Read the article to learn how to set up an SQL Server on the “Clusterless” option. At Bobcares, with our Microsoft SQL Server Support Service, we can handle your SQL Server issues.

How to set up an SQL Server on the “Clusterless” option?

Always-on SQL Server Availability Groups (AGs) are frequently used in conjunction with high-availability and disaster recovery solutions in SQL Server. There may be situations when we want to deploy Always On without a conventional cluster, though. This setup is referred to as “Always On Availability Groups without a Windows Failover Cluster.”

Required Steps

1. Multiple standalone SQL Server instances will be running on various servers in this configuration. These instances work independently of one another and are not coordinated by a Windows Failover Cluster.

2. In the same way that we would in a conventional Always On configuration, we can establish availability groups and add databases to them. The ability in order to duplicate and synchronize databases across several SQL Server instances is made possible by availability groups.

3. Failures between replicas without a Windows Failover Cluster will require user intervention. So, we must use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or T-SQL commands to start failovers. This indicates that in the event of a server or instance failure, there won’t be an automated failover.

4. Because each independent SQL Server instance needs its own license, keep licensing expenses in mind.

5. Depending on the needs, we can also set up synchronous or asynchronous replication between copies. Asynchronous replication has lower latency but may have some data lag, while synchronous replication delivers data consistency but may introduce latency.

6. In order to spread connections among the replicas, the application can use load-balancing techniques or connection strings. We’ll have to handle this manually, though.

7. Data protection features like readable secondaries, backup preferences, and automated seeding for new databases are still offered by Always On AGs.

8. Implement reliable monitoring and alerting systems to quickly identify problems and start manual failovers.

9. Although automated failover is not possible in this configuration, we can use our own scripts or other solutions to automate failovers based on specific situations.

10. Laslty, check to see if the network and storage infrastructure can accommodate the data replication needs of the availability groups.

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Conclusion

We can see 10 points and considerations from our Experts for implementing Always On without a cluster on SQL Server.