SQL Azure Service Update 3 has arrived in six datacenters worldwide, including data centers in East Asia and Western Europe. The update and is now available with the promised new features, such as:

• 50 GB Database Support – You can now store even more data in a single SQL Azure database as the database size has been increased to 50 GB.
• Spatial Data Support - SQL Azure now offers support for the Geography and Geometry types as well as spatial query support via T-SQL.
• HierarchyID Data Type Support – The HierarchyID is a variable length system data type which provides you the ability to represent tree like structures in the database.

For pricing information and how to implement the new database sizes, see New SQL Azure Database Sizes.

Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation