SSRS architecture choices

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SSRS architecture choices

phual

SSChasing Mays

Points: 659
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November 13, 2019 at 1:06 pm

#3697310
Hello everyone
We've got a SQL Server 2017 install setup on a failover cluster. We now have a need to start using Reporting Services (SSRS) and I'm struggling to get some clear guidance on things to consider... help please!
Key points:
- Note: Our SQL setup is relatively small and well resourced.
- Note: Our SSRS requirement is even smaller.
- Note: Our SQL install is on a two-node failover cluster (active-passive).
- Question: My understanding is that SSRS is not cluster aware and therefore cannot be installed alongside the SQL database - is this correct?
- Question: If we install SSRS on a separate VM we would require another SQL licence?
- Question: If we install SSRS on a separate box, what would be a reasonable starting spec (cores and memory), remembering that our requirement is very light (i.e. basic sensible starting spec)?
If you guys were in my shoes, what would you do?
Thanks

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crow1969 Hall of Fame Points: 3001 More actions · Answer 1

Can you install SSRS on a cluster? Yes and no. Yes, you can install it on individual nodes as a standalone instance, but no, it will not failover. If you install SSRS on one of the shared disks, then you may run into problems where the disk is owned by a node that does not have SSRS on it. I would not advise installing SSRS on the various nodes, and trying to kludge up a failover cluster. You will very likely run into all sorts of problems with host headers, IP addresses, and other registry entries.

Will installing on another VM require another license? In most cases, yes. If you have licensed the entire VM host (usually very expensive, so I think most people don't), then the license would be part of the license of the VM Host.

A reasonable starting spec? Probably 4 CPU cores, and 4 - 16 GB of RAM. This may depend more on how resource constrained you are. If you are expecting the load to be light, allocate a light server for it, and monitor during the heavy times. Tell a few trusted users to let you know if reports are running slow. What you may consider the heavy usage time may not actually correspond to when the business considers it to be the heavy usage time.

In your shoes, I would very likely get a new VM, so you get the hardware redundancy (assuming your VM infrastructure is clustered). Yes, you need a new license, but at least you will have some HA associated with the instance, and you won't have that "special node" in the failover cluster that needs extra handling. Install both SSRS and the Database Engine on the local VM to keep things simple. There won't be extra cost to doing that.

phual SSChasing Mays Points: 659 More actions · Answer 2

Thanks cros1969. What you've said is very much what I expected. Given how much trouble I've been having finding clear guidance online, it's really useful to get some confirmation of my assumptions.

Thanks again.