This webinar is on high availability features for Microsoft Windows Server and SQL Server running on the AWS Cloud. Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) and SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups are part of the underpinnings for many enterprise-class solutions, including Microsoft SharePoint and .NET applications.

1. Implementing Windows and SQL Server
for High Availability on AWS
Presented by Miles Ward
Content by David Pae & Ulf Schoo
Deck by Colin White
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2. Before You Get Started
This is an advanced topic. If you are new to AWS, please visit
the “Getting Started with AWS” section of the documentation.
You should also be familiar with the following topics:
• Amazon EC2
• Amazon VPC
• Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server Active Directory and DNS
• Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC)
• SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups
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3. Introduction
The goal of a high availability configuration is to protect from failure of a single instance.
This guide discusses architectural considerations and configuration steps when launching
the necessary AWS services to run WSFC across different subnets and Availability Zones,
and also provides instructions for installing and configuring WSFC and an AlwaysOn
Availability Group. We also provide you with two sample AWS CloudFormation templates to
help deploy the necessary infrastructure predictably and repeatedly.
Implementing a WSFC cluster and AlwaysOn Availability Group in the AWS cloud is not
different from deploying on-premises as long as two requirements are met:
• Deploy the cluster nodes inside a VPC
• Put WSFC cluster nodes in separate subnets
This presentation gives an overview of the process to create the example solution. It does
not outline each step. For the detailed overview, please consult the whitepaper available
here: http://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/microsoft-wsfc-sql-alwayson/
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4. Microsoft Platform on AWS
• Partnership to support running Windows
Server-based workloads on AWS
• Windows Server, SQL Server on AWS today
– Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) jointly
developed by Microsoft and AWS
• SharePoint Server and other Microsoft
server products can be licensed to run on
AWS
Two licensing models:
•Windows Server
•SQL Server Standard
Pay-as-you-go – AMI
pricing includes
software
•SQL Server Enterprise
•SharePoint Server
•Other Microsoft Windows Server products
BYOL – use existing
licenses on AWS
General info on AWS and License Mobility for a variety of MS server products:
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/mslicensemobility/
Detail on AWS and License Mobility with SQL Server:
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/mslicensemobility/sql/
Microsoft “License Mobility through Software Assurance” gives Microsoft Volume Licensing
customers the flexibility to deploy Windows server applications with active Microsoft Software
Assurance on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
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5. Summary – What You Will Learn
Part 1 Configure the Virtual Network and
Active Directory Infrastructure
Part 2 Launch the WSFC Cluster Nodes
Part 3 Install a SQL Server 2012
AlwaysOn Availability Group
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6. Summary – What You Will Build
One Amazon VPC
One public route
One Internet Gateway
Security Groups
to control the secure flow of traffic between
the instances deployed in the Amazon VPC
•4 private subnets and 1 public subnet
•1 private route
•1 Windows Server 2008 R2–based Remote Desktop Gateway instance
•1 Linux-based NAT instance to enable administrative ingress and egress
•2 Elastic IP Addresses associated with the NAT and RDGW instances
•1 Windows Server 2008 R2–based instance to host the Active Directory
•1 Windows Server 2008 R2–based instance to host the WSFC Node and
SQL Server 2012 Instance
Per Availability Zone
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7. 7

8. Part 1: Configure the Virtual Network
and Active Directory Infrastructure
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9. Part 1: Configure the Virtual Network and Active Directory Infrastructure
Introduction
Let’s start with the necessary infrastructure and virtual network setup to provide
the environment in which you instantiate and configure your servers and
database. WSFC provides infrastructure features that complement the high
availability and disaster recovery scenarios supported in the AWS cloud.
Amazon EC2 provides the ability to place instances in multiple locations,
composed of Availability Zones and regions. Regions are dispersed and located
in separate geographic areas. Availability Zones are distinct locations within a
region that are engineered to be isolated from failures in other Availability Zones.
We provide two sample AWS CloudFormation templates to help you deploy the
necessary and correctly configured infrastructure predictably and repeatedly.
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10. Scripted Deployment
Sample Template-1 allows for customization
of 23 defined parameters:
Template-1 takes about
1 hour and 20 minutes
to complete all tasks
KeyPairName
ADServer1InstanceType
ADServer2InstanceType
ADServer1NetBIOSName
ADServer2NetBIOSName
ADServer1PrivateIp
ADServer2PrivateIp
NATInstanceType
RDGWInstanceType
DomainDNSName
DomainNetBIOSName
RestoreModePassword
DomainAdminUser
DomainAdminPassword
SQLAdminUser
SQLAdminPassword
PublicSubnet1CIDR
PublicSubnet2CIDR
PrivateSubnet1CIDR
PrivateSubnet2CIDR
PrivateSubnet3CIDR
PrivateSubnet4CIDR
PrivateSubnet5CIDR
PrivateSubnet6CIDR
PrivateSubnet7CIDR
PrivateSubnet8CIDR
VPCCIDR
default values for all parameters are included in the whitepaper
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11. 11

