The blog post outlines the advantages of migrating Microsoft SQL Server workloads to AWS, highlighting the options of running SQL Server on Amazon EC2 or Amazon RDS.
It details Amazon RDS’s features for managing, scaling, monitoring, and securing SQL Server deployments, as well as improving backup, availability, and disaster recovery.
A case study of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) demonstrates operational improvements and business benefits achieved by migrating their BI platform to AWS.
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Options for Running Microsoft SQL Server on AWS
AWS allows customers to run SQL Server on Amazon EC2 for full control or on Amazon RDS for a fully managed experience with automated maintenance, backups, and patching.
Existing applications can be migrated to Amazon RDS without complete rewrites.
Key Features and Benefits of Amazon RDS for SQL Server
Pre-configured parameters simplify deployment and management of SQL Server instances.
Amazon CloudWatch provides built-in monitoring metrics via the AWS Management Console.
Amazon SNS delivers notifications for over 40 types of database events.
Automatic software patching can be scheduled or managed by the user.
Compute and memory resources can be scaled quickly through the AWS Console.
Storage options include General Purpose SSD and Provisioned IOPS, with flexible provisioning from 100GB to 16TB and up to 32,000 IOPS.
Automated daily backups and transaction log backups enable point-in-time recovery within a user-defined retention period (up to 35 days).
High availability is supported with automatic instance replacement and Multi-AZ deployments for failover.
Security is strengthened through Amazon VPC isolation, IPSec VPN options, and configurable network controls.
Case Study: International Air Transport Association (IATA)
IATA migrated its BI platform, including SQL Server databases, from on-premises infrastructure to AWS, using Amazon EC2.
The new platform integrates web, application, and database tiers, along with Salesforce and other third-party systems.
Leveraging Amazon S3 for historical data storage allows for flexible, large-scale data ingestion and processing.
Migration results include faster setup (minutes vs. days), significantly improved performance (100% increase in front-end processes, 40% in back-end processes), and the elimination of additional hardware/software purchases.
Decisions
Migration to AWS improves manageability, scalability, performance, and cost-efficiency for SQL Server workloads — based on both feature summary and IATA case study outcomes.
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