure DevOps material. You can see all the modules relating to Azure SQL Database here.
Pluralsight videos
Now, there’s a wealth of knowledge about Azure SQL Database in the Pluralsight videos. Which you can see for yourself in detail here.
You have to pay for a subscription though or persuade your employer to invest in them.
Blatant video plug
If you want to get a better idea of all the SQL Server related services in Azure then you can watch a video I made here. I made it last year as part of the Azure Advent Calendar and it was the first video I ever made.
Even though it has a festive theme at the start, it does show what all the services look like. In addition, I also show you one of the latest ways you can deploy a Big data Cluster. You can watch it in detail here.
Ground-to-cloud workshop
Microsoft provides an excellent workshop for you to use which covers SQL Server 2019 and Azure SQL. In this workshop you can find out a lot about Azure SQL Database.
You can find out more about it in detail here.
Books
Of course, there’s a fair few books you can use to discover more about Azure SQL database.
One book I recommend is “Migrating SQL Server Databases to Azure” by Carl Rabeler. It is now a free book which you can download as a pdf file from Microsoft. You can download it and read in detail here.
Another book that I found very useful was the 70-765 Provisioning SQL Databases exam guide written by Joseph D’Antoni and Scott Klein which you can find here.
Final word
I hope you found my post about recommended Azure SQL Database learning resources useful. I really hope it gives people new learning resources which they can look at during the current climate.
Of course, if you have recommendations of your own or any other views feel free to leave a comment.
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