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com Praveen Madupu +91 98661 30093

Sr SQL Server DBA, Dubai
[email protected]

The high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) solutions available in SQL Server are Log Shipping,
Database Mirroring, Replication, Failover Cluster Instances (FCI), and Always On Availability Groups.

Each of these technologies has specific prerequisites and setup requirements.

Below is a detailed breakdown of the prerequisites for each.

1. Log Shipping Prerequisites

a. Edition Requirements:

● Available in SQL Server Standard and Enterprise Editions.

● Not available in SQL Server Express or SQL Server Web Edition.

b. Recovery Model:

● The database must be in the Full Recovery Model for transaction logs to be backed up and shipped.

c. SQL Server Agent:

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● SQL Server Agent must be running on both the primary and secondary servers because the log shipping
jobs rely on SQL Server Agent.

d. Backup Location:

● A shared folder (network path) accessible by both the primary and secondary servers is required to store
transaction log backups.
● The SQL Server service accounts on both the primary and secondary servers must have sufficient
permissions (read/write) on this shared folder.

e. Primary Server:

● A database on the primary server from which transaction logs will be shipped.

f. Secondary Server(s):

● One or more secondary servers where the transaction logs will be copied and restored.

g. Disk Space:

● Sufficient disk space on both primary and secondary servers for the transaction log backups and copies.
https://www.sqldbachamps.com Praveen Madupu +91 98661 30093
Sr SQL Server DBA, Dubai
[email protected]
h. SQL Server Version:

● The SQL Server version of the secondary server should be equal to or higher than the version on the
primary server.

i. Network:

● A reliable network connection between the primary and secondary servers is needed for copying
transaction log backups.

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https://www.sqldbachamps.com Praveen Madupu +91 98661 30093
Sr SQL Server DBA, Dubai
[email protected]

2. Database Mirroring Prerequisites

a. Edition Requirements:

● SQL Server Enterprise Edition supports both High-Safety with Automatic Failover and
High-Performance modes.
● SQL Server Standard Edition only supports High-Safety without Automatic Failover mode (no
asynchronous mirroring).

b. Recovery Model:

● The database must be in the Full Recovery Model.

c. Primary and Mirror Servers:

● Two SQL Server instances:

○ The Principal (primary) server.
○ The Mirror server.
● Optionally, a third server can be used as a Witness for automatic failover.

d. SQL Server Versions:

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● The mirror server must have the same or higher version of SQL Server as the principal server.

e. Database State:

● The database on the mirror server must be restored with NORECOVERY.

f. SQL Server Agent:

● SQL Server Agent is not required for database mirroring, but it can be used for monitoring and alerting.

g. Network Configuration:

● The principal, mirror, and witness (if used) servers must be able to communicate with each other via
TCP/IP.
● Port 5022 is used by default, but it can be customized.
● Reliable network connection with low latency is critical for synchronous mirroring (High-Safety mode).

h. Witness Server (Optional):

● For automatic failover, a third server (the Witness) is required.

https://www.sqldbachamps.com Praveen Madupu +91 98661 30093
Sr SQL Server DBA, Dubai
[email protected]

3. Replication Prerequisites
a. Edition Requirements:

● Available in SQL Server Standard and Enterprise Editions.

● Snapshot Replication and Transactional Replication are available in SQL Server Standard.
● Peer-to-Peer Transactional Replication and Merge Replication require SQL Server Enterprise
Edition.

b. Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber:

● Publisher: The server that owns the database objects and data to be replicated.
● Distributor: Can be the same as the Publisher or a separate instance. Stores replication metadata and
transactions.
● Subscriber: One or more servers where the replicated data is received.

c. Snapshot Folder:

● A network location for the snapshot folder that is accessible by the Distributor and Subscriber servers.

d. SQL Server Agent:

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● SQL Server Agent must be running on both Publisher and Distributor servers, as it manages the
replication jobs.

e. Replication Agents:

● Depending on the replication type, the following agents need to be configured:

○ Snapshot Agent (for all types of replication).
○ Log Reader Agent (for transactional replication).
○ Distribution Agent (for push or pull subscriptions).
○ Merge Agent (for merge replication).

f. Recovery Model:

● For Transactional Replication, the database must be in Full or Bulk-Logged recovery models.
● For Snapshot Replication, the recovery model can be Simple, Bulk-Logged, or Full.

g. Network Configuration:

● Reliable network communication between the Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber servers.

h. Database Schema:
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Sr SQL Server DBA, Dubai
[email protected]
● The database schema on the Subscriber should be compatible with that on the Publisher.

4. SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) Pre-requisites

a. Edition Requirements:

● Available in SQL Server Standard and Enterprise Editions.

● SQL Server Standard allows 2-node clusters, while Enterprise allows multi-node clusters.

b. Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC):

● SQL Server Failover Clustering requires Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) to be set up and
operational.

c. Shared Storage:

● The servers in the cluster must have access to shared storage (SAN, iSCSI, or SMB file shares) to host
the databases.

d. Network Configuration:

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●
●
A private network for communication between the nodes and a public network for client connections.
All cluster nodes must be on the same domain, and the network adapters must be correctly configured
with static IPs.

e. Quorum Configuration:

● A quorum configuration (Disk, File Share, or Cloud) is required to manage cluster node membership.

f. SQL Server Failover Cluster Setup:

● Install SQL Server on each node of the cluster by choosing the New SQL Server failover cluster
installation option.

g. Domain Accounts:

● Use domain service accounts for SQL Server services (SQL Server Database Engine, SQL Server
Agent) that have necessary permissions across all nodes.

h. Cluster Nodes:

● Each node in the cluster must have the same SQL Server version and edition installed.
https://www.sqldbachamps.com Praveen Madupu +91 98661 30093
Sr SQL Server DBA, Dubai
[email protected]

5. SQL Server Always On Availability Groups Prerequisites

a. Edition Requirements:

● Always On Availability Groups are available only in SQL Server Enterprise Edition.

b. Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC):

● Always On Availability Groups rely on WSFC for coordination between replicas. You must first set up a
Windows Failover Cluster.

c. Database Recovery Model:

● All databases in the Availability Group must be in the Full Recovery Model.

d. SQL Server Agent:

● SQL Server Agent should be running on all nodes for job management and automation.

e. Primary and Secondary Replicas:

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●
●
The primary replica is the server where the database is active and readable/writable.
One or more secondary replicas (up to 8) serve as copies of the primary database, which can be readable
(read-scale) or serve as failover targets.

f. Endorsement by Failover Cluster:

● The Windows Failover Cluster must endorse each node before participating in an Availability Group.

g. SQL Server Versions:

● All nodes (primary and secondary) must have the same or higher version of SQL Server.

h. Listener Configuration (Optional):

● You can configure a Listener to allow client applications to connect to the Availability Group with a single
name or virtual IP, rather than connecting to individual servers.

i. Network Configuration:

● The nodes must be able to communicate over a reliable network.

● It is also recommended to have a separate network for the Always On traffic to avoid performance issues.
https://www.sqldbachamps.com Praveen Madupu +91 98661 30093
Sr SQL Server DBA, Dubai
[email protected]
Summary:

Setting up any SQL Server high availability or disaster recovery solution requires careful planning and meeting
several technical prerequisites.

Each solution has its own set of specific requirements, including editions, recovery models, network setups, SQL
Server Agents, storage configurations, and more.

Ensure that these prerequisites are met before configuring any HA or DR setup in SQL Server to avoid common
pitfalls.

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