In which scenario will we not use Always on and use Mirroring / Logshipping ?

  • Hello ,

    I was in a question-answer session with a small group and someone did asked me that do we have scenario in which we need to use mirrori8ng / log shipping when you are on SQL 2012 and maintain HA . I didn't have any answer . Do you guys can think of something ?

  • the only reason you might use mirroring in 2012 is because AGs require Enterprise edition of sql server.

    Same goes for log shipping too.

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    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • I'm with Perry. AG is superior in every possible way except the licensing costs.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • If I'm not mistaken, 2014 removed the restriction of AG being only available for Enterprise Edition.

    So, if we can safely assume you are using SQL Server 2014 (cause you are asking in the 'Administration - SQL Server 2014' thread) - then I personally can think of no situation where it would be better to use Log Shipping and Mirroring over AlwaysOn Availability Groups.

  • Dougieson (12/14/2015)


    If I'm not mistaken, 2014 removed the restriction of AG being only available for Enterprise Edition.

    So, if we can safely assume you are using SQL Server 2014 (cause you are asking in the 'Administration - SQL Server 2014' thread) - then I personally can think of no situation where it would be better to use Log Shipping and Mirroring over AlwaysOn Availability Groups.

    Nope. It's still Enterprise only and you can validate that on the prerequisites page. There are rumors that this will change in 2016, but no official word yet from Microsoft.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • My mistake, I was thinking about Failover Cluster Instances >.<

    You can configure a Two Node environment with Standard, but you're right - AG is only available with Enterprise.

  • Dougieson (12/14/2015)


    My mistake, I was thinking about Failover Cluster Instances >.<

    You can configure a Two Node environment with Standard

    This has been possible since sql server 2005 😉

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    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • You could use log shipping to introduce a restore latency (in addition to the 'natural' latency of Log Shipping) for the Secondary DBs if you don't want it to be transactionally up to date.

    Ie...If someone deleted a load of data by mistake, an AG/Mirror would be impacted instantly whereas there would be a delay before the Secondary is hit with LS. This is a very specific requirement though so AG gets my vote any day as well.

  • rodbloke (12/18/2015)


    You could use log shipping to introduce a restore latency (in addition to the 'natural' latency of Log Shipping) for the Secondary DBs if you don't want it to be transactionally up to date.

    Ie...If someone deleted a load of data by mistake, an AG/Mirror would be impacted instantly whereas there would be a delay before the Secondary is hit with LS. This is a very specific requirement though so AG gets my vote any day as well.

    if you're send or redo queue is slow then you'll also get a delay with an AG secondary too 😉

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    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • Yes, completely right. I don't think it could be used to give a guaranteed minimum latency though if needed.

  • Perry Whittle (12/16/2015)


    Dougieson (12/14/2015)


    My mistake, I was thinking about Failover Cluster Instances >.<

    You can configure a Two Node environment with Standard

    This has been possible since sql server 2005 😉

    Failover Cluster Instances were implemented with 2005, correct, but I thought it wasn't til 2012 that it became available for Standard edition - just working off my memory though, I haven't bothered googling to verify.

  • Dougieson (12/18/2015)


    Perry Whittle (12/16/2015)


    Dougieson (12/14/2015)


    My mistake, I was thinking about Failover Cluster Instances >.<

    You can configure a Two Node environment with Standard

    This has been possible since sql server 2005 😉

    Failover Cluster Instances were implemented with 2005, correct, but I thought it wasn't til 2012 that it became available for Standard edition - just working off my memory though, I haven't bothered googling to verify.

    No, SQL Server 2005 Standard edition supports failover clustering for two nodes only. SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition supports more than two nodes.

    Windows Server Enterprise edition or higher was required for failover clustering in Windows Server 2003 to 2008 R2. Starting with Windows Server 2012 failover clustering was also available on standard edition.

    Availability groups requires Windows Server clustering installed and configured, but SQL Server is installed locally. If you run SQL Server 2012 Enterprise edition on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard edition Availability groups is not available, but mirroring is.

    You can use log shipping if no direct communication between the two nodes is possible, for example by copying the transaction log backups using ftp or sneaker-net :-D.

    You can create different (read-only or read-write) time-based forks of your database using log shipping. For example the database states of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on. Or to a higher SQL Server version. This may useful for development, testing, etc, but also for auditing, data recovery, and offloading reporting and exports.

    You can use log shipping without changing the configuration of the primary server, as long as regular transaction log backups are created.

    You can use log shipping with Express edition, but you will have to script it yourself.

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