June 3, 2008 at 8:18 am
Our production environment is a cluster of 2 nodes using a san for storage. Servers have OS Windows 2003 SP2 Server and SQL Server 2005 SP2 Standard Edition. Currently we have 2 instances defined. We need to add a new instance to this environmnet? This is the only sql cluster in our environment. Anyone with can point out to us an article, forum or MS document that will assist on this task. Thanks in advance. 🙂
June 3, 2008 at 9:13 am
2 instances meaning active/active or 2 instances on one node in active/passive?
Are you adding another server (3 nodes) for the instance or a third instance somewhere else?
June 3, 2008 at 9:25 am
2 instances on a active/passive mode
Need to add a third instance on this active/passive configuration
June 5, 2008 at 6:23 pm
You need to run the setup, just as if it were the first instance. The setup doesn't differ. Make sure you've got a LUN in a group separate from the other instances. Also make sure you have the virtual node name and the IP address ready to go, the domain groups created, etc., just as you would if you were installing the first instance.
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley
June 13, 2008 at 7:48 am
Brian,
Our current set up was done by a Consultant no longer with us. I have never set up a SQL Cluster, so this will be our first one. Please advise.
June 14, 2008 at 7:42 am
This link might help...
http://www.sql-server-performance.com/articles/clustering/cluster_sql_server_2005_p1.aspx
Gethyn Elliswww.gethynellis.com
June 14, 2008 at 12:02 pm
A brief overview of the process follows:
- Microsoft changed their Cluster terminology a while back: current terminology is "Multi-Node" rather than "Active-Active" or "Active-Passive".
- Each node is a Windows server and a particular SQL instance can run on at most one node at a time (hence Active-Active was misleading because it implied concurrent execution across nodes). If you have multiple SQL instances, you load balance by specifying the default node an instance should run on.
- Each SQL instance requires a private LUN on the SAN (i.e, dedicated storage) because the LUN is a unit of failover when the SQL instance moves to a different cluster node. The new LUN needs to be created and then added as a unique cluster resouce.
- You should test LUN failover with Cluster Administrator (Move Group) and ensure the LUN drive is accessible from each node BEFORE you install your new SQL instance.
- Each SQL instance requires a dedicated IP Address. This will be used, for instance, when you need to create an ODBC connection. More technically, the IP Address plus the SQL port defines a socket needed to connect to this instance using TCP/IP protocols
- When SQL Setup is run on a node, you will see a screen with the various components to install (Database Server, Analysis Services, Integration Services, Reporting Services, etc.). A checkbox is present under the Database option that specifies if this instance will participate in a cluster. You will need to check this box.
- You will need to locate and specify some Active Directory groups that were created by the consultant. One each for Agent Service, Analysis Service, Full Text Service, and Server Service. You will also need to identify the Cluster Service Account created by the consultant. Installation can not proceed without these - happy hunting.
- Setup will automatically install SQL Server application code on both nodes (usually C: drive) and will locate shared components on the new LUN. It creates and runs an installation job on the other node and this job runs concurrently with the install you are running.
Good Luck.
June 16, 2008 at 2:27 pm
It's probably best to create a different set of domain groups. We try to have a set of domain groups per clustered instance. Also, make sure the new disk resource (the LUN) is in a separate group from the other SQL Server instance. The SQL Server setup will create the IP Address and Network Name, so these should not be pre-created, unlike with some other applications. SQL Server will initially only configure one disk resource as a dependency for SQL Server (whichever one you tell it to use), so if you have other disks you would like to use (they will have to be dedicated to this instance of SQL Server), after the initial setup is done, you'll have to stop SQL Server and configure those disks as dependencies for the SQL Server resource. Otherwise, SQL Server will not let you use those disks to deploy database files to.
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley
November 13, 2008 at 8:21 am
dennis.finch (6/14/2008)
- Microsoft changed their Cluster terminology a while back: current terminology is "Multi-Node" rather than "Active-Active" or "Active-Passive".
How is the difference between the two types then signified?
I also see 'failover cluster', which would seem to be the Active/Passive.
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