{"id":106853,"date":"2025-06-18T14:45:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T14:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/?p=106853"},"modified":"2025-05-22T15:17:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:17:58","slug":"getting-started-with-azure-database-for-postgresql-flexible-server","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/databases\/postgresql\/getting-started-with-azure-database-for-postgresql-flexible-server\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting started with Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Along with its many other cloud services, Microsoft now offers Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server<\/a>, a database-as-a-service platform based on the PostgreSQL open-source database system. DBAs, developers, analysts, and other users who are familiar with relational database management systems—whether on-premises or in the cloud\u2014should have little trouble getting started with ADP flexible server. That said, both the ADP service and the PostgreSQL RDBMS come with their own unique characteristics, and those who are new to ADP might benefit from a little guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article and those to follow will introduce you to the ADP service and the various features it offers. The series will delve into different aspects of ADP, starting with an introduction to the service and how to create your first ADP server instance, which you\u2019ll need to do before you can deploy any PostgreSQL databases. To follow along with this article and the rest of the articles in this series, you should have an Azure subscription in place and be able to sign up for the ADP service. If you already have access to the service, you should be good to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note.<\/strong> If you\u2019re new to Azure and ADP flexible server, you might be able to take advantage of an Azure free account and a 12-month free trial of the ADP service. To learn more about this offer, refer to the Microsoft article Use an Azure free account to try Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server for free<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we get started, be aware that Microsoft also offers a service called Azure Database for PostgreSQL single server, which preceded ADP flexible server and is not as robust. Microsoft is planning to retire ADP single server, although it\u2019s not clear when that will happen. According to some Microsoft documentation, retirement should have already occurred. Microsoft recommends that customers using ADP single server should upgrade to ADP flexible server and not implement any new single server instances. For this article, and those in the series to follow, any references I make to ADP are specifically to Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Azure Database for PostgreSQL flexible server?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ADP flexible server is a relational database cloud service that enables you to create one or more PostgreSQL server instances, each of which can host multiple user databases. The ADP service offers high availability features that can be applied within an availability zone, as well as across zones. You can also configure compute and storage resources separately to support your specific workloads. In addition, you can stop and start each server instance as needed to better control costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADP flexible server runs the PostgreSQL community edition, with support for versions 11 through 17. The version 17 release on ADP is still in preview. According to ADP documentation, Microsoft plans to support each major PostgreSQL version from the time it is implemented on ADP until it is retired by the PostgreSQL community. The ADP service automatically performs minor version upgrades as part of its periodic maintenance. For example, an instance that\u2019s been configured with PostgreSQL 16 will currently be running version 16.8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although ADP flexible server is a fully managed service, it still provides a fair amount of control and flexibility over the database environment. You can configure the service to meet your organization\u2019s specific compute, storage and availability requirements, while taking into account issues such as performance and costs. For example, you can increase the compute or storage size, set backup and restore policies, configure network connection settings, and define custom maintenance windows. You can also set many of the instance\u2019s server parameters, such as whether to log buffers usage or enable temporary connection throttling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, ADP flexible server includes a number of tools for controlling and optimizing the environment. For instance, you can set up monitoring and alerting, choosing from a wide assortment of metrics. You can also define automation tasks, build reports in Power BI Desktop, mirror data to Microsoft Fabric, assign tags to ADP resources, and do much more. Plus, you can configure authentication settings\u2014using Microsoft Entra, PostgreSQL authentication, or both\u2014and you can enable Microsoft Defender for Cloud. The ADP service also comes with tools and information for diagnosing and resolving problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ADP environment comprises a number of components that work together to deliver database services. The PostgreSQL database engine runs in a container within a Linux virtual machine (VM), and the data resides in Azure storage, effectively separating the compute and storage resources. Azure-based clients can connect to PostgreSQL from within the same availability zone as the compute and storage resources, helping to optimize application performance. Clients can also connect to PostgreSQL over the internet, making it possible to support a variety of applications and workflows. The following figure provides a conceptual overview of how the ADP components fit together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The ADP service automatically backs up the data to the region\u2019s zone redundant storage (ZRS), where it maintains three synchronous copies, which are protected with AES 256-bit encryption. You can use the backups to restore a database to any point within the backup retention period. By default, this is seven days, but you can extend this period up to 35 days. If zone-redundant high availability is enabled, the ADP service also maintains a warm standby environment in a separate availability zone within the same region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating an ADP flexible server instance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To get started with ADP, you\u2019ll need to create an ADP flexible server resource and then create an ADP server instance. The easiest way to do both of these is to use the Azure portal. Although you don\u2019t have to use the portal, it\u2019s a good place to start when you\u2019re first learning about ADP because you get a complete picture of the available options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I explain how to create them, I want to point out two useful Microsoft articles:<\/p>\n\n\n

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