SQL Enterprise Services FY 2022-2023

SQL Enterprise Services FY 2022-2023

The SQL Enterprise Hosting Service provides central dedicated shared Microsoft SQL Servers on the Windows Server platform. These databases reside on servers in a controlled physical environment with fully managed updates, maintenance, storage, backup, and disaster recovery services. This service should be utilized for mission critical systems.

Included

Current Version Availability: SQL Server 2019 or 2022

  • 1 database
  • db_owner, db_datareader, and db_datawriter are provisioned as required, preferably by Active Directory group management
  • SSD Flash Storage - automatically charged at the published storage rate per GB
  • Online backup of the database and storage of the backups in the cloud
  • Weekly database maintenance if requested for index and statistics maintenance
  • 15-minute Log backups for databases in the FULL recovery model
  • Nightly differential, and weekly full backups for databases in the SIMPLE recovery model
  • Facilities management (secure datacenter, UPS, generators, HVAC)
  • Virtualized Hyperconverged SimpliVity VMWare platform with all flash disks
  • Unlimited user connections - All Enterprise SQL is licensed by CPU by OIT
  • Patch management for Operating System and SQL Server software updates
  • All IT overhead costs (facilities, personnel, etc.)
  • Operating System support
  • Data, Logfile and TempDB disk setup
  • Vendor installation assistance\escorted access
  • Security (Server hardening utilizing Center for Internet Security Benchmarks)
  • Virus protection
  • Hardware monitoring
  • Server monitoring (Hardware, Server Services, database, and log monitoring)
  • 24 x 7 data center monitoring/coverage

Service Level Targets & Availability

  • The standard production published service level agreement can be viewed at the following link: Standard_SLA_CTS_Production Services. 
  • Default coverage is 7AM – 5PM, Monday – Friday. 24x7 coverage is available for systems with a specific need for this type of coverage via one of the high availability offerings at an extra cost
  • To have 24x7 coverage outside of an HA offering, OIT needs to receive a written business justification; once justification has been approved, OIT will work with the business on a service level agreement for the specific systems
  • OIT needs to maintain a maintenance window for patching once per month for routine maintenance on the hardware and software infrastructure, managed through the RFC process

Service Rates: Please see the MaineIT Rate Table

Options Available for Additional Charge

  • SQL Server Reporting Services is a reporting software that allows you to produce formatted reports with tables in the form of data, graph, images, and charts. These reports are hosted on a server that can be executed any time using parameters defined by the users.
    • Application Administrators are granted Content Manager access and administer their named instance. ACLs can be broken down further to manage permissions by Application Development staff to limit access levels with AD groups. Server support is still managed by CIS.
  • SQL Server Analysis Services provides enterprise-grade semantic data model capabilities for business intelligence (BI), data analysis, and reporting applications such as Power BI, Excel, Reporting Services, and other data visualization tools.
    • Application Administrators are granted access to their instance and can manage the named instance. CIS does not provide development or design support with SSAS solutions. Server support is still managed by CIS.
  • SQL Server Integration Services is a platform for building enterprise-level data integration and data transformations solutions. Use Integration Services to solve complex business problems by copying or downloading files, loading data warehouses, cleansing, and mining data, and managing SQL Server objects and data.
    • Users are granted access to their own instance and can create and manage jobs with the SQL Server agent. CIS does not provide development or design support with SSIS solutions. Server support is still managed by CIS.
  • Azure SQL Database is the Microsoft Azure SQL Server offering for hosting SQL Server workloads. Azure is the only cloud with evergreen SQL that automatically applies the latest updates and patches so that your databases are always up to date — eliminating end-of-support hassle. Complex tasks like performance tuning, high availability, disaster recovery, and backups are automated, freeing you to focus on application Azure SQL DB estimates can be provided, but rates are not set by MaineIT - please contact the SQL_Team@maine.gov for assistance on using the Azure Calculator for a cost estimate.
  • High Availability - AlwaysOn Availability Groups - An availability group is a replicated environment for a discrete set of user databases, known as availability databases. These can be used for regular HA scenarios, or to support a secondary read-only copy of a database that is kept concurrent with the transactional database. An availability group supports one set of primary databases and one to eight sets of corresponding secondary databases. Secondary databases are not backups, but live copies of the primary database with automatic failover if there is on issue on the primary.
  • All project work is billable
  • All audit related work is billable
  • All costs associated with indefinite hold requests will be direct billed

Customer Expectations

  • Application support
  • Disclosures of any/all compliance requirements for specific databases
  • Disclosures of any/all security requirements
  • Application subject matter expert and tester in the event of an upgrade or an outage during normal business hours or after hours
  • Billing for services will start as of the time the ticket is received for the request for any production service. If a test environment is requested, those services will be billed as well upon receiving the ticket for the request. A ticket needs to be submitted to remove the service from billing. No credits will be processed without a ticket.
  • Upgrades and Migrations should be initiated by the Application Contact via a Footprints request. We will send communications out regarding upcoming End of Life for SQL Server versions.

To get help or order this service

  • Call OIT Service Center at 624-7700
  • Enter a Footprints service request assigned to OIT SQL Server Team
  • Email SQL_Team@maine.gov

Important Notes

  • SQL Server 2008 End of Life/End of Support was July 9, 2019
  • SQL Server 2012 End of Life/End of Support was July 12, 2022
  • SQL Server 2016 End of Life/End of Support is July 14, 2026
  • SQL Server 2019 End of Life/End of Support is Jan 14, 2030
  • SQL Server 2022 End of Life/End of Support is Jan 11, 2033