Microsoft Workloads on AWS

How to deploy Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2012 on Amazon EC2 with AWS Systems Manager

In this blog post, I will guide you through the procedure necessary to prepare your Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) workloads to receive Extended Security Updates (ESU) purchased from Microsoft. This is achieved by utilizing the Patch Manager and Run Command capabilities of AWS Systems Manager. Windows Server users are familiar with Microsoft’s regular […]

Configure Microsoft Active Directory to use Amazon Time Sync

In this blog post, I will explain how to utilize Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to configure Microsoft Active Directory (AD) to use the Amazon Time Sync Service for time synchronization. Additionally, I will explain how to monitor and alert on the time synchronization health of the domain with Amazon CloudWatch and Amazon Simple Notification Service. […]

Optimizing protocol selection when using Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP for Microsoft SQL Server

In this blog post, we will review advantages and disadvantages of the two storage access protocols, iSCSI and SMB, offered by Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP (FSx for ONTAP). For comparison purposes, we will use Microsoft SQL Server on Windows. We will provide recommendations for selecting the optimal storage access protocol for your specific scenario. […]

Refactor to Modern .NET and Move to Linux

A brief history of .NET In 2002, Microsoft introduced .NET Framework as a software platform for Windows to help developers rapidly create business applications and simplify complex programming tasks. Thousands of organizations of all sizes began to use it to create software for their business models. Millions of developers around the globe adopted .NET Framework. […]

Comparing performance of new releases of Babelfish and comparing Babelfish performance with SQL Server

In this blog post, I will compare the performance of the newest releases of Babelfish for Aurora PostgreSQL and provide performance and price-performance comparisons between Babelfish and Microsoft SQL Server 2022. 1.    Introduction Babelfish for Aurora PostgreSQL is a capability of Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition that enables Aurora to understand commands from applications written for […]

Join AWS at PASS Data Community Summit 2023

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is excited to welcome our customers and partners to the PASS Data Community Summit 2023 in Seattle on November 14-17, where data professionals and experts gather to explore the latest trends, technologies, and innovations. We are delighted that AWS will continue our ongoing support of this community as a Platinum sponsor—and […]

Exporting the Windows Failover Cluster log to CloudWatch

In this deep-dive blog post, we will go through a step-by-step guide on how to capture Windows Failover Cluster Event Viewer logs using Amazon CloudWatch agent and send alerts using Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS). Introduction Windows Event Viewer logs are a crucial aspect of monitoring and troubleshooting Windows systems. However, manually reviewing these […]

Integrate multiple Microsoft Entra ID tenants with AWS IAM Identity Center

In this blog post, we will guide you through configuring cross-tenant synchronization with multiple Microsoft Entra ID tenants using AWS IAM Identity Center. By following the steps outlined in this post, you can simplify access to your Amazon Web Services (AWS) resources while enabling collaboration efforts between Entra ID tenants within your organization. Background Organizations […]

Reduce Microsoft SQL Server licensing costs with AWS Compute Optimizer

In this blog post, we explore a new capability of AWS Compute Optimizer that generates Microsoft SQL Server licensing recommendations. AWS Compute Optimizer has the capability to provide customers running Microsoft SQL Server on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) with licensing cost optimization recommendations, which can, result in significant SQL Server licensing cost savings. […]