If you are thinking about migrating your on-premise or VM-based SQL Server database to Azure SQL Database then you're probably asking yourself, "which service tier and performance level should I use and how many database throughput units (DTUs) am I using now?" This calculator will help you determine the number of DTUs for your existing SQL Server database as well as a recommendation of the minimum performance level and service tier that you need before you migrate to Azure SQL Database. Knowing the minimum service tier will allow you to get the performance you need while minimizing your costs.
If you are unfamiliar with the terms sevice levels, performance tiers, and DTUs, see Azure SQL Database Service Levels and Performance Tiers for more information. If you haven't determined an initial service tier based on feature capability, we recommend you visit Upgrade SQL Database Web or Business Databases to New Service Tiers for guidance before using this calculator.
To get started, you'll need to capture several performance metrics on your SQL server to measure the resource consumption of your database. To provide the most accurate measurement, you should run a representative production workload during a time period that captures the expected range of usage. Measure the following utilization metrics for at least an hour so the calculator can analyze utilization over time to provide you the best recommendation:
For simplicity in capturing the correct performance metrics, use the following Command Line utility to capture your database utiliation. The file is configured to capture the above performance counters for a one hour period. To use, click the link and download the file on your SQL server and run the file from a command prompt.
Once you have a CSV file with your SQL server database utilization, upload the CSV file generated by the Command Line utility and click the Calculate button to view your recommended Service Tier/Performance Level and DTUs.
After clicking the Calculate button, you'll see several charts which provide an analysis of your database resource consumption. The charts depict the percentage of time (based on your measurements) that your database's resource consumption fits within the limits of each Service Tier/Performance Level. You can review CPU, Iops, and Log individually as well as collectively to better understand which metric(s) affect the performance of your database.