Azure SQL Copy Status Test

Replication provides redundancy and increases data availability. With multiple copies of data on different database servers, replication provides a level of fault tolerance against the loss of a single database server.

Active geo-replication enables you to configure up to four readable secondary databases in the same or different data center locations (regions). Secondary databases are available for querying and for failover if there is a data center outage or the inability to connect to the primary database. The failover must be initiated manually by the application of the user. After failover, the new primary has a different connection end-point. Azure SQL Database auto-failover groups is a SQL Database feature designed to automatically manage geo-replication relationship, connectivity, and failover at scale. With it, the customers gain the ability to automatically recover multiple related databases in the secondary region after catastrophic regional failures or other unplanned events that result in full or partial loss of the SQL Database service's availability in the primary region. Additionally, they can use the readable secondary databases to offload read-only workloads. If you are using active geo-replication and for any reason your primary database fails, or simply needs to be taken offline, you can initiate failover to any of your secondary databases. When failover is activated to one of the secondary databases, all other secondaries are automatically linked to the new primary. If swift failover does not occur, then, there may be a lag in data transfer to the secondary databases. This may lead to the unavailability of data to the secondary databases which would eventually hamper the replication process. Therefore, it is necessary to check whether the geo-replication feature is enabled, and if enabled, it becomes mandatory to check the status of the primary and secondary databases and the status of replication to the secondary databases. The Azure SQL Copy Status test helps administrators in this regard!

This test auto-discovers the 'partner' databases in the primary/secondary regions (as the case may be), which correspond to the Azure SQL database being monitored. For every database:partner combination, the test then indicates whether geo-replication is enabled. It so, then this test reports whether the database being monitored is a primary or secondary database and also reports the current status of replication between the database and each of its partners.

Target of the test : A Microsoft Azure SQL database

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for DatabaseName:PartnerName combination

Configurable parameters for the test

Parameters	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
Port	The port at which the specified Host listens.
Database Name	Specify the name of the Azure SQL database that is to be monitored.
User Name and Password	Against the User Name and Password parameters, specify the credentials of the user who is vested with DBOWNER rights to the configured Database Name.
Confirm Password	Confirm the specified Password by retyping it here.
SSL	If the Azure SQL database service being monitored is SSL-enabled, then set the SSL flag to Yes. If not, then set the SSL flag to No.
Domain	By default, none is displayed in this text box. If the ‘SQL server and Windows’ authentication has been enabled for the Azure SQL database being monitored, then the Domain parameter can continue to be none. On the other hand, if ‘Windows only’ authentication has been enabled, then, in the Domain text box, specify the Windows domain in which the monitored database exists. Also, in such a case, the User Name and Password that you provide should be that of a 'domain user' with DBOWNER rights to the configured Database Name.
IS NTLMv2	In some Windows networks, NTLM (NT LAN Manager) may be enabled. NTLM is a suite of Microsoft security protocols that provides authentication, integrity, and confidentiality to users. NTLM version 2 (“NTLMv2”) was concocted to address the security issues present in NTLM. By default, this flag is set to No, indicating that NTLMv2 is not enabled by default for the target Microsoft Azure SQL database. Set this flag to Yes if NTLMv2 is enabled for the target database.
Detailed Diagnosis	To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option. The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled: The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

Measurements made by the test

Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Is Geo-replication enabled?	Indicates whether/not the geo-replication feature is enabled for this database.		The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below: Measure Value Numeric Value Yes 1 No 0 Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether/not the geo-replication feature is enabled on this database instance. The graph of this measure however, represents the status of a server using the numeric equivalents only.
Is Primary?	Indicates whether/not this database is the primary database.		The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below: Measure Value Numeric Value Yes 1 No 0 Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether/not this database instance is the primary database. However, the graph of this measure is represented using its corresponding numeric equivalents only - 0 or 1.
Is Secondary?	Indicates whether/not this database is the secondary database.		The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below: Measure Value Numeric Value Yes 1 No 0 Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether/not this database instance is the secondary database. However, the graph of this measure is represented using its corresponding numeric equivalents only - 0 or 1.
Replication Status	Indicates the current status of replication between this database and this partner.		The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below: Measure Value Numeric Value Seeding 1 Catch up 2 Pending 3 Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current status of replication on this database instance. However, the graph of this measure is represented using its corresponding numeric equivalents - 1 to 3.
Replication lagging	Indicates the time duration in seconds, that replication between this database and this partner is taking.	Seconds	Compare the value of this measure across the descriptors of this test to know where replication is the slowest. A high value for this measure is a cause of concern. If the value of this measure is high, then, it may indicate that the databases are out of sync and data cannot be accessed from the databases when a failover occurs.
Secondary database mode	Indicates the mode of the secondary database.		The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below: Measure Value Numeric Value No 0 All 1 Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the mode of the secondary database. However, the graph of this measure is represented using its corresponding numeric equivalents only - 0 or 1.