May 23, 2008 at 10:50 am
Next week I have to add a LUN to our Windows 2003/SQL Server 2005 production cluster and move some log files to it. I have added a LUN to a non-clustered box before and it was no problem. I know that the cluster adds complexity to this though.
I'm trying to discover:
- What are the steps needed to do this?
- What are the pitfalls and gotchas?
- How much time will the database be unavailable?
I really haven't found much online to help.
Thanks,
Rob
May 23, 2008 at 11:56 am
Rob Symonds (5/23/2008)
Next week I have to add a LUN to our Windows 2003/SQL Server 2005 production cluster and move some log files to it. I have added a LUN to a non-clustered box before and it was no problem. I know that the cluster adds complexity to this though.I'm trying to discover:
- What are the steps needed to do this?
- What are the pitfalls and gotchas?
- How much time will the database be unavailable?
I really haven't found much online to help.
Thanks,
Rob
First step is to add the LUN to each cluster node. I am not sure how this is done, since I have a separate group that handles that for me.
Second step is to add the LUN as a resource in the SQL Cluster Group.
Once the LUN is available in the SQL Group, you have to take SQL Server offline and modify the dependencies - adding the new drive.
Bring SQL Server on-line and the drive will now be accessible and you can move data/log files to the new drive.
Jeff
Jeffrey Williams
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
― Charles R. Swindoll
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Managing Transaction Logs
May 23, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Thanks. So far I think good on the following:
- Adding the LUN to the cluster using Disk Management.
- Adding the Resource to our SQL Server Group in Cluster Admin.
- Taking the SQL Server group Offline.
As far as adding the drive as a dependency, does this just require right-clicking Resources > SQL Server and then adding the drive under the dependency tab?
Once that is done and online, I take it I just move the group to the other node to test right?
The other drives appear as mounted volumes but they are also created as mount points under a different drive. I didn't do this but I figure I will follow suit when adding this drive. Any special concerns around this?
Thanks,
Rob
May 23, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Yep, that is it - once the drive is added as a resource for SQL Server, you can move the group to test.
I would also test by opening any dialog box from SSMS where you need to define the drive. For example, you can run through a backup and try to backup a database to your new drive. If it exists in the list of drives available - SQL Server sees the drive and it can be used.
Jeff
Jeffrey Williams
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
― Charles R. Swindoll
How to post questions to get better answers faster
Managing Transaction Logs
May 28, 2008 at 8:19 am
Thank you. A few more questions...
We are doing this because I need to move log files onto a bigger drive. I have the option of adding new log files and migrating data but I think it would be cleaner to simply detach the db, move the log files, then reattach with the new locations specified.
- Should I put the DB into single user mode before I do this?
- I will have full + bak + trn logs to recover point in time. If I put the DB into single user mode and do a trn log backup I should have everything I need to do a restore. That being said, should I take full backups before/after the detach/attach? 40GB database, so backup could take a while.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Rob
May 29, 2008 at 6:54 am
As a follow up, everything worked as noted here. I did the detach+attach without taking any special backups. We let connections drop off the web servers and then took them offline before we did the DB maintenance to make sure we didn't disrupt any user work in process. I did check the update stats box during the detach and it took a while longer to run than expected. Something to keep in mind.
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