Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn

Availability Groups for Virtual

Environment & Veeam
Ali Salman
Senior System
Engineer

© 2018 Veeam Software. Confidential information. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

Contents
1.0 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.0 Brief Introduction SQL cluster technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.1 SQL Failover Cluster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.2 SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.3 Comparison of Failover Cluster Instances and Availability Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3.0 Microsoft SQL Cluster and Virtualization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3.1 Limitations of SQL Failover Cluster in Virtual Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3.2 Benefits of SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups in Virtual Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4.0 Protect SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups with Veeam Backup & Replication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.1 Image-level Backup of Microsoft SQL Server VMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.2 Transaction Log Backup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.3 SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups Restore options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.3.1 Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.3.2 Easily restore Microsoft SQL Server databases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.3.3 SQL Server backup and flexible recovery options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4.3.4 Export Microsoft SQL Databases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4.3.5 Flexible options for your current needs and long-term strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4.3.6 Transaction log backup and replay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

About Veeam Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

1.0 Background
Virtualization provides agility and flexibility so businesses can achieve an Always-On Enterprise™. As part of the virtualization
strategy, enterprisers are virtualizing their mission critical applications.

Enterprise-level companies commonly use Microsoft SQL platform for their Tier 1 applications and this platform is frequently
operated on VMware and Hyper-V environments.

For the AlwaysOn Availability of SQL database, organizations have the following choices:
1. Microsoft SQL Failover Cluster
2. Microsoft SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups.

Another important choice that enterprises have to make is which clustering model they should use to compliment virtualization
and be less complex for the environment and administrators while providing the best performance and high Availability.

2.0 Brief Introduction SQL cluster technology

2.1 SQL Failover Cluster
SQL Failover Cluster instances leverage Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) functionality to provide local high Availability
through redundancy at the server-instance level — a failover cluster instance (FCI). A FCI is a single instance of SQL Server that
is installed across Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) nodes and, possibly, across multiple subnets. On the network,
an FCI appears to be an instance of SQL Server running on a single computer, but the FCI provides failover from one WSFC node
to another if the active node becomes unavailable.

An FCI must use shared storage between all nodes of the FCI for database and logs storage. The storage is the single point
of failure in FCI cluster.

2.2 SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups

AlwaysOn Availability Groups relies on the Windows Failover Clustering (WSFC) cluster to monitor and manage the current roles
of the Availability replicas that belong to a given Availability Group and to determine how a failover event affects the Availability
of replicas. A WSFC resource Groups is created for every Availability Group that you create. The WSFC cluster monitors this
resource Groups to evaluate the health of the primary replica.

AlwaysOn Availability Groups does not depend on any form of shared storage.

2.3 Comparison of Failover Cluster Instances and Availability Groups

The following table describes the distinctions in concepts between nodes in an FCI and replicas within an Availability Groups:

Item Node within an FCI Replicas within an Availability Groups

Uses Windows Server Failover Cluster Yes Yes

Protection Level Instance Databases

Storage Type Shared Non-shared

Storage solutions Direct attached, SAN, mount points, SMB Depends on node type

Readable No* Yes

Applicable failover policy settings WSFC quorum WSFC quorum

FCI-specific Availability Groups settings
Availability Groups settings**

Failed-over resources Server, instance and database Database

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Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

3.0 Microsoft SQL Cluster and Virtualization

Let’s have a brief look at the limitations and benefits listed below:

3.1 Limitations of SQL Failover Cluster in Virtual Environment

• SQL Failover Cluster uses shared disk architecture
• SQL Failover Cluster requires pRDM (Physical RAW device mapping) or pass-through disk in virtual environments
• During backup operations, all the read write operations are on the production environment which frequently
leads to performance issues
• VMware and Hyper-V Availability features are not fully compatible
• Shared Disk is a single point of failure
• Agentless backup is not possible in SQL Failover Cluster
• Agent-based backup & restores.

