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Azure Cosmos DB Reference

Comparative positioning note

This document is written from the perspective of Microsoft Azure, Cloud Scale Analytics, and CSA Loom. Any description of third-party or competing products, services, pricing, or capabilities is derived from publicly available documentation and sources believed accurate at the time of writing, and is provided for general comparison only. We do not claim expertise in, or authority over, any non-Microsoft product or service; the respective vendor's official documentation is the authoritative source for their offerings, which may change over time. Nothing here is intended to disparage any vendor — where a competing product has genuine advantages, we aim to note them honestly. Verify all third-party details against the vendor's current official documentation before making decisions.

Home > Reference > Cosmos DB

Status Documentation

Reference documentation for Azure Cosmos DB configuration, global distribution, consistency models, and integration with cloud-scale analytics workloads.


Available References

Global Distribution

  • Global Distribution - Comprehensive guide to Azure Cosmos DB global distribution, multi-region writes, consistency levels, and disaster recovery strategies.

Overview

Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service designed for mission-critical applications requiring:

  • Global distribution with multi-region writes
  • Single-digit millisecond latency
  • Five consistency levels
  • Comprehensive SLAs for availability, throughput, latency, and consistency
  • Support for multiple data models (SQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Gremlin, Table)

Integration with Analytics Workloads

Azure Synapse Link enables near real-time analytics over operational data in Cosmos DB without ETL.

Key Features

Feature Description
No ETL Automatic sync to analytical store
Performance Isolation Analytics don't impact transactional workload
Real-time Insights Query operational data with low latency
Cost Optimization Columnar storage for analytics queries

Configuration Example

# Enable Synapse Link on Cosmos DB account
az cosmosdb update \
  --name cosmos-analytics-prod \
  --resource-group rg-analytics-prod \
  --enable-analytical-storage true

# Create container with analytical store
az cosmosdb sql container create \
  --account-name cosmos-analytics-prod \
  --database-name analytics-db \
  --name events \
  --partition-key-path "/tenantId" \
  --analytical-storage-ttl -1

Common Use Cases

Analytics Workloads

  • Real-time Analytics - Query operational data without impacting production
  • IoT Data Processing - Ingest and analyze sensor data globally
  • Event Sourcing - Store and query event streams
  • Time Series Data - Store and analyze time-stamped data
  • Reference Data - Globally distributed lookup tables

Integration Scenarios

  • Synapse Analytics - Query Cosmos DB data using Synapse Link
  • Azure Data Factory - ETL from/to Cosmos DB
  • Azure Functions - Trigger on Cosmos DB changes
  • Azure Stream Analytics - Output streaming data to Cosmos DB



Note: This reference section focuses on Cosmos DB features relevant to cloud-scale analytics workloads. For complete Cosmos DB documentation, refer to the official Microsoft documentation.