Low cost way to maximize SQL Server uptime?

jdray writes: "My wife and I own a mid-sized restaurant with a couple of Point of Sale (POS) terminals. The software, which runs on Windows and .NET, uses SQL Server on the back end. With an upgrade to the next major release of the software imminent, I'm considering upgrading the infrastructure it runs on to better ensure uptime (we're open seven days a week). We can't afford several thousand dollars' worth of server infrastructure (two cluster nodes and some shared storage, or somesuch), so I thought I'd ask Slashdot for some suggestions on enabling maximum uptime. I considered a single server node running VMWare with a limp-mode failover to a VMWare instance on a desktop, but I'm not sure how to set up a monitoring infrastructure to automate that, and manual failover isn't much of an option with non-tech staff. What suggestions do you have?"

YES! I have a suggestion!

[Jane Q. Public]

Next time, get software that runs on *nix, rather than Windows. Then you will no longer be dependent on SQL Server. Instead you will have a fantastic array of options.

If you are locked in to a particular software vendor, I strongly suggest you change to something that does not require such proprietary solutions. There is a whole world of it out there. Some of it very, very good.

And when it comes to server reliability, as well as SQL reliability and performance, Microsoft is far, far behind the curve.

Re:

[Jane Q. Public]

And by the way: if you want "low cost", Microsoft is almost never the way to go, today. If uptime is your concern, and if (as you imply), you lose money to downtime, then buy some cheap GENERIC hardware and run Linux.

That IS your answer. Microsoft cannot supply what you ask.