High Availability options for SQL Server 2008 in an Azure VM - a #sqlhelp story

on February 1, 2020

I asked a question on Twitter yesterday: “If running SQL Server 2008 in an Azure VM (no SQL upgrade possible, extended support in place), is the best option for high availability Database Mirroring? Or something else I am not thinking of? #sqlhelp”

And check out the magic of the sqlhelp hash tag, I got loads of answers! So many that I’m actually selecting a few here for the purposes of keeping this post readable. First, John Morehouse , a consultant who does a lot of great work in the cloud and on-prem helped me figure out what would be needed for clustering (which isn’t something you can do simply with this version in an Azure VM)…

I belive you could also cluster it but you’ll need SIOS for the storage. I think. DisclaImer: I’ve never tried it. Mirroring should work as well and might be simpler. #sqlhelp

I also got input from two folks at Microsoft, Oscar Zamora and Amit Banerjee.

SIOS, mirroring or VM replication/Azure site recovery #sqlhelp

Glenn Berry](https://twitter.com/GlennAlanBerry) chimed in – he is also a consultant and specializes in topics like high availability and performance.

As others have said, Failover clustering using SIOS for the shared storage. Instance-level protection, that would be easier to maintain than DBM. #sqlhelp

Other folks responded as well. It can be so useful to get multiple perspectives on a topic, and I’m continuously amazed at how helpful folks in the Microsoft Data Platform community are when they can help out with a question.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out!