Microsoft SQL Server is a database system that runs on Windows Server and someLinux distributions. You can use SQL Server on Compute Engine as partof the backend for your applications, as a flexible development and testenvironment, or in addition to your on-premises systems for backup and disasterrecovery.

Compute Engine provides images with Microsoft SQL Server preinstalledon Windows Server. For these SQL Server images, Compute Enginemanages the license for both Windows Server and SQL Server, and includes thecost in your monthly bill. Create VMs with SQL Server and scale out tolarge multi-node configurations when you need them.

Compute Engine stores your data on durablepersistent disks with automatic redundancy andautomatic encryption at rest. Use these persistent disks to store yourSQL Server data without having to worry about the durability or security ofyour data. For additional performance, create your VMs with alocal SSD as a cache that providesadditional IOPS and performance for SQL Server queries.

You can create Compute Engine virtual machine (VM) instances that runSQL Server in the following ways:

• Creating a VM using a SQL Server image.These images include one of several SQL Server editions that run on WindowsServer. You can use these images to run SQL Server on Compute Enginewithout obtaining your own separate license from Microsoft.

• Migrating your existing SQL Server licensesto a Windows Server VM on Compute Engine and manage those licensesyourself.

• Installing SQL Server on a Compute Engine LinuxVM.

For a full list of the available images that include SQL Serverpreinstalled, seeOperating system details.

Machine type requirements for SQL Server images

The best machine type for SQL Server depends on the edition of SQL Server thatyou're running.

SQL Server Standard

You can run SQL Server Standard on VMs with any machine type, butshared-core machine typeswon't run optimally. Google recommends that you use VMs with at least one vCPUto run SQL Server Standard.

SQL Server Enterprise

VMs that run SQL Server Enterprise must have at least 4 vCPUs. For optimalperformance, Google recommends that you run SQL Server Enterprise on VMs withlarger memory capacities. Depending on your workload, you should usehighmempredefined machine types with 8 vCPUs or more, such as forN2. Thehighmempredefined machine types maximize the ratio of memory to each vCPU that isavailable on Compute Engine, which is optimal for SQL ServerEnterprise VMs.

Additionally, you can use SQL Server Enterprise on Compute Engine tocreate SQL Server Availability Groups.

Default components

SQL Server images include several components by default. The default componentsdepend on the edition of SQL Server that you selected.

For information about the default components included with your version of SQLServer, seeEditions and supported features of SQL Server 2019.

For information about modifying the SQL Server components, seeAdd Features to an Instance of SQL Server.

Before you begin

• If you haven't already, then set up authentication.Authentication is the process by which your identity is verified for access to Google Cloud services and APIs. To run code or samples from a local development environment, you can authenticate to Compute Engine by selecting one of the following options:
  

  Select the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:

  Console

  When you use the Google Cloud console to access Google Cloud services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.

  gcloud

  1. Afterinstalling the Google Cloud CLI,initialize it by running the following command:

     gcloudinit

     If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

     Note: If you installed the gcloud CLI previously, make sure you have the latest version by runninggcloud components update.
  2. Set a default region and zone.

  Terraform

  To use the Terraform samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

  3. Toinitialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloudinit

  4. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloudauthapplication-defaultlogin

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

     If an authentication error is returned, and you are using an external identity provider (IdP), confirm that you have signed in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  REST

  To use the REST API samples on this page in a local development environment, you use the credentials you provide to the gcloud CLI.

  Afterinstalling the Google Cloud CLI,initialize it by running the following command:

  gcloudinit

  If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.

  For more information, seeAuthenticate for using REST in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

Creating a SQL Server instance

To create a SQL Server instance, specify the image family for the specificversion of SQL Server that you need. For a list of the SQL Server imagefamilies, seeOperating system details.

For optimal performance, database server platforms require machine types withmore virtual CPUs and larger amounts of memory. Google recommends that you usemachine types with at least 2 vCPUs and at least 4 GB of memory when you run SQLServer instances. You can usecustom machine typesto configure SQL Server instances to match the performance requirements for yourworkload. Additionally, you can use larger persistent disks and faster SSDpersistent disks to improve the performance of your applications.

