In our previous article, SQL Server 2008 Overview, we looked over the different features that the Microsoft SQL Server provides. In this article we will focus on the new and advanced features of the latest SQL Server release – SQL Server 2012. They include, but are not limited to, the new High Availability solution AlwaysOn, improved security, and the capability of syncing with the cloud.
AlwaysOn consists of two main components – AlwaysOn Availability Groups and AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances. Let’s first focus on the Availability Groups. An availability group is a combination of databases that are hosted on a primary server and up to four secondary servers. Each availability group member is capable of replying to clients’ requests in the event that the primary group member is unavailable. All the databases in an availability group fail over to another group member together. This functionality is built on top of the Windows Server Failover Clustering feature and requires its installation.
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