Build the target properly, move a 2012-era estate onto it with the Arc portal migration experience or with backup to URL, register the IaaS extension, set the license type deliberately, and land the database at compatibility level 110 with a baseline before anything is raised.

The infrastructure option, argued honestly. Why the SLA never covers SQL Server, what the IaaS Agent extension is actually for, how the license can cost more than the machine it runs on, and the workloads that genuinely belong here.

Two real paths onto a managed instance: a native restore from URL for the old estate that nothing else will reach, and the Managed Instance link for anything from 2016 SP3 upward. Version floors, the certificate work the docs gloss over, and a cutover you can rehearse.

The lift target that keeps the Agent, cross-database queries, linked servers and native restore. What the update policy really decides, why the next-generation tier trades zone redundancy for scale, and the one-way doors worth knowing about before you provision.

Provision a logical server with Entra-only authentication and no public endpoint, move a real line-of-business database off an ageing 2014 box, re-found its logins on Entra, and rebuild its overnight job as an elastic job. The database side, end to end, reproducible from the text.

The most managed option in the family, and the least forgiving migration target. What Hyperscale being the default tier really means, where serverless earns its keep, and the seven missing features that decide whether your database can live here at all.

Azure SQL Database, Managed Instance, SQL Server on an Azure VM, and SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc are four points on one gradient of control. What each one actually is, who holds authority for patching and backups and the engine version, and why the decision is rarely about cost.