12. Part 2: Launch the WSFC Cluster Nodes
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13. Part 2: Launch the WSFC Cluster Nodes
Scripted Deployment
Template-2 helps you deploy the
WSFC Nodes into AWS architecture
Template-2 takes about
50 minutes
to complete all tasks
• Deploys Windows Server 2008 R2–based instances as
WSFC nodes into their respective subnets
• Renames the instance to a friendly NetBIOS name of
your choice
• Joins the Windows instances to the domain
• Adds the SQL Service Account (e.g., sqlsa) to the local
Administrator Group
• Installs the WSFC feature
• Downloads a SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition
Evaluation copy onto the instance
• Opens the TCP ports 1433, 1434, 4022, 5022, and 135
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14. Part 2: Launch the WSFC Cluster Nodes
Create the WSFC Cluster
Steps to create the cluster:
• Create private IP addresses
for both nodes of the cluster
• Test and validate configuration
• Create cluster
• Change to static IP and assign
private addresses
• Bring online
• Create file share witness and
set Quorum Configuration
(full 29 step process outlined in the whitepaper)
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15. 15

16. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012
AlwaysOn Availability Group
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17. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Introduction
The next steps are to download and install SQL Server
2012 Enterprise Edition from Microsoft, enable AlwaysOn
high availability for your database, and create a new
Availability Group.
If you have chosen the scripted deployment option, the trial
version of the software from the Microsoft download site is
automatically added to the instance for you.
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18. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Part 3 in Steps
• Set Up SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition
•Enable AlwaysOn High Availability
• Create a Test Database or
Attach an Existing Database
•Create an Availability Group
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19. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Part 3 in Steps
• Set Up SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition
•Enable AlwaysOn High Availability
• Create a Test Database or
Attach an Existing Database
•Create an Availability Group
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20. Part 2: Launch the WSFC Cluster Nodes
Set Up SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition
Create service account on
primary Domain Controller
• Connect with Remote Desktop
• Open Server Manager
• Create service account
• Create and share replica folder
Install SQL on each node
• Connect with Remote Desktop
• Install SQL Server
• Follow wizard steps provided
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21. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Part 3 in Steps
• Set Up SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition
•Enable AlwaysOn High Availability
• Create a Test Database or
Attach an Existing Database
•Create an Availability Group
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22. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Enable AlwaysOn High Availability
For each cluster node:
• Connect with Remote Desktop
• Enable AlwaysOn Availability Groups
in SQL Configuration Manager
• Restart the SQL Server service
MSSQLSERVER
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23. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Part 3 in Steps
• Set Up SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition
•Enable AlwaysOn High Availability
• Create a Test Database or
Attach an Existing Database
•Create an Availability Group
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24. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Create a Test Database or Attach an Existing Database
• Using SQL Server Management
Studio, connect to the first cluster
node (e.g., WSFCNode1)
• Create a new database or attach
a test database
• Set the Recovery model to Full
• Run a Backup
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25. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Part 3 in Steps
• Set Up SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition
•Enable AlwaysOn High Availability
• Create a Test Database or
Attach an Existing Database
•Create an Availability Group
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26. Part 3: Install a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Group
Create an Availability Group
• In Object Explorer launch the New
Availability Group wizard and follow it
according to the guide provided
• Run Windows PowerShell to adjust the
Listener Host Record TTL
• Connect via Remote Desktop Gateway to
the Primary Domain Controller
• Open Server Manager and Check DNS to
ensure all availability group Listeners’ IP
addresses are listed
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28. Conclusion
Summary
In this presentation, we gave an overview of the steps to implement the necessary
infrastructure in the AWS cloud to set up and configure Windows Server Failover Clustering
and SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups. The resulting sample implementation
supports the following scenarios:
• Protect from failure of a single instance
• Provide automatic failover between the cluster nodes
• Protect from failure of the instance placed in the secondary Availability Zone and
automatically failover to the primary one
We recommend you consult the Microsoft documentation and customize some of the steps
described in this guide to deploy a solution that best meets your HA and DR needs.
Testing
Before putting the solution into production, you should test your deployment and familiarize
yourself with the clusters behavior during a high availability automatic failover or a disaster
recovery event. There is a full testing process outlined in the whitepaper.
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29. Additional Resources
Web Pages
Microsoft on AWS
http://aws.amazon.com/microsoft/
Windows on AWS (includes pricing)
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/
AWS Windows and .NET Developer Center (with sdk)
http://aws.amazon.com/net/
Amazon EC2 Windows Guide
http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/
SharePoint on AWS (new video tutorial)
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/sharepoint/quickstart/
Microsoft License Mobility
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/mslicensemobility/
Whitepapers
“Implementing Microsoft Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC)
and SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups in the AWS Cloud”
http://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/microsoft-wsfc-sql-alwayson/
“Secure Microsoft Applications on AWS”
http://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/secure-microsoft-applications-on-aws/
"Amazon’s Corporate IT Deploys SharePoint 2010 to the AWSCloud“
http://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/amazon-corporate-it-sharepoint/
Contact Us
We now have contact forms on aws.amazon.com specifically
for questions about Microsoft on AWS.
Microsoft (general)
https://aws.amazon.com/microsoft/contact-us/
SharePoint
https://aws.amazon.com/sharepoint/contact-us/
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30. Implementing Windows and SQL Server
for High Availability on AWS
Thank You
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