Tessell for SQL Server

Move SQL Server to the cloud. With HA intact.

Tessell migrates and manages SQL Server on AWS and Azure with multi-AZ high availability, BYOK encryption, and full DBA control, in your own cloud account. No application rewrites.

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Why migrate now

SQL Server estates don't move themselves

SQL Server tends to sprawl across business units and data centers, each managed a little differently, each with its own licensing, HA setup, and operational habits. Moving it to cloud usually forces a choice between losing capabilities your team depends on and accepting constraints on how you configure and operate it. Tessell migrates your SQL Server estate without that trade-off. You keep multi-AZ high availability, full control over images, parameters, collation, and security groups, and your own encryption keys, then run the whole estate from one control plane afterward, on AWS or Azure.

Capabilities

How Tessell Solves It

Migrate without the risk

Lift and Shine is Tessell's phased, no-rewrite migration methodology. Tessell stands up your SQL Server workloads in the target cloud, validates them, and cuts over on your schedule, with production kept live until you switch. Applications connect to the same endpoints after migration.

A US collectibles marketplace, migrated SQL Server to Tessell on AWS and saw a 53x performance improvement.

See Tessell for SQL Server in detail

The Tessell Way

How Tessell migrates SQL Server to the cloud

A proven, low-risk process for moving SQL Server estates without rewrites.

1. Estate Discovery

Catalog every SQL Server instance across on-premises and cloud: version, edition, HA topology, dependencies, and feature usage. Workload profiling sizes the target to actual usage.

2. Migration Planning

Model the target architecture on AWS or Azure, plan the multi-AZ HA configuration, sequence the migration in waves, and tie timelines to your data center exit or consolidation dates.

3. Data movement

Tessell uses SQL Server native backups, standard .bak files produced by SQL Server's built-in backup mechanisms, to move your databases into the target cloud.

4. Validate and Testing

Validate applications, queries, and jobs against the cloud environment before cutover, including HA failover testing.

Cutover on your Schedule

A single controlled switchover with minimal downtime, validated against the pre-migration baseline.

Plan your SQL Server Migration

Guide

Tessell for SQL Server

What to assess, how to phase it, and where the real risk sits before you move anything.

Technical

SQL Server high availability in the cloud, including Standard Edition

How multi-AZ HA works on Tessell, available on both Standard and Enterprise editions.

Blog

How Tessell Handles Transaction Log Retention for SQL Server Backups

Tessell MSSQL DBaaS takes full daily backups via Microsoft VDI and transaction log backups every five minutes, uploading logs to Amazon S3 for durable storage.

Case study

US State IT Services Provider Modernizes Critical Database Workloads on Azure

A central IT services provider for a US state modernized critical databases on Azure with Tessell - cutting TCO 51% and DBA effort 40%+

Operational Lifecycle Management

Quick Links

| Migration is the start. Tessell runs Oracle from there.| A database has to be provisioned, kept current, watched, and kept running when something goes wrong. After cutover, Tessell manages the full operational lifecycle of your Oracle estate from one platform.

Provisioning

Every database, provisioned to the same standard, in minutes.

Every database, provisioned to the same standard, in minutes. Multi-AZ HA is a toggle here, set at provisioning time.

Explore provisioning

Patching

Keep every database current.

The same switchover machinery that powers failover also keeps patching from meaning downtime.

Explore Lifecycle Management

Monitoring and Observability

Know what every database is doing.

Watch replica health and replication state alongside primary metrics.

Explore Monitoring & Observability

Business Continuity - HA/DR

Stay running when something goes wrong.

Multi-AZ failover and cross-region disaster recovery through Oracle Data Guard, with on-demand DR drills.

Explore Business Continuity - HA/DR

Frequently Asked
Questions

Yes. Lift and Shine migrates SQL Server at the infrastructure layer. Applications connect to the same endpoints after migration, with no rewrites.

Yes. Tessell provisions multi-AZ high availability for SQL Server on both Standard and Enterprise editions, with standby instances in separate availability zones.

SQL Server 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022, in Standard, Enterprise, Developer, and Evaluation editions, on Windows Server 2019 and 2022.

Yes. Tessell operates on a bring-your-own-license model for SQL Server. License registration is required for Standard and Enterprise editions.

AWS and Azure. Multi-cloud SQL Server estates are managed from a single control plane.

No. Tessell runs SQL Server in your own cloud account, in your VPCs, with your encryption keys. Native backups are stored in your own cloud object storage. Your data stays within your perimeter.

The Availability Machine provides scheduled snapshots and continuous point-in-time recovery, with transaction logs captured for PITR and logsweep running every five minutes. Backups can be retained from 1 to 35 days on the standard policy, or longer with a custom RPO policy.

Ready to move SQL Server to the cloud?

Start with a free estate assessment

Tessell will catalog your SQL Server estate, plan the HA configuration, and recommend a phased migration plan tied to your timeline.

Book a SQL Server Assessment