22-25 April 2026

Running Resilient SQL Server on AWS

Proposed session for SQLBits 2026

TL; DR

Master the art of building highly resilient SQL Server environments on AWS. Explore architectural patterns, HA/DR options, and performance optimization techniques that ensure your mission-critical databases remain available and performant, even during failures.

Session Details

Discover how to build truly resilient SQL Server environments on AWS that withstand failures while maintaining performance. We'll explore optimal architectures combining SQL Server HA/DR capabilities (Always On Availability Groups, FCIs) with AWS-specific features across EC2, RDS, and RDS Custom. Learn practical techniques for multi-AZ deployments, cross-region replication, automated recovery, and comprehensive monitoring. This session provides actionable strategies for storage optimization, instance sizing, and cost-effective resilience testing to ensure your mission-critical databases remain available under any circumstances.

Whether you're running SQL Server on EC2, RDS, or RDS Custom, this session will equip you with practical knowledge to design, implement, and maintain SQL Server environments that remain available and performant even in the face of infrastructure failures, human errors, or regional disasters.

3 things you'll get out of this session

1- Design optimal SQL Server high availability and disaster recovery architectures on AWS that balance business requirements, technical constraints, and cost considerations 2- Implement comprehensive monitoring and automated recovery solutions that minimize downtime and human intervention during failure scenarios 3- Master performance optimization techniques that ensure consistent SQL Server behavior across normal operations, failover events, and disaster recovery situations