SQL SERVER – Can I Delete Always On Availability Groups Initial Sync Folder?

This was one of an interesting question which I heard from one of my clients who deployed Always On availability groups. I was not able to find much documentation and clarity so did some research and found an answer. This can also be an interview question as well.

Question:

I have configured Always On availability group using the Wizard. While configuration, I have selected a shared folder in below screen.

Due to some unavoidable reasons, I must remove that share.  If I remove that share, will availability group continues to function? Is it needed like the way we have shared location in log-shipping?

Answer:

Yes, we can remove that share and it won’t have any impact on the existing availability group. The purpose of the share is to do an initial sync via backup and restore method done by Wizard interface when we use Initialize now option. One backup and restore is complete and databases are synchronized, we can remove the files or even the share itself. Log Shipping needs a share to propagate transaction log backups in a shared location which is not the case with availability.

Have you faced a similar situation before? Let me know your thoughts about this blog post via comments.

Published by Pinal Dave on SQLAuthority. More of my work at pinaldave.com.