How to create a test AlwaysOn Availability Group?

Question

Very simply, I just need to locate instructions for creating a SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group in AWS.  It is purely for testing purposes.  I've been told by many people that it can be done, but I cannot locate any reference for doing so.

I am supporting a simple SQL Server v2019 synchronous commit, automatic failover 2-node AG (Availability Group), and I need to test some changes to it, but I do not want to test on that AG.  I want to create a test AG in my AWS account.  Can this be done?

Accepted Answer

You can deploy fully functional 2 node AlwaysOn Availability Group for SQL Server in AWS using the automated Launch Wizard. The wizard simplifies deployment while allowing customisation of key parameters.

**Steps:**

1. Login to AWS Console and open the AWS Launch Wizard from the search bar
2. Select Choose Application and Select SQL Server
3. Configure the following:

* VPC and Subnet settings where the EC2 instances will be launched. Ideally select a VPC with at least 2 subnets in different Availability Zones.
* EC2 instance type and size for the 2 nodes. Select instances with enough CPU, memory and storage for SQL Server.
* SQL Server version, edition and license type.
* Windows Server AMI and admin credentials.
* Availability Group name, listener name and port.
* Database name and recovery model.
* Review the template configuration and launch the stack. This will deploy 2 EC2 instances with SQL Server installed, joined to a domain, clustered and with an Availability Group created.

4. Once deployed, connect to the primary replica and validate the Availability Group is configured properly. 5. Check the replication and failover between the nodes.
6. Test failover between nodes and ensure high availability for the SQL Server instance.

**More details:**

[AWS Launch Wizard](https://aws.amazon.com/launchwizard/)

[Deploy SQL Server using AWS Launch Wizard](https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/7122/always-on-availability-groups-deployment-aws-launch-wizard/)

Answer

Check out the following two links:
* [AWS Prescriptive Guidance - Always On availability groups](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/migration-sql-server/ec2-always-on.html)
* [SQL Shack - Configuring SQL Server Always On Availability Groups on AWS EC2](https://www.sqlshack.com/configuring-sql-server-always-on-availability-groups-on-aws-ec2/)

How to create a test AlwaysOn Availability Group?

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