Supported high availability and disaster recovery options for SharePoint databases (SharePoint 2013)
Applies to: SharePoint Server 2013, SharePoint Foundation 2013
Topic Last Modified: 2014-04-10
Summary: Learn about supported high availability and disaster recovery options for each SharePoint 2013 system and service application database.
This article describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for SharePoint 2013 databases. For detailed information about these databases, such as size and supported backup and recovery tools, see Database types and descriptions (SharePoint 2013). You can also view or download a model (Databases that support SharePoint 2013) of these databases on the Technical diagrams for SharePoint 2013 page.
In this article:
The scope of this article is the supported high availability and disaster recovery solutions for each SharePoint 2013 system and service application database. These solutions address the database level, instead of the database instance or database server level and include the following: database mirroring, database availability groups, and log shipping.
When you evaluate a high availability or a disaster recovery option for SharePoint, you must understand that not all of the options are supported by each SharePoint database. This is because of design requirements and feature characteristics.
This article identifies the supported option for each SharePoint database. These databases are grouped by SKU and then by feature.
The Configuration, the SharePoint Central Administration website Content, and Content databases are the databases that are automatically installed when you deploy any SharePoint 2013 edition.
The following tables provide the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the SharePoint system databases.
Configuration database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | SharePoint_Config |
| Purpose | The configuration database contains data about the following:
The configuration database also contains specific data for SharePoint 2013 farm settings, such as default quota settings and blocked file types. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | No. This is a farm specific database. |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No. This is a farm specific database. |
Central Administration content database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | SharePoint_Admin_Content |
| Purpose | This database stores all configuration data for the Central Administration site collection. If SQL Server 2012 Power Pivot for SharePoint 2013 is installed the Central Administration content database also stores the Excel worksheets and Power Pivot data files that are used in the Power Pivot Management Dashboard. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | No. This is a farm specific database. |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No. This is a farm specific database. |
Content database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | WSS_Content |
| Purpose | Content databases store all content for a site collection. This includes site documents or files in document libraries, list data, Web Part properties, audit logs, and some apps for SharePoint data if the apps are installed, in addition to user names and rights. Content databases also store user data for Power Pivot for SharePoint, if you installed it in your SharePoint 2013 environment. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
These databases are created to support features that are used in both SharePoint Foundation 2013 and SharePoint Server 2013 farms.
The following sections describe the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for SharePoint Foundation 2013 and SharePoint Server 2013 service application databases.
The following table provides the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the App Management database.
App Management database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | AppManagement |
| Purpose | Stores app licenses and permissions that are downloaded from the SharePoint Store or App Catalog. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
The SharePoint Search service application uses the following databases:
-
Search Administration
-
Analytics Reporting
-
Crawl
-
Link
The following tables provide the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Search databases.
Search Administration database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | Search_Service_Application_DB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores the Search application configuration and system access control list (SACL) for the crawl component. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | No. Taking a copy of the Search Administration database and using it to re-create the Search service application is supported. |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No. Taking a copy of the Search Administration database and using it to re-create the Search service application is supported. |
Analytics Reporting database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | Search_Service_Application_AnalyticsReportingStoreDB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores the results for usage analysis reports and extracts information from the Link database when it is needed. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No |
Crawl database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | Search_Service_Application_CrawlStoreDB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores the state of the crawled data and the crawl history. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | No |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No |
Link database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | Search_Service_Application_LinkStoreDB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores the information that is extracted by the content processing component and click through information. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | No |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No |
The following table provides the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Secure Store database.
Secure Store database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | Secure_Store_Service_DB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores and maps credentials, such as account names and passwords. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
The following table provides the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Usage and Health Data Collection database.
Usage and Health Data Collection database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | SharePoint_Logging |
| Purpose | Stores health monitoring and usage data temporarily, and can be used for reporting and diagnostics. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes, but not recommended |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes, but not recommended |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes, but not recommended |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No. This database is farm specific. However, you can copy it to a disaster recovery environment for data mining. |
The following table provides the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Subscription Settings service application database.
Subscription Settings database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | SettingsServiceDB |
| Purpose | The Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Subscription Settings service application database stores features and settings for hosted customers. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
These service applications support the features that are available in either the Standard or Enterprise edition of SharePoint Server 2013.
The following sections describe the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for SharePoint Server 2013 service application databases.
