Amazon RDS for SQL Server Supports Restoring TDE-Encrypted Databases on Multi-AZ

Restore TDE-enabled SQL Server backups directly to Multi-AZ and read replica instances for high availability.

By Nina Foster · Editorial pseudonym · 2026-07-27 · 1 min read

AI-ASSISTED REPORTING · RETROSPECTIVE ARCHIVE

Retrospective edition: 2026-07-27. Source published: 2026-07-27. Added to this archive: 2026-11-03. This briefing was prepared later from the linked announcement; it was not published on this website on the historical edition date.

Amazon RDS extended support for restoring Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) enabled SQL Server databases to Multi-AZ deployments and instances with read replicas in the same region. Earlier support was limited to Single-AZ instances, requiring configuration changes for availability.

The process involves backing up the TDE certificate, storing it in Amazon S3, and restoring the TDE-enabled database with native backup and restore methods. This enhancement simplifies encrypted database recovery and migration workflows where high availability and encryption are both required. The feature is region-wide for supported RDS SQL Server instances.

Source & further reading

Amazon RDS for SQL Server now supports restoring TDE databases on Mult-AZ instances ↗

Source published 2026-07-27. This report was prepared with AI assistance from the linked primary-source material. Claims and limitations should be checked against the original announcement or research.