SQL Server Build

Let's make sure it's built right, first time!

If you need a SQL server building for a new project, a vendor prerequisite or a migration/upgrade/hardware evacuation, it's best to build it right, first time.

With SQL Server, you can change most things after the initial build fairly easily. But some things are exponentially more difficult once service has gone live.

In this 2-3 day engagement, we'll give you peace of mind that you have a server that will function as expected and will be reliable and secure from the off.

We will:

  • Talk to you to understand your plans, workloads and expectations
  • Confirm if your install is On-Prem or in the Cloud (Azure or AWS)
  • Provide pre-engagement advise on OS and hardware specs and configuration
  • Confirm the underlying Windows OS is ready for the install
  • Install a supported version of SQL server
  • Configure best-practice settings, or adapt where necessary for your workload
  • Configure index maintenance, corruption checking and alerting
  • Harden the install with best-practice security measures
  • Provide standardised build documentation

How it works - 2-Day Build

  • Pre-Engagement
    • We discuss what the server is for, where it's going and who will connect to it
    • Given that information, DBAaaS will send you an OS and hardware checklist
    • DBAaaS will also send you a questionaire to complete
    • If you're unsure how to answer, we can go over the plan and help you fill in the gaps
    • Once we have your responses, DBAaaS will plan the build
  • Day 1 - AM
    • We have a discussion over the phone or video chat
    • We confirm the plan, what we are building, any specific settings and the expected result
  • Day 1 - AM/PM
    • DBAaaS builds your SQL server instance remotely
  • Day 2 - AM
    • DBAaaS builds your SQL server instance remotely
  • Day2 - PM
    • We regroup over the phone or video chat
    • We walk through the build doc and SQL instance, ensuring you are able to logon and can see specific areas of configuration
    • We confirm the build meets your engagement aims

How it works - 3-Day Build

If you opt for a more complex build including High Availability (HA), AlwaysOn Availbility Groups (AAGs) or Cloud services, a third day may be necessary. We can discuss this prior to the engagement.

The 2nd and 3rd days shuffle like this:

  • Pre-Engagement
    • We discuss what the server is for, where it's going and who will connect to it
    • Given that information, DBAaaS will send you an OS and hardware checklist
    • DBAaaS will also send you a questionaire to complete
    • If you're unsure how to answer, we can go over the plan and help you fill in the gaps
    • Once we have your responses, DBAaaS will plan the build
  • Day 1 - AM
    • We have a discussion over the phone or video chat
    • We confirm the plan, what we are building, any specific settings and the expected result
  • Day 1 - AM/PM
    • DBAaaS builds your SQL server instance(s) remotely
  • Day 2 - AM/PM
    • DBAaaS builds your SQL server instance(s) remotely
  • Day 3 - AM
    • DBAaaS builds your SQL server instance(s) remotely
  • Day3 - PM
    • We regroup over the phone or video chat
    • We walk through the build doc and SQL instance, ensuring you are able to logon and can see specific areas of configuration
    • We confirm the build meets your engagement aims

Prerequisites

It's good to know what we're building, before we start the build.

As part of the pre-engagement process, DBAaaS will ask you to complete a Build Questionaire. This will include things like:

  • Server name - We're happy to follow your naming convention
  • Server version - 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 - Developer, Express, Standard, Enterprise, AzureDB, Managed Instance, RDS
  • Intended usage - General, SharePoint, Web etc.
  • Licence details
  • Disk layout
  • Initial user list
  • Any specific settings requirements
  • We're happy to advise on any of these

The engagement doesn't include the build of the Hardware or Windows OS. These will need to be in place before we begin.

We will also need a method to connect to your host system. We're happy to screen-share with your preferred screen-sharing software (TeamViewer, Teams etc.) or connect directly with Citrix or RDP.

For your future reference, we will be happy for the session to be recorded. Just let us know and we'll keep the mumbling to a minimum.

  • Installation Media
    • Where appropriate, you may need to supply installation media for SQL
    • Many versions are downloadable from the Microsoft website, older versions or versions for some licence agreements may need to be downloaded from your Microsoft portal
    • it will be handy to have this stored on the SQL server prior to us starting the build
  • Licencing
    • You will need to provide appropriate SQL server licencing
    • In some SQL versions a licence key is needed, in others you will make a declaration to Microsoft eliminating the need for an installation key. We will confirm this during pre-engagement
  • Credentials
    • We are happy to have or not have relevant credentials to the OS. If credentails are not supplied, you will need to be on hand during the course of the build
    • As part of the build, DBAaaS may configure the System Administrator (sa) account in SQL, we are happy to set this to a password you supply, or to create a hardened password and supply it to you
    • Windows Service accounts will need to be configured, preferably with Domain service accounts, we can agree these pre-engagement

Deliverables

Documentation generated from the SQL Server Build will be provided to you. This includes:

  • Build Summary
    • This includes key information such as: Server name(s), sa credentails, paths etc.
  • Technical build documentation
    • This details each step taken in the build process

Costs

On-Prem Cloud
Single Instance HA Pair Azure Database Azure Managed Instance AWS RDS
 
£2000
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£3500
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£1500
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£2000
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£2500
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Online Booking available soon!
  Pre-Engagement Planning
Pre-Engagement Planning ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
  Briefings and Debriefs
Briefings and Debriefs ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
  SQL Instance Build
SQL Instance Build ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
  SQL Database Creation
SQL Database Creation ✔
  Build Documentation
Build Documentation ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
  End-to-end Change Control
End-to-end Change Control ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
  Number of SQL Instances
Number of SQL Instances 1 SQL instance 2 SQL instances 1 SQL instance 1 SQL instance
  Failover Technology
Failover Technology Cluster / AAG Managed Managed Managed

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