Next gen General Purpose in Azure SQL Managed Instance - what it is and why it’s faster

From Azure Friday by Scott Hanselman

April 3, 2026

About this episode

This episode discusses Azure SQL Managed Instance and the benefits of the upgraded Next-gen General Purpose tier.

Modernizing SQL Server for the cloud doesn’t have to be complex. In this episode, we break down what Azure SQL Managed Instance is and show how the upgraded Next‑gen General Purpose tier delivers faster performance, higher storage, and easier scaling using Azure’s latest storage technology. You’ll also see a quick Azure Portal demo with the new IOPS slider and in‑place performance scaling. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:38 - Overview of Azure SQL & SQL Managed Instance 03:30 - Service tiers in Azure SQL Managed Instance 04:14 - Storage architecture upgrade (Elastic SAN, performance gains) 04:48 - Why Next‑gen General Purpose? Azure Portal demo 07:36 - In-place IOPS scaling demo 12:33 - Summary and wrap-up Recommended resources Learn Docs Azure Product page Connect Scott Hanselman | Twitter/X: @SHanselman Azure Friday | Twitter/X: @AzureFriday Azure | Twitter/X: @Azure

People in this episode

Host: Scott Hanselman

Topics covered

  • Azure SQL Managed Instance
  • Next-gen General Purpose
  • cloud modernization
  • performance scaling
  • storage technology

Keywords

  • Azure SQL
  • SQL Managed Instance
  • performance
  • scaling
  • storage architecture
  • cloud
  • demo

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Azure

Products: Azure SQL Managed Instance, Next‑gen General Purpose, Elastic SAN

More episodes of Azure Friday

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Azure Friday podcast page.