3.2 Benefits of SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups in Virtual Environment

• AlwaysOn Availability Groups provides protection on the database level rather than on the instance level, allowing multiple
databases to fail over as a single unit
• The AlwaysOn Availability Groups do not require a shared disk architecture
• Offload backup to a secondary replica
• Ability to read from secondary replica
• Better application abstraction using the Listener Like FCI AG to provide a flexible failover policy with WSFC
• VMware Availability features, such as vSphere vMotion, vSphere HA and vSphere DRS, are fully compatible with AlwaysOn
Availability Groups
• Hyper-v Availability features, such as live migration and replication, are fully compatible with AlwaysOn Availability Groups
• Support Cross-site SQL cluster
• Agentless backup and restore operations.

3.3 Conclusion
Always-On Availability Groups allow enterprises to increase fault tolerance between active and hot-standby databases without
involving shared physical disks, which is quite important for virtualization of Microsoft SQL Servers.

Following are the key points:

• Off-load backup operations to a secondary replica
• Ability to read from secondary replica
• Fully supported Hyper-V & VMware Availability features
• Agentless backup approach
• Better storage optimization and options
• Avoids complex configuration such as Physical raw device mapping, pass-through disk, shared disk architecture and configuration
• Provides better Availability on database level
• Easy to manage and configure.

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Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

4.0 Protect SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups with

Veeam Backup & Replication
Veeam® Backup & Replication™ supports AlwaysOn Availability Groups for virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and later.

4.1 Image-level Backup of Microsoft SQL Server VMs

During image-level backup of a Microsoft SQL Server VM, Veeam Backup & Replication requests and analyzes
information about databases that are included in the AlwaysOn Availability Groups. Depending on the retrieved
information, Veeam Backup & Replication creates a VSS snapshot with or without a COPY_ONLY flag. The VSS_BS_COPY
flag for VSS snapshot is triggered if the VM represents a secondary node for at least one AlwaysOn Availability Groups.

4.2 Transaction Log Backup

Transaction log backup can be performed only for those databases that were successfully backed up, either on the primary or on
the secondary node of AlwaysOn Availability Groups.

The transaction logs processing interval may be the same or may differ through VMs included in AlwaysOn Availability Groups. If
the interval is different, Veeam Backup & Replication will use minimal value (by default, 15 minutes).

At each log processing interval, Veeam Backup & Replication chooses the AlwaysOn Availability Groups node for which
transaction logs will be backed up.

Logs are backed up from one node of the AlwaysOn Availability Groups. To become a subject for log backup, the node must meet
the following criteria:
• Required Veeam Backup & Replication components can be installed on this node (the VM must be running)
• If there are any logs remaining in the temporary folder on the node of an AlwaysOn Availability Group, this means these logs
were not backed up to the backup repository during the previous session of the transaction log backup job, so this AlwaysOn
Availability Group node must be processed first
• Databases in the AlwaysOn Availability Groups(s) for this node were successfully backed up for the last two processing intervals
• Veeam Backup & Replication can establish a network connection to the node (or VIX connection, if connection over network
cannot be established)
• The VM is in the list of preferred nodes for backup retrieved from the Microsoft SQL Server. If there are no preferred nodes,
any node can be chosen.

4.3 SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups Restore options

4.3.1 Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server
Veeam Explorer™ for Microsoft SQL Server gives you fast, transaction-level recovery of SQL databases. With agentless
transaction log backup and replay, you can quickly perform point-in-time restores of your Microsoft SQL Server databases —
down to an individual transaction — achieving recovery time and point objectives (RTPO™) of < 15 minutes.

4.3.2 Easily restore Microsoft SQL Server databases

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server delivers an easy-to-use, wizard-driven interface for restoring your databases from
a backup. It’s easy!

