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Infrastructure Deployment and Failover Simulation
In this hands-on lab, you will configure and validate a SQL Server Always On Availability Group running on EC2. You will build a Windows Server Failover Cluster, set up synchronous replication with a File Share Witness for quorum, create an Availability Group Listener, run a manual failover and failback while measuring RTO, and complete point-in-time recovery to meet a 15-minute RPO. By the end, you will have documented proof that your high-availability configuration meets the requirements for zero data loss and business continuity.
Lab Info
Table of Contents
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Challenge
Configure a Multi-Node High Availability Cluster
- Create a Windows Server Failover Cluster and configure quorum with a File Share Witness to prevent split-brain scenarios.
- Enable SQL Server Always On and create an Availability Group with synchronous replication for zero data loss.
- Configure a virtual Listener endpoint and verify client connectivity.
- Verify replica health using DMVs.
- Insert test records and confirm the secondary replica stays synchronized with no data loss.
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Challenge
Execute and Validate Failover and Failback Procedures
- Perform a planned manual failover to the secondary replica.
- Measure and document the actual Recovery Time Objective (RTO) during the failover.
- Identify and resolve orphaned users or login mapping issues after failover.
- Perform failback to the original primary and verify data integrity using DBCC CHECKDB.
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Challenge
Perform Point-in-Time Recovery to Meet RPO Requirements
- Configure transaction log backups to support a 15-minute Recovery Point Objective (RPO).
- Simulate a data corruption event and capture a tail-log backup.
- Restore the database to the exact time before corruption using RESTORE WITH STOPAT.
- Verify integrity after restoration and re-add the database to the Availability Group to restore replication.
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