Network security

SQL Database limits access to databases through firewall rules, which are authentication techniques that require users to log in to a database with a valid username and password. Firewall rules are not valid for SQL Managed Instance, so you need to configure network security group (NSG) inbound and outbound security rules. SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance further control access to underlying data through role-based permissions and row-level security. We'll now look at different access control methods in detail.

Firewall rules

SQL Database uses firewall rules to limit access to authorized IPs and block access to unauthorized IPs. This is the first level of access control provided by SQL Database. Firewall rules can be created at the server level and the database level.

When a SQL database is provisioned, it's inaccessible to everyone. To make it accessible, you first need to add a server-level firewall rule. A firewall allows an IP or a range...