1. Allan Hirt – Megahirtz LLC allan@sqlha.com
DBA-518 Advanced Failover Clustering Installation Techniques with SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008
Allan Hirt – Megahirtz LLC

2. Agenda Windows Server 2008 RTM & R2 failover clustering
SQL Server 2008 failover clustering
Summary

3. Before We Go Any Further …
Three flavors of clustered SQL Server installations
Traditional – install instance(s) of SQL or Analysis Services on top of a Windows failover cluster
Cluster Windows and implement SQL Server-based servers as VMs
Cluster two or more VMs
SQL 2K5 or SQL 2K8 only
W2K8 guest OS only
Core variant of W2K8 (RTM or R2) not supported for SQL Server

4. Adding the Failover Clustering Feature
Failover Clustering is a feature, not role
Three ways to add:
Server Manager (GUI)
Servermanagercmd.exe (RTM and R2, depreciated in R2)
PowerShell (R2, but can be used against RTM)

5. Let’s Talk Networking 1
SQL Server does not support multiple subnets feature of W2K8 failover clustering
Must still use VLAN if configuring a geographically dispersed cluster
W2K8 R2 supports network prioritization
Set via PowerShell

6. Let’s Talk Networking 2 Number of NICs needed: Traditional config:
Minimum of two (Public, Private)
Live Migration
Should have at least four (Public, Private, Live Migration, CSV)
Maybe management and guest only NICs as well
Dedicated NIC for iSCSI (if used) in both scenarios – not negotiable on clusters

7. Firewall Configuration
Watch your firewall configuration
By default, it’s on – and there can be up to 3
Recommendation: disable
However, use common sense and follow your corporate security guidelines
If on, can cause things like:
Unwanted RPC errors
Inability for Management Studio to see SQL Server instances hosted on a particular cluster node
If left on, make exceptions (both inbound and outbound rules) for things like the SQL Server port number

8. Disk Configuration 1
Drive types supported: only SAS, iSCSI, Fibre; no old parallel SCSI
Storage must be SCSI-3 SPC-3 command compliant
Must also support persistent reservations
Still need at least one drive letter per clustered instance of SQL or Analysis Services
Can select multiple drives during SQL Server install
Rename drives to make them easier to discern
Must be done in PowerShell

9. Disk Configuration 2 Live Migration/Clustered VMs with SQL
Enable Cluster Shared Volumes
Can use passthrough disks or place on CSV
Strong recommendation: place at least the OS on the CSV

10. Cluster Validation 1 W2K8 no longer relies on the HCL/Server Catalog
Hardware must be logoed for W2K8
Must re-run with hardware or major config change
Run via Failover Cluster Manager/Management or PowerShell (R2 only)
PowerShell syntax:
Test-Cluster –Node Node1, … , NodeN

11. Cluster Validation 2
Tests can take some time to run (especially with a lot of disks and nodes)
Report location: %windir%\Cluster\Reports
If there is a failure, re-run single test to test the problem
SQL Server 2008’s installation is dependent on a successful validation
IMPORTANT: Prevent a false positive for the SQL Server install – run ALL tests again; DBAs should check the report prior to installing SQL

12. Installing .NET Framework on Windows Server 2008
Need 3.51 for x86 (RTM), x64 (RTM/R2); 2.0 SP2 (IA64)
How to install depends on the version of Windows
RTM: Can use standalone installers or SQL Server 2008 install media
R2: Windows only; get an error otherwise but …
The obvious way (Server Manager) is not so obvious
Best way: use DISM
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFx3

13. Post-Clustering Windows Tips
Rename the networks
If present, disable iSCSI network for cluster traffic
Testing failover is the same essentially, but …
The main cluster group and the storage group cannot manually be failed over FCM
Must use cluster.exe (pre-W2K8 R2) or PowerShell

14. Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator
No controversy with SQL 2K8: it is NOT required
See Shon’s talk from Tuesday (DAT-X69-C) for great recommendations
Associating with a SQL instance:
msdtc –tmMappingSet –name <dtc name> -service <SQL service name> -clusterResourceName “<SQL resource name in cluster”

15. VMs as a Failover Cluster
Supported as of May, 2009
W2K8 OS for guests only
SQL 2K5 or SQL 2K8
Will need some sort of shared storage
Recommendations:
Map virtual NICs to different networks/NICs at the hypervisor level
Place the VMs on separate hypervisors
Bottom line: same rules as a physical cluster apply

16. Live Migration and SQL Server
Fully supported
Add the Hyper-V role
Can mix traditional SQL Server clustered instances + VMs
Ways to configure VMs with Hyper-V on a cluster:
Hyper-V Manager + Failover Cluster Manager
Failover Cluster Manager
SCVMM R2 (GUI or PowerShell)

17. Agenda Windows Server 2008 RTM & R2 failover clustering
SQL Server 2008 failover clustering
Summary

18. Types of SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering Installs
New instance
GUI and Command Line/INI
Two variations: normal and cluster prep
Upgrade existing instance of 2000 or 2005
SQL 2K8 is the first version to support command line/INI upgrades for clustered instances
Patch/Update – i.e. CU/Service Pack

19. New Installation Gotchas, Tips, and Tricks
Installing is a node by node, instance by instance affair
Solves occasional issues selected customers had with previous single-shot installers
One main install for each instance, all others add node operations
Still do not recommend placing SQL Server and Analysis Services in the same group
Slipstream with SP1 and beyond
W2K8 R2 requires SQL Server 2008 to be at SP1 anyway

20. Instance ID
Recommendation: make it the same as the instance name

21. GUI Pitfalls Watch nested tabs on dialogs
Watch switched order on first vs. add node

22. Command Line Tips Two main ways to create
Manually
Picky about spaces, commas, quotes
Example:
FAILOVERCLUSTERDISKS="Cluster Disk 3" "Cluster Disk 4“
Run GUI Setup and cancel at end
Recommendation: do not put passwords (and possibly accounts, PID) in the files
Note at execution time
SETUP.EXE /ConfigurationFile=“AddNode.ini” /SQLSVCPASSWORD=“Password”
New to SQL Server 2008 R2: IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS

23. Controlling Right for a SQL Admin in a Cluster
PowerShell only
Three variations:
All
Read Only
Nothing

24. SQL Server 2008 Service Packs and Failover Clusters
SQL 2K8 Ins
Not Upgraded
Failover Initiated
3. Add the nodes back and remove other nodes except the one running the instance
SQL 2K8 Ins
Not Upgraded
2. Upgrade the removed nodes
SQL 2K8 Ins
Not Upgraded
4. Remove nodes not upgraded, upgrade, and add back in
SQL 2K8 Ins
Not Upgraded
1. Remove half (or more) of the nodes from the possible owners
SQL 2K8 Ins
Not Upgraded
SQL 2K8 Ins
Not Upgraded
Removed nodes cannot be failed over to until added back in
SQL 2K8 Ins
Not Upgraded
SQL 2K8 Ins
Upgraded

25. Summary
Installation of both Windows and SQL Server is completely new with their 2008 flavors
Planning is key
Many different variations, choose the right method for you
Script, script, script

26. Resources 1 Pro SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering (Apress, 2009)
My blog – updated regularly with new stuff!
SQL Server 2008 failover clustering whitepaper
Creating a Clustered DTC with PowerShell
Server Virtualization Validation Program
Blog post – Slipstraming SQL Server SP
Blog post – Slipstraming SQL Server SP + CU
Windows Clustering Team Blog

27. Resources 2 KB Articles:
“Support policy for Microsoft SQL Server products that are running in a hardware virtualization environment”
Support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software
The Microsoft Support Policy for Windows Server 2008 Failover Clusters
The Microsoft SQL Server support policy for Microsoft Clustering
SQL Server 2008 failover clustering rolling patch and service pack process

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