SQL Server high availability includes two main components called Always On Failover Cluster Instances and Always On Availability Groups. In this chapter, we'll at these two in-depth and explore the possible configurations for the SQL Server environment. Both features use Windows Server Failover Clustering functionality (WSFC) but have different methods of deployment.
Windows Server Failover Clustering is a server feature available on the Windows Server 2016, which allows for the grouping of computers into a fault-tolerant cluster. In a case where one or more nodes fail, others will keep the service or application available.
Each Windows Server version is bringing new features to the WSFC feature, and many of those can be beneficial for SQL Server deployment. Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 have brought many new enhancements and new...