Options to run SQL Server on the AWS Cloud - Microsoft SQL Server on Amazon EC2
SQL Server on Amazon EC2RDS for SQL ServerAmazon RDS Custom

Options to run SQL Server on the AWS Cloud

AWS provides the option to run Microsoft SQL Server in a cloud environment. For developers and database administrators, running SQL Server in the AWS Cloud is similar to running SQL Server databases in a data center. There are three primary options to run SQL Server on AWS:

  • Microsoft SQL Server on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)

  • Amazon RDS for Microsoft SQL Server

  • Amazon RDS Custom for Microsoft SQL Server

Your application requirements, database features, functionality, growth capacity, and overall architecture complexity will determine which option to choose. Many AWS customers run multiple SQL Server database workloads across Amazon RDS and Amazon EC2. For more information on how to choose how to run SQL Server on the AWS Cloud, see Decision matrix on the AWS Prescriptive Guidance website.

If you are migrating multiple SQL Server databases to AWS, some of them might be a great fit for Amazon RDS, whereas others might be better suited to run directly on Amazon EC2. You might have databases that are running on SQL Server Enterprise edition but are a good fit for SQL Server Standard edition. You may also want to modernize your SQL Server database running on Windows to run on a Linux operating system to save on cost and licenses.

Microsoft SQL Server on Amazon EC2

When to choose Microsoft SQL Server on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2):

  • You want full control over the database and access to its underlying operating system, database installation, and configuration.

  • You want to administer your database, including backups and recovery, patching the operating system and the database, tuning the operating system and database parameters, managing security, and configuring high availability or replication.

  • You want to use features and options that aren’t currently supported by Amazon RDS. For more information, see Features not supported and features with limited support in the Amazon RDS documentation.

  • You require a specific SQL Server version that isn’t supported by Amazon RDS. For a list of supported versions and editions, see SQL Server versions on Amazon RDS in the RDS for Microsoft SQL Server User Guide.

  • Your database size and performance requirements exceed the current RDS for Microsoft SQL Server offerings. For more information, see Amazon RDS DB instance storage in the Amazon RDS User Guide.

  • You want to avoid automatic software patches that might not be compliant with your applications.

  • You want to bring your own license instead of using the RDS for Microsoft SQL Server license-included model.

  • You want to achieve higher IOPS and storage capacity than the current limits. For more information, see Amazon RDS DB instance storage in the Amazon RDS User Guide.

Amazon RDS for Microsoft SQL Server

RDS for Microsoft SQL Server is a managed database service that simplifies the provisioning and management of SQL Server on AWS. With Amazon RDS, you can quickly deploy multiple versions and editions of SQL Server , with cost-efficient and resizeable compute capacity. You can provision Amazon RDS for SQL Server DB instances with either General Purpose SSD or Provisioned IOPS SSD storage. Provisioned IOPS SSD is optimized for I/O-intensive, transactional (OLTP) database workloads.

Amazon RDS manages database administration tasks, including provisioning, backups, software patching, monitoring, and hardware scaling. Amazon RDS also offers Multi-AZ deployments and read replicas (for SQL Server Enterprise edition) to provide high availability, performance, scalability, and reliability for production workloads. For more information, see Amazon RDS for Microsoft SQL Server.

When to choose RDS for Microsoft SQL Server:

  • You want to focus on your business and applications, and you want AWS to take care of undifferentiated heavy lifting tasks, such as the provisioning of the database, management of backup and recovery tasks, management of security patches, minor SQL Server version upgrades, and storage management.

  • You want a highly available database solution, and you want to take advantage of the push-button, synchronous Multi-AZ replication offered by Amazon RDS, without having to manually set up and maintain database mirroring, failover clusters, or Always On availability groups.

  • You want to pay for the SQL Server license as part of the instance cost on an hourly basis, instead of making a large, up front investment.

  • Your database size and IOPS requirements are supported by Amazon RDS for SQL Server. See Amazon RDS DB Instance Storage in the AWS documentation for the current maximum limits.

  • You don’t want to manage backups or point-in-time recoveries of your database.

  • You want to focus on high-level tasks, such as performance tuning and schema optimization, instead of the daily administration of the database.

  • You want to scale the instance type up or down based on your workload patterns without being concerned about licensing complexities.

Amazon RDS Custom for SQL Server

Amazon RDS Custom for SQL Server is a managed database service for legacy, custom, and packaged applications that require access to the underlying operating system and database environment. Amazon RDS Custom for SQL Server automates setup, operation, and scaling of databases in the AWS Cloud while granting you access to the database and underlying operating system on Amazon EC2 to configure settings, install patches, and enable native features to meet the dependent application's requirements. For more information, see Working with RDS Custom for SQL Server in the Amazon Relational Database Service User Guide.

When to choose Amazon RDS Custom for SQL Server:

  • You want the benefits of Amazon RDS, but your requirements include the need to customize the underlying operating system and database environment for legacy, custom, and packaged applications.

  • You need administrative rights to the database and underlying operating system.

  • You need to install custom database and OS patches and packages.

  • You need to configure file systems to share files directly with their applications.