Running Microsoft SQL Server on Amazon EC2 instances utilizing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers a reliable environment for deploying applications. This configuration leverages the cost-efficiency, scalability, and flexibility of Amazon EC2, the well-established dependability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and premium support from AWS with collaborative assistance from Red Hat and Microsoft. The foundation for this setup relies on a shared SQL Server core codebase across RHEL and Windows Server through the SQL Platform Abstraction Layer (SQLPAL). Furthermore, Amazon EC2 instances running RHEL with SQL Server seamlessly integrate with various AWS features, including Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS), Amazon CloudWatch for monitoring, Elastic Load Balancing for load distribution, and Elastic IPs for simplified IP management.