Always On Availability Groups vs Log Shipping

Developers should learn Always On Availability Groups when building mission-critical applications requiring high availability, minimal downtime, and data protection for SQL Server databases, such as in financial services, e-commerce, or healthcare systems meets developers should learn log shipping when building or maintaining mission-critical applications that require robust data protection and minimal downtime, such as financial systems, e-commerce platforms, or healthcare databases. Here's our take.

Always On Availability Groups

Nice Pick

Developers should learn Always On Availability Groups when building mission-critical applications requiring high availability, minimal downtime, and data protection for SQL Server databases, such as in financial services, e-commerce, or healthcare systems

Pros

• It is essential for scenarios where automatic failover, read-scale workloads, and geographic redundancy are needed, as it ensures application continuity and data integrity during server outages or maintenance
• Related to: sql-server, high-availability

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Log Shipping

Developers should learn Log Shipping when building or maintaining mission-critical applications that require robust data protection and minimal downtime, such as financial systems, e-commerce platforms, or healthcare databases

Pros

• It is particularly useful for scenarios where real-time synchronization is not mandatory but near-real-time data availability is needed for disaster recovery, as it provides a cost-effective alternative to more complex solutions like database mirroring or Always On Availability Groups
• Related to: sql-server, database-backup

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Always On Availability Groups is a database while Log Shipping is a methodology. We picked Always On Availability Groups based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Always On Availability Groups wins

Based on overall popularity. Always On Availability Groups is more widely used, but Log Shipping excels in its own space.