Additionally, you must set specific firewall rules to allow SQL Server trafficon the VPC network or subnet that your VM is a part of. For moreinformation seeBest practices for SQL Server.

gcloud compute images list --project windows-sql-cloud --no-standard-images

gcloud compute instances createVM_NAME \    --image-project windows-sql-cloud \    --image-familyIMAGE_FAMILY \    --machine-typeMACHINE_TYPE \    --boot-disk-sizeBOOT_DISK_SIZE \    --boot-disk-typeBOOT_DISK_TYPE

gcloud compute firewall-rules create sql-server-1433 \    --description "Allow SQL Server access from all sources on port 1433." \    --allow tcp:1433 --networkNETWORK

resource "google_compute_instance" "sqlserver_vm" {  provider = google-beta  name     = "sqlserver-vm"  boot_disk {    auto_delete = true    device_name = "persistent-disk-0"    initialize_params {      image = "windows-sql-cloud/sql-std-2019-win-2022"      size  = 50      type  = "pd-balanced"    }    mode = "READ_WRITE"  }  machine_type = "n1-standard-4"  zone         = "europe-west1-b"  network_interface {    access_config {      network_tier = "PREMIUM"    }    network    = google_compute_network.default.id    stack_type = "IPV4_ONLY"    subnetwork = google_compute_subnetwork.default.id  }}

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/instancesinstance = {  "name": "VM_NAME",  "machineType": "zones/ZONE/machineTypes/MACHINE_TYPE",  "disks": [{      "boot": "true",      "type": "PERSISTENT",      "initializeParams": {         "diskName": "DISK_NAME",         "sourceImage": "projects/IMAGE_PROJECT/global/images/family/IMAGE_FAMILY",         "diskSizeGb": "BOOT_DISK_SIZE",         "diskType": "BOOT_DISK_TYPE",       }    }],  "networkInterfaces": [{    "accessConfigs": [{      "type": "ONE_TO_ONE_NAT",      "name": "External NAT"     }],    "network": "global/networks/default"  }],  "serviceAccounts": [{       "email": DEFAULT_SERVICE_EMAIL,       "scopes": DEFAULT_SCOPES  }]}

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/firewalls{ "name": "sql-server-1433", "network": "global/networks/NETWORK", "allowed": [  {   "IPProtocol": "tcp",   "ports": [    "1433"   ]  } ]}

After you create your SQL Server instance,set the initial password for the VMso that you canconnect to the VMthrough RDP. Then, run the SQL Server Management Studio as an administrator tomanage databases on your SQL Server instance.

Additionally, you can enhance the SQL Server installation with one or more ofthe following items:

• Install SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) on your SQL Server instance so that youcan create and manage your SQL Server databases using Visual Studio.Connect to the VMand thendownload and install SSDTfrom the Microsoft website.
• SQL Server images include severaldefault components.Optionally, you canadd features to your SQL Server installation.SQL Server images always include the setup executable atc:\sql_server_install\setup.exe.
• If you need to install SQL Server to a secondary persistent disk,add a secondary persistent diskto the VM. Then,connect to the VMand run thec:\sql_server_install\setup.exe installer and select a new installation path onyour secondary disk.
• If you require additional storage space on your boot disk or on any secondarystorage disks,resize the persistent diskseven while your VMs are running.

Managing SQL Server databases

Run the SQL Server Management Studio as an administrator to configure SQL Serverdatabases. You candownload and installthe SQL Server Management Studio on your local workstation, and use it toremotelyconnect to the database engineon your VM.

If you can't install the Management Studio on your local workstation,connect to the VM through RDPand run the Management Studio on the VM itself. SQL Server 2012 and SQLServer 2014 both include the SQL Server Management Studio by default. For SQLServer 2016, you must download the SQL Server Management Studiofrom the Microsoft website and install it on the VM.

By default, SQL Server uses Windows Authentication mode to control remoteaccess to SQL Server itself. If you need to use SQL Server Authentication mode,change the authentication mode.

Manually updating SQL Server instance names

If yourename a VM that hostsSQL Server, you must update the SQL Server instance name. For more information,seeRename a computer that hosts a stand-alone instance of SQL Server.

What's next

• Verify that your VM has successfully started.
• Create and attach a secondary storage diskto your VM to store your data separately from the boot disk.
• Learn best practices for SQL Server on Google Cloud.
• Create and configure a high-performance SQL Server instance.
• Use HammerDB to runLoad testing on SQL Server.
• Use SQL Server with .NET applications.
• Connect to your VM.