All 7 Always On Availability Groups questions
More in Always On Availability Groups
What is an Always On Availability Group in SQL Server, and what problem does it solve? What is the difference between the primary replica and secondary replicas in an Always On Availability Group? What is the difference between automatic failover and manual failover in an Always On Availability Group? What is an availability group listener, and why is it important for applications connecting to an Always On Availability Group? How do you decide between synchronous commit mode and asynchronous commit mode for a specific replica in an Always On Availability Group? How would you plan a disaster recovery strategy that combines Always On Availability Groups across multiple data centers with regular backups?
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What are the licensing and edition requirements for using Always On Availability Groups in SQL Server?

Intermediate

Answer

Full featured Always On Availability Groups with multiple secondary replicas and automatic failover typically require SQL Server Enterprise edition, while a simplified version called basic availability groups, supporting only a single database and two replicas, is available starting with SQL Server Standard edition for organizations with smaller high availability needs.
-- Basic Availability Groups (Standard Edition)
-- support only one database and two replicas total
Real-world example A small business running SQL Server Standard edition sets up a basic availability group to protect their single most critical database, while a larger enterprise customer uses the full Enterprise edition features to protect dozens of databases with multiple replicas.

Common follow-ups: What specific features are missing from basic availability groups compared to the full version?;How do you check which edition and features are currently licensed on a server?

SQL Server Architecture & Editions;Backup & Recovery
All 7 Always On Availability Groups questions