Posted On: Dec 20, 2021

AWS Trusted Advisor now supports new recommendations that help you simplify your SQL Server optimization on Amazon EC2. The checks inspect your SQL Server workloads and automatically lists your SQL Server instances that need optimization. You can then take recommended actions to reduce costs and improve security. You can find the details of the three checks below.

1. Amazon EC2 Instances with Microsoft SQL Server End of Support - Checks the SQL Server versions for Amazon EC2 instances and alerts you if the versions are near or have reached the end of support. For example, SQL Server 2012 Extended Support will end on July 12, 2022. You can find the flexible migration and upgrade options on AWS through check recommendations.
2. Amazon EC2 Instances Over-provisioned for Microsoft SQL Server - Checks your Amazon EC2 instances that are running SQL Server and alerts you if an instance exceeds the SQL Server software vCPU limit. For example, An instance with SQL Server Standard edition can use up to 48 vCPUs. An instance with SQL Server Web can use up to 32 vCPUs.
3. Amazon EC2 Instances Consolidation for Microsoft SQL Server - Checks your Amazon EC2 instances and alerts you if your instance has less than the minimum number of SQL Server licenses. You can consolidate smaller SQL Server instances to help lower costs.

AWS Trusted Advisors provides recommendations that help you follow AWS best practices. The new SQL Server checks are available in the AWS Business Support and AWS Enterprise Support plans. Customers can view in the AWS Trusted Advisor Console, and accessible through the AWS Support API. To learn more about setting up alarms using Amazon CloudWatch, see Creating Trusted Advisor alarms using CloudWatch. For more information, visit the AWS Trusted Advisor webpage and check reference documentation.