Protecting SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn
This recipe will cover the information you need before you can start protecting an SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn-enabled data source.
Getting ready
A great new feature that Microsoft included in the SQL Server 2012 was the AlwaysOn feature that makes it possible for DBAs to create a highly available database instance using availability groups that are actually containers for the databases configured for failover.
The AlwaysOn feature is really an upgraded, improved version of SQL Server log shipping, and to be able to protect SQL Server 2012 Always-On, you must understand some configuration details.
How to do it...
When System Center 2012 R2 Data Protection Manager protects an SQL Server 2012 with the AlwaysOn feature enabled, it will honor the backup policy for the availability groups, but there are some known limitations:
Prefer secondary: The backup should occur on a secondary replica except when the primary replica is the only replica online. In the scenario...