Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Deep dive into Amazon RDS for SQL Server innovation, featuring iCIMS (DAT324)

Summary

Eugene Stepanov, Senior Manager at AWS, introduced the session and highlighted the migration journey of iCIMS from EC2 to RDS for SQL Server.
The session covered an overview of RDS, hosting options for SQL Server on AWS, performance and scalability innovations, high availability and disaster recovery features, and new backup and migration capabilities.
Al Smith, CTO of iCIMS, shared his company's experience with migrating to RDS, including the benefits of managed services, cost savings, and improved security posture.
Key features discussed included SQL agent job replication, cross-region read replicas, support for TDE encrypted backups, and access to transaction logs.
The session also touched on the importance of planning and testing for migrations, the benefits of radical simplicity over radical optimization, and the potential cost savings from switching to SQL Server Standard Edition from Enterprise Edition.

RDS is designed to offload administrative tasks from customers, allowing them to focus on differentiating their business.
RDS Custom is a new offering that provides a hybrid experience, combining the flexibility of EC2 with the managed experience of RDS.
New instance types (M6i and R6i) and GP3 storage options offer improved performance and flexibility for SQL Server workloads on RDS.
RDS Proxy for SQL Server can improve connection pooling, failover experience, and security posture.
The introduction of SQL agent job replication and cross-region read replicas enhances high availability and disaster recovery capabilities.
The ability to bring TDE encrypted backups to RDS and access transaction logs are significant new features for customers with specific backup and compliance requirements.
iCIMS' migration to RDS resulted in cost savings, reduced administrative overhead, and improved performance, demonstrating the tangible benefits of AWS managed services.
The session emphasized the importance of thorough planning and testing in migration projects to ensure minimal downtime and successful transitions.
The move from SQL Server Enterprise Edition to Standard Edition on RDS can offer significant cost savings if the application does not rely on Enterprise-specific features.