Azure SQL Database Disaster recovery

Question

Hi Team,

can you please tell me how to configure Disaster recovery to azure sql database, and what is the difference between failover group and standby replica, both are different? if different then which solution should I go?

Regards

Answer 1

@Ankush Gurjar Thanks for posting your question on Microsoft Q&A forum.

To configure disaster recovery for Azure SQL Database, you have two options: Failover Groups and Active Geo-Replication.

Failover Groups provide automatic failover and replication between two Azure SQL Databases in different regions. With Failover Groups, you can configure a primary database and one or more secondary databases in different regions. The secondary databases are kept in sync with the primary database using asynchronous replication. In the event of a regional outage or other disaster, the Failover Group will automatically failover to the secondary database in the other region. Failover Groups are ideal for scenarios where you need automatic failover and minimal downtime.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/failover-group-sql-db?view=azuresql

Active Geo-Replication, on the other hand, provides a manual failover solution for disaster recovery. With Active Geo-Replication, you can configure up to four readable secondary databases in different regions. The secondary databases are kept in sync with the primary database using asynchronous replication. In the event of a regional outage or other disaster, you can manually failover to one of the secondary databases. Active Geo-Replication is ideal for scenarios where you need more control over the failover process and can tolerate some downtime.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/active-geo-replication-overview?view=azuresql

Standby Replicas are a feature of Always On availability groups in SQL Server, whereas Failover Groups are a feature of Azure SQL Database. Standby Replicas provide a manual failover solution for on-premises SQL Server instances, whereas Failover Groups provide automatic failover and replication between two Azure SQL Databases in different regions.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/availability-groups/windows/overview-of-always-on-availability-groups-sql-server?view=sql-server-ver15

Read the below document for more details.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/failover-group-sql-db?view=azuresql&tabs=azure-powershell

Regards

Geetha