The AlwaysOn Availability Groups feature is a high-availability and disaster-recovery solution that provides an enterprise-level alternative to database mirroring. Introduced in SQL Server 2012, AlwaysOn Availability Groups maximizes the availability of a set of user databases for an enterprise
11. SQL Cluster
HA
Expensive solution ( HD , License ,..)
Server level
Include two nodes or more
Required SAN Storage
A/P , A/A ,A/A/P,…
Need DR (Log shipping , Backup and Restore,..)
No Load Balance ( Use Transactional Replication)
13. AlwaysOn
New Feature in SQL Server 2012
Can have 5 replicas (one Primary and four secondary servers)
HA , DR (enhancement for mirroring) and Read-only access
Can be sync and async ( No acknowledgement ,minimize the transactions)
No need for SAN storage (Not like SQL Cluster)
Can deploy geographical
Can use Secondary servers for backup and reporting access
Automatic failover
Types (Primary (R/W and send trans logs to secondary) and Secondary (R)
15. Windows Cluster is required
Interchangeable ( Transactions terminated)
Failover can be ( Automatic , Manual and forced (possible data lose in
case of async) (by commands)
Support T-SQL and PowerShell
Diff Backup not supported for secondary
Secondary use snapshots to avoid any blocking
Support page repair
Client can connect direct , Ava group and Read-only routing
16. Read-only settings ( No , Read –intent only , Yes)
Database should be :
Not belong to any Ava. Group
Enable R/W
Enable Multi User mode
Full Recovery
Full backup
Not used by mirroring
17. Automatic Failover (up to 2) (Required Sync)
Sync (Up to 3)
Need DNS and Static IP ( can be DHCP)
Configuration (Full (same path – need backup ) – Join (Already restored) – skip
(restore later
When SQL user added to Primary the user must created in secondary (except if
use contained databases – New feature in SQL Server 2012)
Backup Options
Prefer (run on secondary except if primary not online)
Secondary only (Not support diff backup)
Primary only (support diff backup)
Any replica (based on factors)
18. Demo
Prerequisites ( Windows Cluster , 2 instances at least)
Configuration (Enable , Create Ava. Group and backup)
Add/Remove databases …
Add/Remove Replica…
Suspended and resume…
Dashboard and DMVs for monitoring