How do I stop and start a SQL Azure database?

Question

I am running an Azure based site that for historic reasons uses two databases on two servers. I have copied the data from the static data-source so that both reside on the same server. I am fairly sure I have removed all references to the old server from the live code, and indeed the Azure dashboard shows no connections over the last month. But to be 100% sure before I delete the server I would like to stop it and test the live site. If anything goes wrong I would then like to start it again. In SQL Server Management Studio this is usually straightforward, I can right-click on a server in the SQL Server Management Studio object explorer and select 'Stop' and then if needed 'Start'. However 'Stop' and 'Start' are not listed in the options for SQL Azure servers, nor is there anything I can see in the management pages on the Azure portal.

So my question is simple - how do I stop and start a SQL Azure database?

Answer 1

We had an issue with a Sql Azure db and were pretty sure it was in the server/service. We couldn't find the stop & start button, but did find a workaround:

Scale the database to another tier and then scale it back!

It solved our db issue.

Everybody says you don't need a stop/start button... but sometimes the theory differs from practice. Even Azure has issues :)

Answer 2

as Praggie mentioned, you cannot stop/start the SQL Azure servers. A SQL Azure Database resides on a shared host. there are other tenants on that server. you have access to the database, but not to the corresponding hosting server.

you can rename the database and if there's any app connecting to it, then they'd fail.

Answer 3

You can simply block the IPs (remove all the firewall rules, so that no one can connect)