There’s no need to search for the location of the database and log files in a file-level recovery session or to spend time attaching
restored files back to SQL Server — the entire process is fully automated. Select the SQL Server backup and click to:

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Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

• Restore databases to a specific point in time

• Restore to the same or different SQL Server
• Restore to original location with one click
• Export to a specified location and attach to a SQL Server later.

The Enterprise Manager web interface even provides a complete view of all your available SQL databases to simplify the
recovery of deleted or lost databases.

4.3.3 SQL Server backup and flexible recovery options

Veeam simplifies SQL Server recovery by providing you several options for restore. From a single image-level backup, you can
restore databases or tables and you don’t need to be an expert or know what MDF, NDF and LDF files mean — the wizard-driven
recovery process will guide you through, detecting all available databases and instances that you can restore, but that’s not all:
• You can perform a restore of multiple databases at once or all databases on a server
• If a database is too large to be restored in a timely manner, you can consider performing table-level recovery in scenarios
when there are no dependencies between the restored and other existing tables
• You can run transaction log replay to perform quick point-in-time restores.

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Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

4.3.4 Export Microsoft SQL Databases

In Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server, you can export a database to its original location with one click. The selected
database can be exported as of the current restore point, to a certain point in time or to the state prior to a selected transaction.
Moreover, based on your needs you can export a database to custom locations and attach it to any SQL Servers. Veeam Explorer
for Microsoft SQL Server also allows you to easily export database schema state as of the current restore point to a default folder
or to a custom location.

4.3.5 Flexible options for your current needs and long-term strategy
Veeam’s Availability solutions come in different configurations, giving you powerful backup, restore and replication features for
VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V virtualized environments. From limited local database restores in Veeam Backup Free
Edition to agentless transaction log backup and replay, transaction-level recovery of databases and SQL objects found in Veeam
Backup & Replication, Veeam is the perfect fit no matter your specific needs or budget.

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Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

4.3.6 Transaction log backup and replay

Restoring a SQL database and ensuring low RTPO has never been so easy! With agentless transaction log backup and replay,
you can perform quick point-in-time restores up to a certain transaction, like rolling back the delete or insert query.

Transaction log backup is a separate option that can be triggered during a SQL Server backup job configuration. It is complementary
to the main image-level backup job and runs every 15 minutes (or less), taking incremental changes of the database. This enables
granular, transaction-level recoveries for SQL databases.

Recovery is simple — just use the slider interface to identify whether you want to recover to a point in time or perform a more
granular restore by entering a specific time and in one click, you can recover your database.

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Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

About the Author

Ali Salman is a Senior System Engineer at Veeam Software. He has over 14 years of
experience in managing virtualization, data center operations, Microsoft platforms
and various applications. He is a VMware Certified Professional (VCP), Microsoft
Certified Professional (MCP), Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP), Microsoft
Certified Trainer (MCT), Microsoft Certified Solution Expert (MCSE) and Citrix
Certified Administrator (CCA) to name a few things.

Follow Ali Salman on @VMAliSalman or @Veeam.

About Veeam Software

Veeam® recognizes the new challenges companies across the globe face in enabling the Always-On Business™,
a business that must operate 24.7.365. To address this, Veeam has pioneered a new market of Availability for the
Always-On Enterprise™ by helping organizations meet recovery time and point objectives (RTPO™) of < 15 minutes for
all applications and data, through a fundamentally new kind of solution that delivers high-speed recovery, data loss
avoidance, verified protection, leveraged data and complete visibility. Veeam Availability Suite™, which includes Veeam
Backup & Replication™, leverages virtualization, storage, and cloud technologies that enable the modern data center
to help organizations save time, mitigate risks, and dramatically reduce capital and operational costs.

Founded in 2006, Veeam currently has 51,000 ProPartners and more than 267,500 customers worldwide. Veeam‘s
global headquarters are located in Baar, Switzerland, and the company has offices throughout the world. To learn more,
visit http://www.veeam.com.

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Benefits of using SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for Virtual Environment & Veeam

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