August 24, 2011 at 8:40 am
Does anyone on this forum have experience with building a Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster on cheap hardware at home?
We installed clustered SQL Server 2008 R1 at work a year or so ago, and I would like to find an inexpensive way to mimic my work environment in my home lab so I can test upgrades, service packs, etc. If things go "bump" in my home lab while testing, I really haven't lost that much. A "bump" at work is much more of a headache. 😉
Mostly, I am looking for hardware requirements and operating system requirements. We have the clustered installation of SQL Server 2008 documented, and that should work fine, assuming that I can build a cluster prior to the SQL install.
Can cheap hardware be used to create a Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster?
For the operating system, I plan to use Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition, and I'll need to create an Active Directory for the clustered SQL install. What else?
I have a couple of PCs in my home lab that I can reformat. Or, if absolutely necessary, I may be open to buying a new box or two. Would building the cluster as virtual machines be worthwhile?
At this point, I'm not sure how high to set my goals for building a SQL cluster at home. If this is going to get expensive, I'll probably continue to to use my standalone SQL Server installs.
August 24, 2011 at 8:46 am
Coincidentally, this was posted just yesterday
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability
August 24, 2011 at 8:53 am
shew (8/24/2011)
Does anyone on this forum have experience with building a Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster on cheap hardware at home?
Follow my 3 part guide on this site starting at the following link[/url]
It details all the VMs required and even uses its own virtual NAS storage for the Server 2008 iSCSI LUNs. Shout back if you get any problems with it, most have found it very useful and have bookmarked the article
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"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
August 24, 2011 at 8:55 am
Awesome link. Thanks, Gail!
August 24, 2011 at 9:08 am
August 25, 2011 at 6:08 pm
August 26, 2011 at 2:57 am
Hi
i used Freenas .7.2 which is still available for download. I can supply a short tutorial with screenshots for v8 though if you want it
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"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
August 26, 2011 at 3:14 am
I finally got 8.0 to install. There is a problem with Internet Explorer 9. I found a google link that indicated that you have to switch to Compatibility View to get the login page to work and switch back out to get the rest of the site to work. I haven't finished configuring NAS yet, but at least I can log in.
August 26, 2011 at 3:41 am
yeah i dont use IE9 its a nasty piece of software to be honest.
Firefox works just great too.
The way you create the volumes\datasets and expose the LUNs has changed significantly between versions, if you get stuck shout back (probably best to create a new thread though so others may locate it easier)
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"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
August 26, 2011 at 9:56 am
I have plans to build a physical cluster ( no virtualisation ) using windows 2008 R2 storage server - this acts essentially as a shared iscsi storage source. You then need two identical boxes to create the cluster. My view is that creating a physical cluster would be more representative. I just need the free time to sort it out!
[font="Comic Sans MS"]The GrumpyOldDBA[/font]
www.grumpyolddba.co.uk
http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/grumpyolddba/
August 26, 2011 at 10:49 am
colin.Leversuch-Roberts (8/26/2011)
I have plans to build a physical cluster ( no virtualisation ) using windows 2008 R2 storage server - this acts essentially as a shared iscsi storage source. You then need two identical boxes to create the cluster. My view is that creating a physical cluster would be more representative. I just need the free time to sort it out!
To be honest physical or virtual it makes no difference.
The way you perform actions such as configure MPIO, iSCSI Initiator, create the cluster and install SQL Server do not change. Nice to have the hardware if you got it
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"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
August 26, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Perry Whittle (8/26/2011)
yeah i dont use IE9 its a nasty piece of software to be honest.Firefox works just great too.
The way you create the volumes\datasets and expose the LUNs has changed significantly between versions, if you get stuck shout back (probably best to create a new thread though so others may locate it easier)
Perry,
Firefox solved some of my issues, but I am "in over my head" with FreeNAS 8.0. I'll start a new thread at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1166500-1549-1.aspx.
August 28, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Perry,
Networking is not a strong point for me (I normally use DHCP at home, and IP assignment is performed by a different group at work). I am getting lost in all the IP addresses. Based on your articles, below is what I think I need so far.
Should the same IP address be used for VMnet3 for DC, NODE1, and NODE2? I seem to recall that IPs ending in .0 (i.e., n.n.n.0) are special, but I don't recall why; so, I am thinking tha my list needs some tweeks. Can you help me fill in the blanks and make corrections in the list?
VM Name Description IP Address Subnet Mask Comments
------- ---------------- ------------ ------------- -------------------------------
NAS VM to Host 172.168.10.0 255.255.255.0
NAS VM iSCSI Network 192.168.93.0 255.255.255.0 VMnet3
NAS Public 10.10.10.2 255.255.255.0 Configure NAS via web interface
DC VM to Host ?.?.?.? 255.255.255.0
NODE1 VM to Host ?.?.?.? 255.255.255.0
NODE1 VM Heartbeat 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 VMnet2
NODE2 VM iSCSI Network 192.168.93.0 255.255.255.0 VMnet3
NODE2 VM to Host ?.?.?.? 255.255.255.0
NODE2 VM Heartbeat 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 VMnet2
NODE2 VM iSCSI Network 192.168.93.0 255.255.255.0 VMnet3
August 29, 2011 at 3:05 am
shew (8/28/2011)
Perry,Networking is not a strong point for me (I normally use DHCP at home, and IP assignment is performed by a different group at work).
🙂 hey no worries. Again my article is designed to address exactly this. You can if you want to just assign everything with DHCP (SQL Server and Windows 2008 fully support this) but you're not going to learn anything. First you need either a good spreadsheet or i use the free Solarwinds IP address tracker, to keep track of IP Addresses allocated
shew (8/28/2011)
am getting lost in all the IP addresses. Based on your articles, below is what I think I need so far.Should the same IP address be used for VMnet3 for DC, NODE1, and NODE2? I seem to recall that IPs ending in .0 (i.e., n.n.n.0) are special, but I don't recall why;
Firstly, the n.n.n.0 and n.n.n.255 addresses are special, they are broadcast addresses. Re visit the part of my guide where you assign the IP\subnet range to the different virtual switch adapters (VMNET1, VMNET2, VMNET3). So, in the VMWare "Manage Virtual Networks" for VMNET2 you set 10.10.10.0 as the IP subnet range. This creates a virtual network adapter at the host level and this reserves 10.10.10.1 this means your usable range is now 10.10.10.2 to 10.10.10.254
Based on this i would use the following
VM Name Description IP Address Subnet Mask Comments
------- ---------------- ------------ ------------- -------------------------------
NAS VM iSCSI Network 192.168.93.254 255.255.255.0 VMnet3
DC VM to Host 172.168.10.2 255.255.255.0
NODE1 VM to Host 172.168.10.3 255.255.255.0
NODE1 VM Heartbeat 10.10.10.3 255.255.255.0 VMnet2
NODE2 VM iSCSI Network 192.168.93.3 255.255.255.0 VMnet3
NODE2 VM to Host 172.168.10.4 255.255.255.0
NODE2 VM Heartbeat 10.10.10.4 255.255.255.0 VMnet2
NODE2 VM iSCSI Network 192.168.93.4 255.255.255.0 VMnet3
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"Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉
August 29, 2011 at 3:13 am
Thanks, that helps a lot. I plan to check this out after I get home from work.
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