Azure Database for MariaDB
MariaDB is another open-source relational database platform that is a fork of MySQL. In fact, the founders of MariaDB were the original founders of MySQL. There are some performance enhancements made to the query optimizer and the storage engine, but most of the core functionality is the same as MySQL. More information on MariaDB can be found at https://mariadb.org.
Azure Database for MySQL is a PaaS relational database offering based on the MariaDB Community Edition. Supported versions of the MariaDB database engine include 10.2 and 10.3.
Azure Database for MariaDB includes the same service tier resource configurations as Azure Database for MySQL. It also includes most of the same configuration options as Azure Database for MySQL when deploying it through the Azure Portal. The only differences are that Azure Database for MariaDB does not require you to select Single Server or Flexible Server and it does not have an Additional Settings tab.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is an open-source object-relational database system that uses SQL for native queries. It uses a robust feature set with standard and complex data types, including these:
- Primitives: Integer, numeric, string, Boolean
- Document: JSON/JSONB, XML, key-value pair
- Geometry: Point, line, circle, polygon
The PostgreSQL database engine is also highly extensible, allowing users to define their own data types and custom functions with its proprietary language PL/PGSQL or other common development languages like Perl and Python. There are also custom extensions available that solve specific business problems, such as the PostGIS geospatial database extender. This extension adds geospatial-specific functionality that effectively turns PostgreSQL into a spatial database management system. More information about PostgreSQL and PostGIS can be found at www.postgresql.org/about.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL is a PaaS relational database offering based on the PostgreSQL Community Edition. Supported versions of the PostgreSQL database engine include 9.6, 10, and 11 for Single Server as well as 11, 12, and 13 for Flexible Server. Azure Database for PostgreSQL includes the same service tier resource configurations as Azure Database for MySQL for its Single Server and Flexible Server deployment models. It also includes the same configuration options as Azure Database for MySQL when deploying it through the Azure Portal.
Along with the Single Server and Flexible Server deployment models, Azure Database for PostgreSQL also includes a Hyperscale deployment option. Hyperscale (Citus) horizontally scales queries across multiple nodes through data sharding. This deployment option is typically used for multi-tenant applications that require greater scale and performance, such as real-time operational and high throughput transactional workloads. Azure Database for PostgreSQL Hyperscale (Citus) supports versions 11, 12, and 13 of the PostgreSQL database engine.