What is the advantage of Always On Failover Clustering vs Always On Availability Groups?
Basic Always On Failover Clustering provides server level protection, (eg: 2 servers with 1 shared disk space; if server fails, it can utilize another server on the shared disk space).
Always On Availability Groups provides both disk storage DR and server-level HA Protection. It provides 2 servers with 2 shared space.
So what benefit functionally does Always On Failover Clustering have over Availability Groups? Looking at the chart comparison I see none. Seems Availability Groups is better.
We utilize SQL Server 2016 Enterprise.
Thanks.
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Best Answer
The main advantages given 2012->2017 for an FCI is:
It depends on what you're protecting against and what infrastructure you have in order to protect it. Then it comes down to what people have the most experience supporting.
In Availability Groups, here are some common disadvantages: