One of the questions that has been posed recently was in regards to setting up AlwaysOn Failover for the K2 SQL Server. Documentation for this process is available here:
Part of the documentation warns that this should be set up prior to adding any databases to the server, as setting it up afterwards may lead to some data loss. The concern was what data might be loss. More information about the data loss can be found here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/statements/restore-service-master-key-transact-sql
As an overview, part of setting up AlwaysOn Failover requires that you backup the Service Master Key for the SQL Server. If this server already contains databases, then you may have to use the FORCE option to proceed. The Service Master Key itself is the root of all other keys on the server and secures all the others directly or indirectly. If any of these dependent keys cannot be decrypted during the forced backup, any data that is secured by that key will be lost. As such, it is better to backup the key prior to adding any databases.
