I think I've found the answer to this already but I just wanted to confirm that I'm getting this right. In SQL Server 2012, is there no way to implement a high-availability solution which doesn't require shared storage or use of a deprecated feature without having Enterprise Edition?
At the moment we have databases hosted on a primary server running Windows Server 2012 Standard and SQL Server 2012 Standard. We have a second, identical server, and the databases are mirrored between the two servers using Database Mirroring. This works perfectly and meets all of our requirements. The only possible problem is that we're looking at storing documents using FILESTREAM, which isn't available in Mirrored databases.
From what I've read, Database Mirroring is deprecated in SQL Server 2012. High Availability Groups, which sound great, are only available in the Enterprise Edition. This feels like a real kick in the teeth from Microsoft. We're stuck with either using a deprecated feature (Mirroring), which is only postponing the problem until the end of 2012's life cycle, or laying out significant amounts of money (in the tens of thousands of pounds GBP) to upgrade to Enterprise Edition, which we just don't have the budget for.
Why couldn't Microsoft continue to offer a high availability option for businesses without deep pockets? Do I have any options I'm not thinking of? Shared storage is not an option (too costly, single point of failure, geographically separated datacentres).