With the introduction of AWS Launch Wizard for SQL Server last year, we have witnessed a growing number of customers utilizing this tool to efficiently establish highly available SQL Server environments on AWS. AWS Launch Wizard simplifies the provisioning and configuration processes of Microsoft SQL Server setups on AWS by offering a guided experience tailored to your specific needs.
In this blog series, we will explore additional functionalities of AWS Launch Wizard that enhance the experience for DBAs and IT professionals managing provisioned SQL Server environments. We will also address the requirements of DBAs and SysOps teams engaged in daily operational tasks such as monitoring, alarm setup, creating runbooks, and automating configuration and change management.
In the first part of this series, we will introduce how to leverage Amazon CloudWatch Application Insights to automate monitoring setups. In part two, we’ll delve into AWS Systems Manager Application Manager, focusing on simplifying, managing, and automating daily operations for AWS Launch Wizard application resources, specifically SQL Server instances.
The following diagram illustrates how the proposed solution integrates and enhances the overall experience for DBAs and IT professionals.
Utilizing Amazon CloudWatch Application Insights for Automated Monitoring Setup
AWS Launch Wizard: This tool automates the deployment of SQL Always On cluster configurations that adhere to AWS best practices.
Amazon CloudWatch Application Insights: This optional component is available during the deployment of AWS Launch Wizard, as depicted in the accompanying figure. Selecting this option automates the configuration of Amazon CloudWatch monitoring, alarms, events, and logging for Microsoft SQL Server running on Amazon EC2 in High Availability setups. For more information on supported technology stacks, check out this link.
To get started, refer to the steps outlined in the blog post titled “Accelerate SQL Server Always On Deployments with AWS Launch Wizard” and ensure you select the optional setup for CloudWatch Application monitoring: Set up monitors and automated insights for this deployment utilizing Amazon CloudWatch Application Insights.
Amazon CloudWatch Application Insights provides a streamlined monitoring setup experience for deploying SQL Server Highly Available workloads on AWS. By enabling the CloudWatch application monitoring option, relevant metrics, logs, and alarms are automatically configured on Amazon CloudWatch, initiating monitoring for newly deployed workloads. This feature is designed for:
- Automatic setup of monitors for application resources
- Problem detection and notification
- Troubleshooting
Once the deployment is complete, let’s examine it in more detail. Access the AWS Management Console and navigate to CloudWatch > Application Insights.
Next, select the resource group beginning with LaunchWizard-SQLHAAlwaysOn-.
As previously mentioned, Amazon CloudWatch Application Insights supports various technology stacks. In this instance, we will review the default configuration settings for the Database technology stack. In the Monitored components section, you will observe a component supporting the Microsoft SQL Server Always On Availability Groups database tier.
To view resources, alarms, logs, and default metrics, select the component as shown in the corresponding screenshots.
To add or remove additional alarms, logs, and metrics, click on Manage monitoring.
For more information on monitored components, visit the tutorial on setting up monitors for .NET and SQL. Customers can also benefit from dashboards created by CloudWatch Application Insights. Navigate to the AWS Management Console > CloudWatch > Application Insights > LaunchWizard-SQLHAAlwaysOn and select View Insights, as illustrated in the following screenshots.
Additionally, customers can create a custom dashboard to track metrics captured by the Amazon CloudWatch Agent. From the AWS Management Console, go to CloudWatch > All Metrics and select CWAgent.
For further information on SQL Always On Monitoring, please visit this link, as they are an authority on this topic. Refer to the Amazon CloudWatch Application Insights documentation for a comprehensive overview of all supported metrics, including those from the CloudWatch agent (Windows Server) and built-in metrics.
Cleanup
To prevent incurring ongoing charges, remember to delete the resources you created. Use the AWS Launch Wizard console to remove the SQL Server deployment. Navigate to Deployments > MS SQL Server, select the sqlha application, and choose Delete.
Summary
In this blog post, we demonstrated how to utilize AWS Launch Wizard for SQL Server to configure and deploy production-ready SQL Server environments. We also provided a walkthrough on monitoring these environments using Amazon CloudWatch Application Insights. In our next post, we will explore how to simplify, manage, and automate daily operational tasks for SQL Server using AWS Systems Manager Application Manager, ensuring compliance with AWS best practices. For an excellent resource, you may also want to check out this link.
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