AdvancedEnterprise
Enterprise Availability Groups
A highly resilient architecture ensuring zero data loss and minimal downtime for tier-1 applications.
Recommended Edition
SQL Server Enterprise
Version
2022
Best For
Business-critical High Availability
Required Components
- Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC)
- Multiple SQL Nodes
Optional Add-ons
- Read-only Routing
- Distributed AGs
Hardware / Cloud Recommendations
- Identical high-spec nodes
- Dedicated replication network
Licensing Notes
Requires Enterprise Edition. Secondary replicas may need licensing depending on read-intent usage.
Backup Recommendation
Offload backups to secondary replicas.
Monitoring Recommendation
SCOM or dedicated enterprise monitoring suite.
SQLDevDBA's Take
Always On Availability Groups are the gold standard for SQL Server high availability. The setup complexity is real, but once it's configured correctly the automatic failover behavior is excellent and well worth the investment.
Startup Checklist
- Download SQL Server installer from Microsoft (microsoft.com/sql-server/downloads)
- Install the SQL Server Database Engine
- Create a DBAAdmin database to house admin and maintenance scripts
- Enable the Dedicated Admin Connection (DAC) via sp_configure
- Configure and validate automated backup jobs
Security Checklist
- Certificate-based endpoint authentication for AG endpoints
- Strict network ACLs between cluster nodes
- Disable or deny the SA (System Administrator) login
- Configure Windows Firewall rules for SQL Server (TCP 1433) and WSFC (TCP 5022)
Additional (Optional) Checklist
- Install dbatools PowerShell module (dbatools.io) for automation and migrations
- Install Brent Ozar's First Responder Kit (sp_Blitz, sp_BlitzFirst, sp_BlitzIndex)
- Install Adam Machanic's sp_WhoIsActive for real-time active session monitoring
- Install Erik Darling's performance scripts (sp_PressureDetector, sp_HumanEvents)
- Install Ola Hallengren's Maintenance Solution for backups, integrity checks, and index maintenance
Architecture Diagram
Available in the Pro tier. Visual diagrams for every setup.