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SQL Server Alwayson Features Without The Hefty Price Tag? Try DataKeeper

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Want SQL Server Alwayson Features But Can’t Afford SQL 2012 Enterprise Edition?

No doubt AlwaysOn Availability Groups is a hot topic here at SQL PASS Summit. As I mentioned in my previous posts, you need to consider the overhead associated with AlwaysOn as well as other limitations as you deploy SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition. Read on as I introduce SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition. 

Price Comparison

I priced out (list price) a 2-node solution using SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups with a read-only target with a typical 2-socket, 16-core server configuration. I also added a comparable configuration. Running DataKeeper Cluster Edition on SQL 2012 Standard Edition and was as SQL 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition.

DataKeeper-Get SQL Server Alwayson Features without SQL 2012 Enterprise Edition

As you can see, deploying SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition (required for Availability Groups) your expense is much greater than if you deploy a similar replicated cluster solution using DataKeeper Cluster Edition.

Contact us to get the best SQL Server Alwayson Features at the best cost.

Reproduced with permission from Clusteringformeremortals.com

Overcome Alwayson Availabilty Groups limitations with SIOS Datakeeper

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Overcome Alwayson Availabilty Groups limitations with SIOS Datakeeper

After hearing all of the great sessions at SQL PASS Summit on Availability Groups, are you thinking about biting the bullet to upgrade to SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition? Before you get your checkbook out, stop and ask yourself these questions and also, allow me to introduce SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition.

Do I use/need

  • to lower my SQL Server cost?
  • replication or log shipping?
  • to minimize the impact that replication has on the performance of my application?
  • Lync Server, Dynamics CRM or other applications that use distributed transactions?
  • to ensure that SQL Agent jobs such as database backups, optimizations, DTS and others continue to run regardless of the node in service?
  • to ensure that SQL login accounts are kept in sync between cluster nodes?
  • to minimize my administrative burden?

Alwayson Availabilty Groups Limitations

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to reconsider your options when it comes to your SQL Server HA/DR deployment. While AlwaysOn Availability Groups certainly have their place, you may want to consider the overhead associate with them. Read my previous article. Also, you really need to consider what applications will be utilizing the SQL Server database as not all applications support AlwaysOn Availability Groups. This includes many of Microsoft’s applications such as Lync Server and others (check your application documentation).

Introducing SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition

What I would propose instead is to consider building a traditional active/passive cluster which overcomes all of the Alwayson Availabilty Groups Limitations listed above. But instead of using shared storage, use the cluster integrated block level replication solution from SIOS Technology called SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition. Using this replication solution, you are able to eliminate the SAN as a single point of failure as well as eliminate all of the limitations associated with AlwaysOn Availability Groups listed above. When you consider the possibility of using high speed local storage solutions such as @Fusionio in conjunction with DataKeeper, you can have a high speed, highly available SQL Server cluster with a minimal investment in hardware and software. And best of all, this solution works with SQL 2005/2008/2008R2/2012 Standard Edition as well as Enterprise Edition. The cost saving alone on SQL Server licensing can more than pay for the solution. More on costs saving in my next post.

How Should I Start?

You can buy a 2 server pre-package solution that includes HP, Dell or Supermicro servers, Fusion-io ioDrives. DataKeeper software to help you deploy you first high speed, highly available SQL cluster. For more information see the press release here.

http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2012/About/News/PressReleases/PartnerPressRelease9.aspx

Like how Datakeeper help overcome Alwayson Availabilty Groups limitations? Read here for more success stories

Reproduced with permission from Clusteringformeremortals.com

Need Alternatives to AlwaysOn Availability Groups, Try SIOS DataKeeper

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Looking For Alternatives to AlwaysOn Availability Groups?

Microsoft made announcements about its most widely anticipated availability options that is being introduced with SQL Server 2012. This changes include AlwaysOn Availability Groups which will only be available with the Enterprise Edition of SQL. The cost of SQL Server Enterprise is $27,496 for any server (that has up to 4 physical processors) vs. $7,172 for Standard Edition. To take advantage of “Read-Only” replica, the cost of the solution is doubled ($54,992) since you have to license both the source and the target server. With such a high price point, you begin to wonder if there are Alternatives to AlwaysOn Availability Groups. Keep reading. Because I’m going to introduce SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition which probably gives you the best bang for your buck.

The good news is that Microsoft still allows you to build 2-node clusters using SQL Server Standard Edition. Since this is generally deployed in an active-passive configuration, you do not have to license the standby server. So for $7,172 you can build a pretty robust 2-node SQL cluster. That’s assuming you have an enterprise class SAN that you can use to store your cluster data.

