StandbyMP will revolutionize how organizations manage DR enterprise-wide by making the same Gold Standard of DR available to both Oracle SE and MS SQL Server users - all from a single common user interface.
Back to Blog
By Alex Masharov |
May 15, 2022 |
Dbvisit StandbyMP goes beyond the Disaster Recovery (DR) functionality bundled with Microsoft SQL Server, enabling you to achieve Gold Standard Disaster Recovery no matter your license type, number of databases, or experience.
This blog outlines a few of the weaknesses of Availability Groups (AGs) and provides a detailed comparison table and video of StandbyMP and Availability Groups on SQL Server.
Video comparison: AOAGs vs StandbyMP
Resiliency and data Loss
Let's dig into the resiliency of Availability Groups. Your secondary (standby) server should be located in a geographically distant region to provide resilience against power issues and natural disasters. In such situations, synchronous replication is difficult and expensive to implement without performance issues and asynchronous AGs are therefore frequently used. However, the use of asynchronous AGs for increased resilience limits the functionality and usability, with essential features like automated failovers, planned switchovers, and rollbacks no longer available.
StandbyMP adds automation and resiliency
StandbyMP's architecture is perfect for fully-featured replication to a geographically distant standby server, whether on-premise or in the cloud. Moreover, you get dual-standby capability, automation features, automated failovers, and one-click Graceful switchovers and rollbacks. This means you can not only respond to disasters quicker with less data loss, but also perform zero data loss patching, DR testing, or hardware upgrades.
Ease of operation
It's no use having Disaster Recovery that is "great on paper" but in reality is difficult and unreliable - forcing DBAs into unintuitive workflows and creating confusion at the worst possible time. Like scripting, complex workflows create risk by creating a dependence on key employees, constraining response times and flexibility, increasing training requirements, introducing opportunities for error, and reducing DBA productivity.
Besides the well-known limitation that each Basic Always On Availability Group only protects a single database, working with AGs can also be a challenge when performing routine database maintenance. For example, performing a switchover for a software upgrade could mean hours of work.
StandbyMP makes DR intuitive
An intuitive GUI, guided workflows, and one-click actions make DR accessible for all.
Benefits include:
• View DR configuration status from a single unified dashboard
• Automate failover (or 1-click failover).
• Gracefully switchover and roll-back (1-click action).
• Automate standby creation whenever a new DB is created
• Perform actions simultaneously across multiple databases.
Image - Single Unified Dashboard
Deal with unexpected challenges
Things don't always go as planned - which is why Disaster Recovery must be able to respond quickly and easily to unplanned events. Challenges with AOAGs include:
(1) Resynchronisation issues;
(2) Adapting to network changes, and;
(3) Reconfiguration following a failover.
Easily respond to the unexpected with StandbyMP
As database Disaster Recovery experts for over 15 years, there isn't much we haven't seen, and we know what works and what's needed. So you can deal with the unexpected when it happens, we have built unique functionality:
• Resynchronise your standby in a single click
• Clearly see problems in real-time
• One-click standby activation
• Access detailed logs for fast issue resolution
