News

SIOS Provides High Availability SQL Server Clusters on AWS

• By David Ramel
• 05/11/2017

SIOS Technology Corp. has launched services for simplifying and accelerating the deployment of high availability SQL Server clusters in the Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) cloud.

Called SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition, the offering is now available on the AWS Marketplace and also as an AWS Quick Start.

Quick Starts are automated reference deployments for key AWS workloads, created by AWS solutions architects and partners. They help users deploy popular solutions adhering to AWS security and high availability best practices. They can quickly and automatically implement key technologies on the AWS cloud and ease the building of testing or production environments.

"With the AWS Quick Start program, system administrators and managers can use the SIOS Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) on AWS Marketplace to see firsthand how easy it is to deploy a two-node SQL Server cluster in the cloud with SIOS DataKeeper," the company said in a statement yesterday. "The SIOS AMIs on AWS Marketplace provide an easy, convenient way for customers to purchase SIOS DataKeeper software to protect business critical applications in AWS."

The description of the SIOS Quick Start reads in part:

SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition is a highly optimized, host-based replication solution that helps configure and manage high-availability SQL Server clusters on the cloud, and integrates seamlessly with Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC). WSFC features, such as cross-subnet failover and tunable heartbeat parameters, make it possible for administrators to deploy geographically dispersed clusters. SIOS DataKeeper provides the data replication mechanism that extends WSFC, and enables administrators to take advantage of these advanced features to support high availability and disaster recovery configurations without the need for shared storage.

On the AWS Marketplace, SIOS offers DataKeeper running on Windows Server 2012 R2 in two versions: a bring-your-own-license (BYOL) edition; and one with SQL Server 2014 Standard. The latter is the newer of the two offerings, with hourly or annual pricing stating at $0.22/hour or $1,670/year. A free trial is available.

"Traditionally, many businesses have protected their most important database applications on premises," said SIOS CEO Jerry Melnick in a statement. "And in the past, IT network, storage, and server experts took months to plan, order, install, and configure physical environments for HA failover clustering. Now the same HA capabilities are available in the cloud and configurable on AWS quickly and easily -- saving months of effort, improving operational flexibility and drastically lowering costs to setup and maintain.

"The AWS Marketplace offering and SIOS DataKeeper Quick Start deployment for AWS are comprehensive solutions that helps simplify the transition to operating high availability SQL Server in the cloud, ultimately freeing IT staff to support additional business-driving initiatives."