Case Study

The right tool for the SQL Server DR job

When a global leader in power tools wanted a smarter alternative to manage Log Shipping on SQL Server SE databases, they turned to Dbvisit StandbyMP to get the job done right, avoiding the cost and challenges of moving to Enterprise Edition and Availability Groups.

The situation

Headquartered in the USA, this global leader provides the tools and innovative engineering solutions that their customers trust to get the job done. With 100+ manufacturing facilities and a global footprint spanning 60 countries, they employ over 60,000 employees and generate revenues in excess of $14.5 billion.

The customer's challenge was finding an effective way to manage their disaster recovery for a legacy application. Moving to Enterprise Edition and Availability Groups would entail a 4x license uplift cost, as well as significant migration complexity. The customer, therefore, looked for viable alternatives.

The affected architecture was a single SQL Server Instance containing three databases that were very active and business-critical. Their legacy solution utilized Log Shipping to a remote standby site every fifteen minutes to meet their business continuity requirements.

The underlying Log Shipping architecture was liked, but long-term management was problematic for their DBAs. As is typical for Log Shipping environments, the solution had to be frequently manually updated, with confusion existing as to the current state of database replication. As a result, whenever issues occurred - either during planned routine maintenance or in emergency situations - the DBA team often found it more expedient to rebuild the entire Log Shipping solution from scratch, rather than fix the existing disaster recovery configuration. This was of course a significant waste of time and a source of much frustration for the team.

Overview

Solution:

StandbyMP delivers Enterprise class Disaster Recovery on MS SQL Server Standard Edition without the need to move over to Enterprise Edition
Removes the complexity of managing Log Shipping
Simple installation and testing, requiring just a fraction of DBA time and avoids lengthy migration to Availability Groups

Results:

Met the business continuity target of 15 minute RTO and near zero data loss
Avoided a 4x license cost increase associated with Enterprise Edition
Enabled best practice DR processes to be implemented, including regular DR testing

How the solution works

StandbyMP maintains a copy of their primary database on a remote standby site, synchronizing it by regularly shipping transaction logs from the Primary. There was no need to set up shared storage (which can in itself be a single point of failure), and no requirement to set up a High Bandwidth Low Latency network as would have been needed for synchronous data streaming.

The solution is fully automated - once the Standby database was set up, no on-going action is required to keep it up-to-date. In addition, advanced functionality allows standby databases to be automatically created as new databases are added on the Primary. This provides a failsafe way to ensure their production data is always protected, and is invaluable given their busy SQL Server environments.

A comprehensive and intuitive GUI simplifies both configuring and managing DR configurations, standardizes work flows, and saves valuable time for their DBAs.

Log Shipping is great when it works but, when it breaks it’s such a headache and you usually have to just start over. StandbyMP manages DR so much better – now it’s not just a case of looking back at notes from last year and trying to understand what was done. While being based on Log Shipping, Standby is overall a far superior solution for SQL Server DR.

The smarter alternative to Log Shipping on Standard Edition

The customer was looking for a better way to manage and monitor their Disaster Recovery. Outside of Log Shipping, there weren't any viable SQL Server Standard Edition DR options available to them, other than upgrading to EE for Availability Groups.

Implementing StandbyMP delivered Enterprise-class DR without the costs and challenges of upgrading to Enterprise Edition.

Tags: SQL Server

Enterprise Class DR without the need to upgrade to Enterprise Edition

In Summary

StandbyMP was the solution the customer had been hunting for. It provided the Global Leader in power tools a best-practice DR solution for a highly active and business-critical SQL Server instance. Importantly, the solution eliminated their log shipping management challenges and enabled the DR to be easily managed and monitored.

• The customer required a replacement for their highly manual and time-consuming log shipping Disaster Recovery.
• StandbyMP enabled their proven log shipping architecture to be retained and avoided a complex migration to Availability Groups.
• Avoided 4X licensing cost uplift of moving to Enterprise Edition.
• Intuitive and fast workflows eliminate the previous time-consuming requirement to frequently rebuild the standby databases.
• Facilitated best practice processes including DR Testing.