[Azure] How to take down a SQL Server without failover group?

Question

[Azure] How to take down a SQL Server without failover group?

Rushikesh Gaidhani 161

I setup an Azure SQL Server without failover groups but enabled with the GRS backup for the DBs. I want to take down the SQL server (as a disaster recovery drill) to test the backup and restore functionality. Also, I see the support for the SQL server in chaos studio is not yet available https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/chaos-studio/chaos-studio-fault-providers.

Is there any way to simulate a SQL server outage without using the failover groups?

Rushikesh Gaidhani 161 Reputation points

2023-08-25T14:22:34.41+00:00

it's about Azure Sql Server
Rushikesh Gaidhani 161 Reputation points

2023-08-28T20:01:45.73+00:00

Hi @SSingh-MSFT

Thanks for the detailed response but, I am more interested in this scenario

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/disaster-recovery-guidance?view=azuresql#geo-restore
particularly the following line,

You can request a geo-restore even if an outage has made the database or the entire region inaccessible.

I have a workflow to request a geo-restore via Azure CLI, so How can I simulate DB/region outage to validate the same?
SSingh-MSFT 16,461 Reputation points Moderator

2023-08-29T04:37:49.75+00:00

Hi Rushikesh Gaidhani •,

I would recommend you to please file a support ticket for deeper analysis of your scenario, in case if you don't have a support plan, do let us know here so that we can check on other options to unblock you.

Thanks
Rushikesh Gaidhani 161 Reputation points

2023-08-29T05:05:59.1633333+00:00

Sure, Thanks!

2 answers

Your answer

Rushikesh Gaidhani 161 Reputation points

2023-08-25T14:22:34.41+00:00

it's about Azure Sql Server
Rushikesh Gaidhani 161 Reputation points

2023-08-28T20:01:45.73+00:00

Hi @SSingh-MSFT

Thanks for the detailed response but, I am more interested in this scenario

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/disaster-recovery-guidance?view=azuresql#geo-restore
particularly the following line,

You can request a geo-restore even if an outage has made the database or the entire region inaccessible.

I have a workflow to request a geo-restore via Azure CLI, so How can I simulate DB/region outage to validate the same?
SSingh-MSFT 16,461 Reputation points Moderator

2023-08-29T04:37:49.75+00:00

Hi Rushikesh Gaidhani •,

I would recommend you to please file a support ticket for deeper analysis of your scenario, in case if you don't have a support plan, do let us know here so that we can check on other options to unblock you.

Thanks
Rushikesh Gaidhani 161 Reputation points

2023-08-29T05:05:59.1633333+00:00

Sure, Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Rushikesh Gaidhani •,

Thanks for the reply.

Performing a disaster recovery drill consists of:

Simulating data tier outage
Recovering
Validate application integrity post recovery.

In case you do not want to go for Failover Groups, please consider below:

Geo-restore

To prevent the potential data loss when conducting a disaster recovery drill, perform the drill using a test environment by creating a copy of the production environment and using it to verify the application's failover workflow.

Outage simulation

To simulate the outage, you can rename the source database. This name change causes application connectivity failures.

Recovery

Perform the geo-restore of the database into a different server as described in Azure SQL Database disaster recovery guidance.
Change the application configuration to connect to the recovered database and follow the Configure a database after recovery guide to complete the recovery.

Validation

Complete the drill by verifying the application integrity post recovery (including connection strings, logins, basic functionality testing, or other validations part of standard application signoffs procedures).

Reference documentation link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/disaster-recovery-drills?view=azuresql

Thanks