Achieving application consistent recovery points of SQL Server 2008 R2 with Azure Site Recovery in Azure
If you want to use ASR to replicate SQL Server 2008 R2 standalone or clustered instances, you will need to update the SQL Writer to 2012 or later. You can use SQL express version as it is a free download ... continue reading
Major Cloud Outage impacts Google Compute Engine – Were you prepared?
Google first reported an “Issue” on Jun 2, 2019 at 12:25 PDT. As is now common in any type of disaster, reports of this outage first appeared on social media. It seems now the most reliable place to get any ... continue reading
New Azure “SQL Server settings” blade in the Azure Portal
I just noticed today that there is a new blade in the Azure portal when creating a new SQL Server virtual machine. I’ve been looking for an announcement regarding this new Azure portal experience, but I haven’t found one yet ... continue reading

Microsoft Build 2019 Announcements and Sessions on Demand
If you are like me and were unable to get away from the office to attend Microsoft Build 2019 you will be glad to know that Microsoft has published all the sessions and are available online at no charge. Being ... continue reading
Storage Considerations for Running SQL Server in Azure
If you are deploying SQL Server in Azure, or any Cloud platform for that matter, instead of just provisioning storage like you did for your on-premises deployments for many years, you may consider that storage in the Azure isn’t exactly ... continue reading
Step-By-Step: How to Configure A SQL Server 2008 R2 Failover Cluster Instance on Windows Server 2008 R2 In Azure
Intro On July 9, 2019, support for SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 will end. That means the end of regular security updates. However, if you move those SQL Server instances to Azure, Microsoft will give you three years of ... continue reading

Achieving SQL Server HA/DR with a mix of Always On Availability Groups and SANless SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances
Introduction The topic of mixing SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) with Always On Availability Groups (AG) is pretty well documented. However, most of the available documentation documents configurations that assume the SQL Server FCI portion of the solution utilizes ... continue reading
Configure SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance on Azure Virtual Machines with MSDTC #SQL #Azure #MSDTC
If you have been following my blog, you probably know that I write a lot of step-by-step guides for building SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) on Azure, from SQL Server 2008 through the lastest. Here are some links to ... continue reading

Step-by-Step: How to configure a SQL Server 2008 R2 Failover Cluster Instance in Azure
Introduction If you are reading this article you probably are still using SQL Server 2008/2008 R2 and want to take advantage of the extended security updates that Microsoft is offering if you move your SQL Server 2008/2008 R2 into Azure ... continue reading

TICK TOCK…6 MONTHS UNTIL SQL SERVER 2008/2008 R2 SUPPORT EXPIRES UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION
If you are still running SQL Server 2008/2008 R2 you probably have heard by now that as of July 9, 2019, you will no longer be supported. However, realizing that there are still a significant number of customers running on ... continue reading