Change AWS windows machine - sql-server

Currently I have got an AWS EC2 windows server machine along with SQL Server Web Edition.
In order to reduce costs, I want to get rid of SQL server web edition and put express edition on the same machine.
Can I do it? I was thinking of uninstalling web edition and then installing express edition on the same server. Will this suffice?
Any insights would be highly appreciated.
P.S. I do not have support plan with AWS, and that is why I am writing here on Stackoverflow.
Thanks.

No.
The price for the instance is determined by the AMI that was used when launching the instance. Even if you uninstall SQL Server, you will still be charged the same hourly charge.
You will need to launch a new instance with the desired version. You'll also need to migrate the data and any other software you have installed on the instance.
It's probably a good time to consider using Amazon RDS, which is a fully-managed database service that can keep the database separate from your other sofware.

Related

Which one is Azure SQL Server for production?

As the graph shows above. Which type of sql server edition is for the production? I know the "Developer" version is for the development. Also I already got the Azure VM and have the "Developer SQL Server" on my VM, how can I install the production SQL Server in my VM? Is this free?
My purpose is to make a production SQL Server database. Is there two options for me? One is install a production SQL Server in my VM, another is to create a new Azure SQL database. Which one would be the best way to do this?
As the graph shows above. Which type of sql server edition is for the
Production? I know the "Developer" version is for the development.
Also I already got the Azure VM and have the "Developer SQl server" on
my VM, how can I install the production sql server on my VM? Is this
free?
Developer is not licenced for production - you aren't allowed to use it for production purposes.
Express is licenced for production but if your database gets bigger that 10Gb then it is unsuitable for your use
My purpose is to make a production sql server database. Is there two
options for me? One is install a production sql server on my VM,
another is to create a new Azure SQL database. Which one would be the
best way to do this?
"Best" doesn't mean anything. What are your constraints? Are you creating a brand new database? What tools will be connecting to and using the database? Does it need to be accessible from the internet?
If this is a brand new application / database, and you have limited capability for maintaining a VM then I definitely recommend using SQL Azure instead of a VM
Most importantly, and based on you other question, make sure you understand the term "Production"
Can Azure SQL Server on VM be the production database?
For example, you usually don't provision a 'production' environment without also provisioning at least a dev environment.
It would also help to give us some background on "My purpose is to make a production sql server database". It sounds like this is a request someone has given you but maybe you don't fully understand the term 'production'
None of them are sql azure. They are all sql server on premise on a virtual machine on azure.
If you want to add a sql server azure, you go on your main azure portal page, then on the left panel at the top "create a resource", then chose "SQL Database" on the popular column. Then follow instructions.
If you want as less pain as possible, clearly choose sql azure instead of a sql server on premise on a virtual server on azure. It is by very far the only reasonable choice if you work on azure: cheap, strong, backup automatically done, disaster recovery extremely easily applicable without any prior setup, extremely easy to up size its capacity in case of overload, perfectly secured without any prior setup either.
The only problem of this is the security: it can be accessed only by recognized IP addresses that you mention on the azure portal. So typically, you mention the IP address of you development computer. If your website is on your azure subscription as well, you don't need to worry, it will go through the azure firewall with no setup.
If you reeeeeeally want to use a sql server on premise, well, don't use the developer edition. If you want to avoid performance and load issues, don't use express. The entreprise is very complete, but not useful in most of cases for simple application (like web applications).
If you want most of features, go for the Standard edition, if you want to keep focused on the database engine for your web application, go for the Web edition.
Finaly, if you wanna have a licence free edition on a virtual server, the express is free of charges, but not powerful and extremely limited. The developer edition is free of charges as well and contains every possible and impossible features of sql server. The only pb of this edition is that you are not allowed to use it in production. Only for tests and developments.
As you are already having Azure VM with Developer edition installed you can go for either of the below options.
If you are comfortable to manage the Azure VM yourself, go for IAAS(Infrastructure as a Service) approach: Install SQL Server Standard Edition or SQL Server Enterprise Edition (based on your application needs). Read the capability difference between them. If SQL Server Express edition would be suitable for your needs, then install the same. It does have limited features and many constraints. See the scalability support for different editions in the same link above.
If you want to offload the database server management, go for PAAS(Platform as a Service) approach: Create a Azure SQL database and point your application to it. Azure SQL database is more like SQL Server Enterprise Edition with some limitations like CLR not being supported. Read Azure SQL database differences with SQL Server editions

Use own MSSQL Instace for TFS

We have a single MS Server 2012 for hosting our MSSQL 2014.
On the Server we already installed two instances of MSSQL 2014.
One for the productive Business-Applications and one instance for the development Databases.
Beside the MSSQL 2014 installation we need to setup the TFS2013.
My question is if it is a good thought to make an own instance for the TFS or if we should just use one of the existing instances (Probably the dev) to store the databases.
We would love to use another instance because we would like to isolate the TFS Databases (so a restart of the TFS SQL Service should not affect the prod dbs) from the rest. We know that the administration needed for three instances is bigger than for two but we can neglect that.
Will there be a big loose in performance with a third instance, or isnt it that dramatic?
To avoid some anwsers, there is no possibility to implement the TFS or MSSQL on an other server(Because we just don't have any free resources).
The Server is from the hardware POV suitable and because we're a small company there won't be that much connections to the DB's (40 Employees to the Prod Instance, 3-5 Developers connecting to the DEV and TFS Instances).
The data tier of your TFS installation does not require any restarts. It's just a database that's created on your SQL Server.
The application tier of TFS is where the real work happens. This is where your users connect to and where the Windows Service and IIS websites are running.
It is no problem to use a shared SQL Server instance for installing Team Foundation Server.
If you want more information on how to install TFS checkout the ALM Rangers documentation. We have just released a new version of the guide that can be found here.
I would install also on a separate instance because the development or the production databases may require an SQL Server services restart which will cause a TFS unavailability.
Also you don't want to give permissions to the developers on TFS databases (usually developers are requiring higher permissions on their development databases, e.g. sysadmin for backup/restore)

