You will need to make a couple of major decisions right off the bat if you want to move your SQL Server database to the cloud. First of all, you will need to select a cloud platform, with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) being the two leading choices at this time. Next, you will need to decide if you want to run your own SQL Server database on the platform’s cloud-based virtual machines (VMs) or use the platform’s managed SQL Server database. Read this whitepaper to learn about the differences between the different options.
