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Analytics service combining data warehousing and big data

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TL;DR - Azure Synapse

  • Azure Synapse Analytics combines data warehousing and big data analytics in one service
  • It queries data lakes and warehouses with SQL or Spark at massive scale
  • Pay per compute and storage used
Pricing: Paid only
Best for: Enterprises & pros
4.3/5 across review platforms

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Analytics workspace
  • Azure integration
  • Good for big data
  • Active development
  • Good features

Cons

  • Complex pricing
  • Azure dependency
  • Learning curve
  • Feature complexity
  • Expensive at scale

Ratings Across the Web

4.3(147 reviews)

Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more

Key Features

AnalyticsData warehousingSparkPipelinesServerless SQLMicrosoft

Pricing Plans

Free Trial
Most Popular

Serverless SQL

$5/per TB processed

Query data lake

  • Pay per query
  • No infrastructure
  • T-SQL support
  • On-demand

Dedicated SQL

Varies

Data warehouse

  • 100 DWU minimum
  • Reserved capacity
  • Predictable performance
  • RA-GRS backup

Apache Spark

Varies

Big data analytics

  • Node-based pricing
  • Auto-scaling
  • Multiple languages
  • ML integration

What is Azure Synapse?

Editorial review
Azure Synapse brings together data warehousing and big data analytics. Query structured data with SQL and process unstructured data with Spark-all in one service with a unified experience. Data integration pulls from anywhere. Power BI integration makes visualization seamless. On-demand and provisioned compute options fit different workloads. Organizations doing serious analytics on Azure choose Synapse when they need both SQL analytics and big data processing without running separate systems.

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Azure Synapse FAQ

Is Azure Synapse free?

No real free tier. Pay for compute (on-demand or provisioned), storage, and pipelines. Can be expensive - estimate costs carefully.

What is Azure Synapse?

Synapse Analytics is Microsoft's unified analytics platform. Data warehousing, big data, and data integration. Combines SQL, Spark, and pipelines.

Synapse vs Snowflake?

Snowflake is simpler and cloud-agnostic. Synapse integrates better with Azure ecosystem. Snowflake for pure warehousing; Synapse for full analytics platform.

What is Synapse SQL?

Synapse SQL provides both serverless and dedicated SQL pools. Query data lake files with T-SQL. Familiar SQL Server syntax for Azure users.

Does Synapse include Apache Spark?

Yes, Synapse has built-in Spark pools. Run Spark jobs alongside SQL queries. Unified workspace for both SQL and Spark workloads.