The IT Nerd

DH2i, a leading provider of always-secure and always-on IT solutions, today announced the general availability (GA) launch of DxEnterprise v26.0 and DxOperator v2, featuring significant high availability (HA), disaster recovery (DR), and operational resilience capabilities enhancements for SQL Server deployments across Windows, Linux, and Kubernetes environments. Together, the releases introduce meaningful advances in availability group (AG) protection, security controls, observability, and automation for both traditional and containerized SQL Server deployments.

In today’s enterprises, a perfect storm has emerged where applications have become direct revenue channels, infrastructure complexity has increased while IT staffing has not, modernization initiatives are no longer optional, security and compliance requirements are tightening, and software update velocity has accelerated. Together, these forces expose the limits of traditional HA approaches. What once worked for small, static clusters no longer scales when SQL Server deployments span hybrid, multi-platform, and containerized environments that demand continuous availability, stronger safeguards, and higher levels of automation. DxEnterprise v26.0 and DxOperator v2 address these challenges head-on.

DxEnterprise v26.0 focuses on improving cluster resilience, visibility, and administrative confidence through enhanced monitoring, stronger safeguards against split-brain scenarios, expanded credential support, and platform modernization. DxOperator v2 extends those capabilities into Kubernetes environments, giving users greater control over scale, updates, and network configuration for SQL Server AGs running in containers.

What’s New in DxEnterprise v26.0 

Deeper SQL Server and Availability Group Intelligence

• Database-level health monitoring is now enabled by default, allowing faster detection of issues affecting individual databases within an AG
• Split-brain scenarios are prevented via automatic per-availability-group quorum enforcement by demoting or shutting down replicas when quorum requirements are not met
• Improved replica connectivity alerts provide real-time notification when replicas disconnect or when SQL Server replica configurations diverge from expected cluster state

Improved Security and Credential Resilience

• Support for secondary SQL Server backup credentials enables automatic fallback if primary authentication fails, reducing downtime caused by credential changes or expirations
• Administrative sessions are automatically disconnected when the cluster passkey changes, ensuring only authorized users with current credentials retain access
• The DxAdmin user interface now includes clearer prompts, stronger validation, and improved feedback for passkey configuration

Greater Stability and Observability

• Core monitoring services, including DxLMonitor, DxCMonitor, DxStorMonitor, and DxHealthMonitor, have received reliability and stability improvements to reduce unexpected restarts and improve overall cluster resilience
• Basic anonymous telemetry is now available to help improve product quality and diagnostics, with opt-out configuration for customers who prefer not to participate

Platform and Usability Enhancements

• DxEnterprise’s Linux version now runs on the .NET 8.0 runtime, delivering improved performance, security, and long-term support alignment
• Virtual hosts can now be renamed using a new rename-vhost command, simplifying cluster management and reorganization
• Additional safeguards prevent accidental overwriting of existing data stores during SQL Server high availability virtualization
• Enhancements to DxCLI and DxPS improve command-line usability, including human-readable XML output and new PowerShell cmdlets
• The DxCollect utility now includes expanded command-line options for more targeted diagnostics and log collection.

What’s New in DxOperator v2 

Flexible Scaling Up and Down

• Availability group clusters can now be expanded or reduced dynamically
• Unlike the previous version, DxOperator v2 can safely de-configure and remove replicas from a running cluster, enabling true scale-down operations

Automated Rolling Updates

• Administrators can automate rolling updates of SQL Server or DxEnterprise container images, allowing pods to be updated one at a time without manual intervention
• Updates can also be performed manually when desired, giving operators full control over rollout strategy
• DxOperator does not automatically check for new container versions, ensuring that administrators remain in control of when and how updates are applied

Advanced Network and Service Configuration

• Flexible service templates allow load balancers and other network services to be fully specified and automatically deployed per availability group replica
• This enables more consistent connectivity across different Kubernetes environments and cloud providers

Redesigned Custom Resource and StatefulSet Adoption

• The custom resource definition has been redesigned for greater flexibility and now leverages Kubernetes StatefulSets
• By delegating pod creation, storage allocation, and rolling upgrades to Kubernetes, DxOperator v2 simplifies internal logic while benefiting from native Kubernetes reliability and lifecycle management

DH2i’s DxEnterprise v26.0 and DxOperator v2 are now generally available (GA) – to learn more, please visit: https://dh2i.com/dxenterprise-high-availability/ and https://dh2i.com/dxoperator-sql-server-operator-for-kubernetes/ respectively. 

To dive even deeper, please join DH2i’s upcoming webinar: “High Availability, Simplified: What’s New in DxEnterprise v26 & DxOperator v2”, on April 16 at 12:00 pm EDT. Save your seat by registering here: https://dh2i.com/webinar-simplified-high-availability-solution/

The Infographic can be found here: https://dh2i.com/blog/v26-simplified-sql-server-high-availability/. 

DH2i, the world’s leading provider of always-secure and always-on IT infrastructure solutions, has announced the release of a comprehensive research study regarding virtual private network (VPN) adoption rates and trends, the results of which are detailed in a report titled, “Virtual Private Networks (VPN) Report, 2022.” 

The research, sponsored by DH2i and conducted by Virtual Intelligence Briefing (ViB), compared pre-pandemic VPN use to that of 2022. As anticipated, survey respondents (85%) indicated that the primary purpose of VPNs was to facilitate the ability for individual users (i.e., employees, partners, etc.) to link with an organization’s internal private network. However, what was surprising was the 2022 research also revealed a minuscule 2.4% increase in this metric in comparison to 2020.

The survey suggested that a primary driver for this trend was the pain now associated with VPNs. Prior to 2020, VPN usage was relatively low and therefore manageable. After the dramatic increase in remote VPN users came a commensurate increase in VPN-related pain – particularly around security. Other grievances included disaster recovery (DR) limitations, slow connection speeds, bandwidth constraints, configuration and overall management complexity, and cost. 

As a result, respondents indicated that they have implemented or are planning to implement more viable VPN alternatives. Many reported that they are increasingly looking towards a software-defined perimeter (SDP) as a solution for their remote user, multi-site/multi-cloud, and IoT connectivity requirements. According to the report, since 2020, 18% of the respondents have implemented SDP, and an additional 39% are considering evaluating and deploying an SDP in the coming six to twelve months.

Other interesting takeaways from the research include:

• Cisco remains the leading VPN brand with 53% of respondents currently using it, but its market share has decreased by 15% while its competitors, particularly F5, have shown growth in their market share.
• The 2022 report shows a 10% decrease in VPN usage for site-to-site connectivity, while there was almost a 10% increase in VPN usage to connect to cloud-based services from an on-site location, suggesting a pandemic-related trend of accelerated use of cloud-based infrastructure.
• The use of microservices/containers increased by 42%, indicating that the future of application development and deployment will revolve around container technology, while the multi-cloud use case remained unchanged at 15%.

To read “Virtual Private Networks (VPN) Report, 2022” in its entirety, please visit: https://dh2i.com/vpn-report/.