Replacing Existing Cluster with new Hardware

  • Hello,

    We are currently in the process of looking at replacing our existing hardware and OS (from 2000 to 2003) for our Sql Server 2000 cluster which is in an Active Active configuration. We are planning on setting up the new servers and configuring them in a test area first. After testing, what we would like to do next is to basically take the current cluster offline and replace it with the new cluster over a weekend. This brings me to my questions.

    If we set up the cluster beforehand won't there be a DNS conflict issue if we try to name the virtual servers the same as they are on the current cluster? Is there a way to modify the virtual server name after a cluster is created? If not, what options are available to ensure our applications will be able to continue to function correctly with the new cluster?

    Thanks    

  • http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307336

    This will answer you about virtual server name change

    If your application connect to new virtual server with another network name by old network name it the connection will fail. If you reinstall virtual servers with old IP addresses then your app connection will succeed.

    Hope this helps

  • Renaming the cluster is not a practical solution.  I would use DNS records to alias the old SQL Instance names to the new SQL Instance names.  Ultimately, you should change the application connection strings to look for a DNS service name that you have aliased to a particular SQL Server instance.  That will make any future name changes easy.

    For the cutover, I would use a manual log shipping process to get the databases 'close'.  That way, you will only need to restore a final transaction log for each database after you take the old servers offline.

    Of course, you can simply add the new nodes to the existing cluster and remove the old nodes one at a time.  This would leave you using the same storage system but would have the advantage of keeping all your SQL settings intact.

    Geoff N. Hiten

    Microsoft SQL Server MVP

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