DH2i Blog Article

(H)Edge Your Bets: Get HA that Follows Your Critical SQL Server All the Way to the Edge

Don Boxley Jr

April 17, 2025

Reliance on Edge is Growing

Industries across the globe are more data-driven than ever before. As the world grows increasingly digitized, field-based systems and instruments need the ability to collect, process, and transmit massive amounts of data in real-time. Thus, edge devices have become an essential component of modern IT infrastructure.

Ranging from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, to smart cameras and intelligent gateways, edge devices are playing a critical role in operational decision-making for countless organizations worldwide. However, with a critical reliance on any information technology comes a critical need for ensuring its uninterrupted operation. This is where high availability (HA) comes into play, and IT pros face some unique challenges surrounding HA and security for edge devices.

The Importance of High Availability for Edge Devices

Edge devices are often deployed in remote or hard-to-reach locations, making it challenging to perform maintenance, repairs, or replacements. Any downtime or data loss can have significant consequences, including:

Business Operations Disruption: Edge devices are often used to control/monitor systems such as manufacturing equipment, security systems, or transportation infrastructure, and downtime can bring these operations to a half.
Data Integrity: Data loss or corruption can compromise the integrity of critical business decisions and their associated operations.
Security Risks: Unavailable or compromised edge devices can create security vulnerabilities, exposing sensitive data to unauthorized access.

Ultimately, edge devices that support databases with stringent uptime requirements need to be implemented with a keen attention to redundancy. If an edge system starts failing, you need prompt and intelligent HA automation that can detect the failure and failover the workload to a secondary system (with access to a duplicate database), enabling your edge data processing to continue without interruption.

DxEnterprise High Availability Software

DxEnterprise is a high availability solution designed to ensure nearest-to-zero downtime and peak security for SQL Server database workloads. It is an excellent option to help organizations ensure that their edge devices remain operational in the face of hardware or software failures, network outages, and other disruptions. There are some key differentiators that separate DH2i within the edge use case as well.

Differentiators of DxEnterprise High Availability for Edge

Integrated Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP): DxEnterprise functions as both a high availability solution and standalone network security solution with its SDP tunneling capabilities.
Infrastructure & Platform-Agnostic: DxEnterprise offers a unified HA management console for all your SQL Server whether it’s on Windows, Linux, or Kubernetes. It can be installed on any existing infrastructure and allows you to maintain all your connected edge devices from a single location.
Network Performance Boost: DxEnterprise’s SDP capability uses proprietary data transport technology (hybrid UDP/TCP) that increases network throughput by up to 40% for customers—enabling peak performance for connected edge devices.
Container Scalability: DxEnterprise is a totally container-ready high availability platform that integrates seamlessly with Kubernetes. By integrating containers, organizations can easily scale their edge device infrastructure, supporting growing demands for data processing and transmission.
DxOperator: DxEnterprise’s SQL Server Operator for Kubernetes is the easiest way for organizations to deploy Availability Groups (AGs) in Kubernetes, drastically simplifying the path to optimized scalability.
Minimum Downtime for Instances & Containers: DxEnterprise provides the proprietary capability of fully automatic failover for SQL Server AGs in Kubernetes, enabling the same nearest-to-zero downtime for instances AND containers.

Real-World Edge Scenarios Where DxEnterprise Can Help

There’s a limitless variety of edge use cases that DxEnterprise can help organizations with such as:

Industrial Automation: Ensure continuous operation of industrial control systems, manufacturing equipment, and IoT sensors.
Smart Cities: Maintain uninterrupted services for smart city initiatives, such as intelligent transportation systems, energy management, and public safety.
Healthcare: Guarantee high availability for medical devices, patient monitoring systems, and healthcare IT infrastructure.
Retail: Ensure continuous operation of point-of-sale systems, inventory management, and customer engagement platforms.

However, DxEnterprise’s unique competencies shine brightest in high security industries and industries that necessitate a high degree of scalability for their SQL Server environments. It integrates built-in software-defined perimeter technology that organizations can use to securely connect to any type of edge devices, anywhere. And DxEnterprise introduces the most advanced container HA capabilities on the market—enabling organizations to integrate containers within any existing environment while ensuring their continuous operation with fully automatic failover automation.

By leveraging DxEnterprise, organizations can unlock the full potential of their edge device infrastructure to drive business success, improve customer experiences, and stay ahead of the competition.