The database provisioning tier is delivered using Azure Arc-enabled data services. IT administrators or DBAs first deploy a data controller to a workload cluster on AKS hybrid to take advantage of the functionality of Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance on-premises. This data controller orchestrates and automates the provisioning, scaling, updating, monitoring, backup, high availability, and disaster recovery of the managed instances.

This service provides the elasticity, instant provisioning, and always current feature set IT administrators, DBAs, and software developers require to solve their database management challenges. Seasoned DBAs can use their existing knowledge and toolsets to manage and maintain the instances and databases. In addition, running SQL Managed Instances on-premises can result in better performance for workloads that have lower latency requirements at a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).