Does SQL Failover Group require the same resource group and elastic pool name across regions?

Question

Hi,

I'm working on setting up SQL PaaS failover using Failover Group, and I have a quick question regarding resource group and elastic pool naming requirements.

In my case:

I have two SQL servers, one in the primary region and one in the secondary region.

These two servers are in different resource groups.

• I created elastic pools on both servers, but initially gave them different names. (sqlelasticpool01 for primary and sqlelasticpool02 for secondary)

When I tried to add databases to the failover group, I got this message:

"The resource group of secondary server (rg-sql-secondary) is different than the resource group of primary server (rg-sql-primary), and the elastic pool 'sqlelasticpool01' doesn't exist on the secondary server 'sql-secondary'. Please click here to create elastic pool under rg-sql-secondary/sql-secondary before continuing configuring current failover group."

After I created a same-named elastic pool on the secondary server, I was able to add the database to the failover group.

So my questions are:

1. Is it required that both SQL servers are in the same resource group to use Failover Group?
2. Do the elastic pools on both servers have to have the same name for failover to work?
3. If the elastic pool names are different across regions, will the failover still succeed, or will it fail? (Although I created an elastic pool with the same name in the secondary region, I only set it up as a standby pool just to bypass the limitation that prevents adding databases to the failover group.)

Thank you!

Answer 1

Hello ElenaMarlowe-3376

I kindly request you to please refer the below information,

1. Is it required that both SQL servers are in the same resource group to use Failover Group?

• No, it's not required for both Azure SQL servers to be in the same resource group to use a Failover Group. The Failover Group feature allows you to manage replication and failover between logical servers in different regions, and they can belong to different resource groups

2. Do the elastic pools on both servers have to have the same name for failover to work?

• Yes, the elastic pools on both Azure SQL servers must have the same name for failover to work properly. If the names are different, you may encounter errors when adding databases to the failover group.

3. If the elastic pool names are different across regions, will the failover still succeed, or will it fail?

If the Azure elastic pool names are different across regions, the failover may not work correctly. The failover group expects the same elastic pool name on both primary and secondary servers to ensure seamless failover.

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

Answer 2

Hi ElenaMarlowe-3376

Thanks for using the Q&A platform.

Regarding your first, the answer is No, SQL servers in a failover group can be in different resource groups. The failover group works at the logical server level, and no Azure-level enforcement requires both servers to be in the same resource group.

The error you're seeing is not due to resource group mismatch, but related to the elastic pool name and its presence on the secondary server. The secondary must have an elastic pool with the same name, or you’ll get an error when setting up the failover group.

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

The failover will fail if the elastic pool names don’t match. Even if you manually configure a "standby" elastic pool with a different name, the failover mechanism will not redirect the database unless the target pool has the same name.

If the response was helpful, please feel free to mark it as “Accepted Answer” and consider giving it an upvote. This helps others in the community as well.

Regards,

Obinna