Is it possible to create an SQL Server Azure VM but use your own license?

I have a program that is a .net console app that is intended to track information at a few websites daily and then put this data into an SQL database.
Previously I've had this program running on a scheduler on my computer but I'm about to take off on a 3 month vacation so I'm planning on deploying it on azure to run it while I'm away.
Last night I set up a SQL server VM. I got it all set up then I tracked the pricing and realized that using the SQL Server image increased the price by about 30$ per month compared to the Windows image (http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/?scenario=virtual-machines)
I have an SQL Server license. So I was thinking of just setting up a Windows VM and then installing SQL server on it. THe only problem is that I'm going to have to copy the MSI over and install it etc. - it would take ages.
Is it possible to just create an SQL Server VM in azure and then enter my own license in there to avoid paying the extra 30$ per month?
By the way, is there a more economical way to get Azure to do this then using a VM? Really, it just needs to run daily and performance doesn't matter.
To answer your question directly: you can only utilise your own SQL Server license on an Azure VM if your organisation's agreement with Microsoft includes License Mobility (http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/license-mobility/). If your are unsure or believe this is not the case then you cannot deploy your own license. This is exactly the same on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
SQL Databases for Azure Mobile Services that are under 20MB are free - that may be an option depending on your needs. (see point 5 on this page: http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/details/mobile-services/).
You can try converting the .NET console application to Worker Role (PAAS) and use Web Edition of SQL Database (PAAS), and recalculate your TCO.
You can start with the SQL Server Trial image, then apply your own license on it (as on any trial installation).
You could also have a free Azure Web Site, with your code triggered as a "web job". For DB, there is a 20MB free tier for Azure SQL Database.
Why don't you just create a SQL Azure DB. They are only $4.95/mo for DB's under 100MB http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/details/sql-database/
Saves the entire headache of running your own SQL Server.
Update: SQL Azure now has different pricing
As suggested in the comments, use Azure WebJobs and if possible a free SQL DB if you only have very limited data to track operation.
Under 20Mb free
~$5/mo for up to 2GB
More Details: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/sql-database/

SQL Server Reporting Services for Amazon RDS

Recently, we have migrated a business application database to Amazon AWS SQL Server RDS. We have loved the flexibility of backup and scaling with the cloudified database, but we have need for writing reports for our gathered analytics data. Our in house data analyst is most comfortable using SQL Reporting Services. Normally, this is installed as a component with the SQL Server install, but we obviously do not have that option on RDS.
My question is, has anyone been able to successfully deploy and use SQL Reporting services with Amazon RDS?
What I have tried:
I attempted to spin up another EC2 instance, install "SQL Server Express with Advanced Services", and point SSRS to RDS, but it said that I had incompatible license types.
I plan on contacting the AWS team directly for this as well, but I thought that I would reach out to SO first to see if anyone has run into this. Thanks.
You might need to use a certain Microsoft-created "Amazon Machine Image", specifically the "SQL Server Optimized" AMI: Microsoft AMIs.
Another option would be to apply SQL Server SSRS containers, hosted on an EC2 VM, connected to RDS. There's a blog on Windocks.com that outlines steps to deliver configured containers for improved scalability (multiple SSRS containers), with simplified management.
I have successfully ran SSRS in Docker containers on Windows ECS/2 VMs for a while and just today came across a fresh out of the oven announcement from Amazon on running SSRS natively on RDS: https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2020/05/amazon-rds-for-sql-server-now-supports-sql-server-reporting-services/?nc1=h_ls

Hosting Sharepoint and SQL Server off same server

Is it possible to host Sharepoint and SQL Server off the same server for small time testing. Environment would be set up for purely education purposes. Non-production. Thanks.
Yes. We do this also. Works like a charm.
Your best bet would be to use a simple virtual environment (I quiet like VirtualBox) and then run a server operating system on there, install SQL Server (if it is only for testing SQL Server express would be sufficient) and then install SharePoint. When you have installed SharePoint you will be better removing the default web application it adds for you and then adding your own as you will be able to link the new application's database easily to the instance of SQL on your SQL server.
Don't forget that if you are looking at using SharePoint 2010 it all has to be 64bit...
Minimum development environment for sharepoint 2007 webparts
Hope this helps anyway...
It is possible, but SQL server likes to use up all the RAM, making sharepoint really slow, and sometimes with sharepoint 2010 it crashes the web application.
Try to limit how much RAM sql server takes
http://blog.stevehorn.cc/2007/10/limit-memory-usage-in-sql-server-2005.html

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