User-defined CLR data types in Windows Azure SQL Database

Question

I have created user defined data types in my project. Now I am going to deploy my project on Windwos Azure.

I have defined user defined CLR data types in my sql server 2008 database. As much as I have read about user-defined CLR data types, these are not supported in Windows Azure SQL Database.

Is there any alternative for databases with user-defined CLR datatypes when migrating to Windows Azure SQL Database?

Answer 1

User-defined CLR data types are not supported on Windows Azure Database. Relevant documentation:

Windows Azure SQL Database does not support user-defined common language runtime (CLR) data types.

Source: Data Types (Windows Azure SQL Database).

The following features that were new to SQL Server 2008 are not supported by Windows Azure SQL Database: (...) Extension of spatial types and methods through Common Language Runtime (CLR) The following features that were new to SQL Server 2005 are not supported by Windows Azure SQL Database: (...) Common Language Runtime (CLR) and CLR User-Defined Types

Source: SQL Server Feature Limitations (Windows Azure SQL Database).

Alternatives:

1) Change the application to use only data types supported by Windows Azure SQL Database. Downside: requires code and database changes. Upside: hosted, highly available service.

2) Use an on-premises or third-party SQL Server. Downside: you have to host SQL Server yourself or pay someone to host it; latency may be an issue; availability and management is your concern. Upside: full SQL Server compatibility.

3) Host SQL Server in Windows Azure Virtual Machines using VM images published by Microsoft. Downside: management is your concern; high availability requires additional configuration. Upside: full SQL Server compatibility; low latency; highly available infrastructure.

Answer 2

CLR is now supported on SQL Azure databases.

http://feedback.azure.com/forums/217321-sql-database/suggestions/401015-support-clr-stored-procedures

I haven't created an assembly yet, since that's the tricky part.

It's not clear if this is only for SAFE mode.