The User Profile Service application uses the following databases:
-
Profile: The Profile database stores and manages users and associated information. It also stores information about a user's social network in addition to memberships in distribution lists and sites.
-
Synchronization: The Synchronization database stores configuration and staging data for use when profile data is being synchronized with directory services such as Active Directory.
-
Social Tagging: The Social Tagging database stores social tags and notes created by users, alongside their respective URLs.
The following tables describe the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the User Profile service application databases.
Profile database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | User Profile Service Application_ProfileDB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores and manages users and their associated information. It also stores information about a user's social network in addition to memberships in distribution lists and sites. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
Synchronization database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | User Profile Service Application_SyncDB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores configuration and staging data for use when profile data is synchronized with directory services such as Active Directory. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | No |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No |
Social Tagging database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | User Profile Service Application_SocialDB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores social tags and notes created by users, alongside their respective URLs. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
The following table describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Word Automation Services database.
Word Automation Services database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | WordAutomationServices_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores information about pending and completed document conversions. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
The following table describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Managed Metadata Service database.
Managed Metadata Service database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | Managed Metadata Service Application_Metadata_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores managed metadata and syndicated content types. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
 Note: |
|---|
| In some documentation, the Managed Metadata Service database is also known as the Taxonomy database. |
The following table describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Translation Services database.
Translation Services database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | SharePoint Translation Services_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores information about pending and completed batch document translations with enabled file name extensions. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
The following table describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Business Data Connectivity database.
Business Data Connectivity service database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | Bdc_Service_DB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores external content types and related objects. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
The following table describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the Project Server database.
| Note: |
|---|
| Project Server creates a separate database for each instance of Project Web App |
Project Server database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | ProjectWebApp |
| Purpose | Each Project Web App database contains the following data:
|
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
The following table describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the PowerPivot Service database.
Power Pivot Service database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with SQL Server 2012 Power Pivot for Excel 2013 | DefaultPowerPivotServiceApplicationDB_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores data refresh schedules, and Power Pivot usage data that is copied from the central usage data collection database. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Currently being tested |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Currently being tested |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Not tested |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Not tested |
The following table describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the PerformancePoint Services database.
PerformancePoint Services database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | PerformancePoint Service _<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores temporary objects and saved user comments and settings. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | Yes |
The following table describes the supported high availability and disaster recovery options for the State Service database.
State Service database
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Default database name when it is installed with the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard | SessionStateService_<GUID> |
| Purpose | Stores temporary state information for InfoPath Forms Services, Exchange Server, the chart Web Part, and Visio Services. |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012 synchronous mirroring in a farm for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with synchronous-commit for availability | Yes |
| Supports SQL Server 2008 R2 asynchronous mirroring or log-shipping to another farm for disaster recovery | No |
| Supports SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group with asynchronous-commit for disaster recovery | No |
SharePoint Server 2013 is built on SQL Server and uses the following SQL Server system databases: master, msdb, tempdb, and model. SQL Server provides a complete set of administrative tools that let users fully administer their system and manage all users and objects in a database. For more information about the SQL Server system databases, see System Databases.
You can only mirror user databases, put them in a SQL Server AlwaysOn availability group or log ship them. You can’t use these approaches to provide high availability or disaster recovery for the system databases.
The following SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) databases can be used as part of a SharePoint 2013 deployment:
-
Report Server Catalog (ReportingService_<GUID>) - Stores all report metadata including report definitions, report history and snapshots, and scheduling information.
Note: When Report Server Catalog is used, report documents are stored in SharePoint content databases. -
ReportServerTempDB (ReportingService_<GUID>_TempDB) - Stores all the temporary snapshots while reports are running.
-
Report Server Alerting (ReportingService_<GUID>_Alerting) - Stores all Data Alerts and runtime information.
A Reporting Services report server is a stateless server that stores application data, content, properties, and session information in two SQL Server relational databases. The best way to ensure the availability of Reporting Services functionality is to do the following:
-
Use the high availability features of the SQL Server Database Engine to maximize the uptime of the report server databases. If you configure a Database Engine instance to run in a failover cluster, you can select that instance when you create a report server database.
-
Use SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups with the Reporting Services databases and for data sources where applicable.
-
Configure multiple report servers to run in a scale-out deployment, where all the servers share a single report server database. Deploying multiple report server instances on different servers can help increase the level of uninterrupted service.
