True Load-Balancing Using SQL Server 2008.

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True Load-Balancing Using SQL Server 2008.

mangeshv

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Points: 150
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July 27, 2010 at 8:32 am

#225510

Hello All:
This is a question that has been baffling me for quite some time. Can SQL Server act as in a Load-balancing mode for better performance instead of the typical fail-over mode with SQL Server 2008? The infrastructure team in our company are pushing for implementing SQL Server 2008 in Load-Balancing mode. I am not sure if SQL Server works in this mode in real mode.
Thanks in Advance,
Regards,
Mangesh.

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Michael Valentine Jones SSC Guru Points: 64818 More actions · Answer 1

SQL Server 2008 has no true load balancing, meaning having multiple database servers actively updating the same database.

There are possible ways to off load specific tasks to other servers. For example, replicate data to another server, and run reporting on that server.

jvanderberg SSCertifiable Points: 6762 More actions · Answer 2

The reason for this limitation is because no two instances of SQL Server can reference the same data files at the same time.

--J

mangeshv SSC Enthusiast Points: 150 More actions · Answer 3

Thank you so much both for the replies. I just wanted to clear the myth that is making the rounds that Load-balancing is possible with SQL Server 2008.

Lynn Pettis SSC Guru Points: 442467 More actions · Answer 4

Just to play devils advocate, but wouldn't using Peer to Peer replication allow one to develop a solution that could provide a form of load balancing? I've never used Peer to Peer replication, so I would think someone with more knowledge of this technology would be better suited to answering the question.

Michael Valentine Jones SSC Guru Points: 64818 More actions · Answer 5

mangeshv (7/27/2010)
Thank you so much both for the replies. I just wanted to clear the myth that is making the rounds that Load-balancing is possible with SQL Server 2008.

Load-balancing can mean a lot of things, so you could just ask the people that are pushing for it what they actually mean.

It could be that they just don't know what they are talking about, but they may have something specific in mind.

For example, it is possible for multiple servers to share a read-only database by having multiple servers mount the same SAN volume, but this is probably only useful in a limited, data mart application to spread a heavy reporting workload over multiple servers.