SQL Azure Portal issue this week

[This article was contributed by the SQL Azure team.]

Hi Everyone,

We received an inquiry earlier this week about a user who was trying to access the SQL Azure Portal and was unable to log in. I want to take a quick moment to respond broadly just incase anyone else had the same experience.

There were no issues with the SQL Azure Database service this week. There was, however, an availability issue with the SQL Azure Portal while some configuration changes were being made in preparation for the launch of SQL Azure Database at PDC on November 17th. The issue we experienced was with our portal only – not the actual service.  No one trying to connect to the service or their database(s) were impacted at all.

The portal is different than the service end point.  The current portal is a placeholder tool (CTP only) used for signing up for the SQL Azure service prior to go-live.  It also offers capabilities for creating and deleting databases within a provisioned SQL Azure Database server but, it is only one of several tools that are used to do this.  Other tools, such as SSMS and SQLCMD, are routinely used for these create/delete operations.  The use of these tools was not impacted at all due to the portal issue. Your data was, and is, safe, sound and accessible in our highly available service.

I also want to take a moment to thank all of our tremendous users. Your feedback has shaped the service and will continue to as we enhance SQL Azure Database and add new features. Keep the feedback coming. We listen and act upon it.

The next couple weeks are going to be exciting. There is much more to come as we continue to extend the SQL Server Platform to the cloud.

See you all at PDC,

Dave