What’s that you say, you don’t have a SAN? Or you’d rather build a solution that eliminates the SAN as a single point of failure. And instead allows you to use data replication to keep the data in sync between cluster nodes the way that AlwaysOn Availability Groups allows you to? Or perhaps you want to use take advantage of the speed offered by local attached SSD drives such as those offered by Fusion-IO, but yet don’t want to give up on availability?

The Greatness of SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition

For the cost of a single copy of SQL Server 2012 Standard Edition and the very affordable addition of SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition, you’ll be able to deploy 2-node SQL Server 2012 Standard Edition clusters with data replication. Best part? It’s about half the cost of a 2-node SQL Server Enterprise Edition AlwaysOn Availability Group. Furthermore, it’s about ¼ of the price of a AlwaysOn Availability Group with read-only targets.

If you find yourself answering yes to any of the following questions. Then perhaps, it’s a sign to seek Alternatives to AlwaysOn Availability Groups. Windows Server Failover Clustering and DataKeeper Cluster Edition may be a wiser choice.

  • Am I concerned about the cost of SQL Server Enterprise Edition?
  • Do I use replication or log shipping?
  • Do I need to support Lync Server or other applications that use distributed transactions?
  • Do I need to ensure that SQL Agent jobs such as database backups, optimizations, DTS and others continue to run regardless of the node in service?
  • Do I need to ensure that SQL login accounts are kept in sync between cluster nodes?
  • Do I want to minimize my administrative burden?

We’ve Done The Comparison

The following chart summarizes your SQL Server 2012 availability options. We’ve included the 3rd option which is to build a traditional SQL cluster using Windows Server Failover Clustering with DataKeeper Cluster Edition.

SQL Server 2012 availability options including Datakeeper

Failover Clustering with DataKeeper Cluster Edition is going to save you plenty of money. And, it also is going to help you overcome some of the inherent limitations of AlwaysOn Availability Groups.

About the only thing you can’t do with the DataKeeper solution is to have read-only targets. As I mentioned earlier, read-only targets requires a second SQL license, so to have that feature will cost you minimally $54,938. If you really must have read-only targets, you’ll be glad to know that you can mix AlwaysOn Failover Clusters with DataKeeper and AlwaysOn Availability Groups. Basically you would wind up with a 2-node SQL failover cluster with DataKeeper and a single standalone SQL Server acting as a read-only target for an AlwaysOn Availability Group. In that case, you would still need two copies of SQL Server Enterprise Edition – one for the cluster and one for the read-only target.

Essentially, do check out possible Alternatives to AlwaysOn Availability Groups to save costs and improve work processes. I demonstrated this solution at Tech-Ed 2011 in Atlanta last year and got a lot of really positive feedback. This particular demonstration shows a 2-node multisite cluster. However, fret not the same concept can be applied to single site clusters.

https://clusteringformeremortals.com/2011/05/15/sql-server-denali-hadron-multisite-cross-subnet-failover-video-demonstration/

Reproduced with permission from https://clusteringformeremortals.com/2012/04/05/sql-server-2012-standard-edition-availability-options/

SQL Server 2012 Multi-site Failover Cluster For Disaster Recovery

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SQL Server 2012 Multi-site Failover Cluster for Disaster Recovery using SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition

Microsoft just released a great white paper on new support for SQL Server 2012 Multi-site Failover Cluster for Disaster Recovery. If you’re interested, you can download a copy here.

In fact, don’t forget that I blogged about this feature back in an earlier post. I included a video demonstration. It shows a SQL Server 2012 multisite failover cluster for disaster recovery using SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition. SQL Server 2012 and cross subnet failover capabilities will open up a whole new world of possibilities for people looking for disaster recovery options.

Reproduced with permission from https://clusteringformeremortals.com/2012/01/03/sql-server-2012-disaster-recovery-multisite-clusters/

Microsoft Now Officially Supports The iSCSI Software Target 3.3

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iSCSI Software Target 3.3 is now available for download

Just a few weeks ago I wrote an article about how to configure the iSCSI Software Target 3.3 in a cluster environment. While it is great for labs and testing, up until today it was not supported in a production environment. Well…that all changes today! Microsoft just announced that the iSCSI Software Target 3.3 is a freely available download and can be used on a production network.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/04/04/microsoft-iscsi-software-target-3-3-for-windows-server-2008-r2-available-for-public-download.aspx

DataKeeper Cluster Edition – High Availability/Disaster Recovery solution at great price

This all starts to get interesting once you start considering the possibility of building shared nothing iSCSI Target clusters with DataKeeper Cluster Edition. Build 2-nodes locally for High Availability and then place a 3rd one in a remote data center for Disaster Recovery. Now that is a pretty sweet HA/DR solution without having to break the bank!