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AWS Debuts Launch Wizard for SQL Server
Amazon Web Services this week announced AWS Launch Wizard for SQL Server, designed to simplify the process of sizing, configuring and deploying highly available Microsoft SQL Server solutions.
Specificially, AWS Launch Wizard for SQL Server eases the process of deploying self-managed Microsoft SQL Server Always On Availability Groups on the Amazon EC2 compute service.
"You simply input your SQL Server requirements including performance, number of nodes, and connectivity on the service console, and AWS Launch Wizard identifies the right AWS resources to deploy and run your SQL Server Always On application," the cloud giant said in a Nov. 13 post. "AWS Launch Wizard presents you with an estimated cost of deployment, and gives you the ability to modify your resources and instantly see an updated cost assessment. Once you approve, AWS Launch Wizard provisions and configures these resources to create a fully functioning production-ready SQL Server Always On application in just a few hours. It also creates custom CloudFormation templates for repeatable automation."
AWS's Steve Roberts published a detailed examination of the new service, which characterized as accelerating a journey to the cloud from enterprises who may be experts in their own domains but lack "tribal knowledge" of the cloud platform.
[Click on image for larger view.] AWS Launch Wizard for SQL Server (source: AWS).
"The wizard walks you through an end-to-end deployment experience of Always On Availability Groups using prescriptive guidance," Roberts said. "By answering a few high-level questions about the application such as required performance characteristics the wizard will then take care of identifying, provisioning, and configuring matching AWS resources such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances, Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes, and an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud. Based on your selections the wizard presents you with a dynamically generated estimated cost of deployment – as you modify your resource selections, you can see an updated cost assessment to help you match your budget."
Use cases listed by the company include:
- Set-up production-ready SQL Server Always On deployments
- Cost optimize SQL Server Always On deployment
- Test new SQL Server Always On configurations
- Connect on-premises Active Directory to SQL Server Always On deployments
The tool is free for use, with customers only responsible for paying for AWS resources that are provisioned for running SQL Server applications.
About the Author
David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.