How to test SQL Server Standard Basic Availability Group?

Question

I'm planning to set up a new SQL Server 2017 Standard Edition instance, with Basic Availability Groups. How can I test that in a dev or qa environment?

In my QA environment now, I have Developer edition installed. When I run the T-SQL to create a Basic Availability Group, I get the following error:

'BASIC' failed because it is not supported in the edition of this SQL Server instance

I've learned that Developer and Evalualtion have same feature set as Enterprise, so looks like I can't use those? Do I need a fully licensed Standard edition in a dev/qa environment to test Basic Availability Groups?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, there is no magic switch to make Developer / Enterprise / Evaluation Editions behave like Standard (though we've been asking for that for years; this Connect item is from 2009, and it was only the first one I found). So you have at least two alternatives:

1. Get an MSDN subscription. Ask around; your employer (or a fellow employee) may already have a suitable subscription. To get SQL Server you only need VS Professional ($1,199 for the first year; $799 per year afterward). With this edition, you can install any number of instances of any edition of SQL Server, as long as it is only used in a dev and/or test scenario.

2. Assuming you already have the Standard Edition licenses for production (or can get them soon), as long as they aren't installed at the same time, you should be able to use that licensing in dev/test and then uninstall it completely before deploying to production. If you have MSDN (or additional licenses you're not using yet), you could go on this way until you use them; if not, you'd be in violation of the licensing agreement. Honestly, MSDN is a cheap and effective way to avoid this (but I know that it can bring about the temptation to use those cheaper licenses for production machines).