March 10, 2010 at 8:17 am
I have a clustered server hosting multiple SQL 2005 instances. The cluster has no more free drive letters so I've researched using mount points instead. Everything I've read indicates they can be used with no issue. I have to convince others that mount points will work so I plan on making the below points based on my research. I would appreciate any comments that would enhance/correct my claims or if there are any problems with using mount points as I would like.
Mount points are not new technology nor are they complicated to implement. By implementing mount points it would be possible to consolidate multiple drive letters into one, meet performance best practices (splitting data and log files), and allow additional SQL instances to be installed.
To implement, for each instance, I would initially use one drive (letter) with three mount points. The drive will contain the system dbs and the mount points will contain data/logs/tempdb. The drive will be sized at 5GB. More mount points will be added to support db growth as needed.
Thanks
JohnC
March 10, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Have done it in the past and it has been helpful. Our implementation was that each mount point was represented as a folder on the "Drive." This was a beneficial implementation for our scenario. Saved time and a little money.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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March 10, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Since I haven't actually done this myself.. The only question that comes to mind is tied to assigning those drives to a resource group. Doe it want drive letters or will it accept mount points as well as I would do a proof-of-concept before I did this in production to make sure that when I failed it over I didn't take anything ELSE with me..
CEWII
March 10, 2010 at 1:36 pm
For the issue that Elliott raises, the following doc may be of use.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280297
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
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March 10, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Good enough for me..
CEWII
March 10, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Just to add to this post, I too have used this in the past with what sounds like a very similar configuration to Jason's and I didn't encounter a problem.
Gethyn Elliswww.gethynellis.com
March 11, 2010 at 5:17 am
Good info everyone (especially the MS link).
It would appear there is no down side to mount points and even MS recommends them to avoid the dreaded drive letter limitation. My last question deals with backups. I don't see any issue with SQL backups but what about file backups?
Thanks all
JohnC
March 11, 2010 at 8:21 am
Geoff Hiten has a great presentation he does on clustering where he recommends using mount points. He has a series of blog posts started on it as well which begins here. He doesn't get into mount points until part 2.
Jack Corbett
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March 11, 2010 at 10:35 am
jsciii (3/11/2010)
Good info everyone (especially the MS link).It would appear there is no down side to mount points and even MS recommends them to avoid the dreaded drive letter limitation. My last question deals with backups. I don't see any issue with SQL backups but what about file backups?
Thanks all
JohnC
You're welcome.
File backups? Do you mean file-system backups? I would exclude the data and log directories when performing file backups. Backup the flat file that is created from the SQL Backup.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events
March 11, 2010 at 10:44 am
Oops, I was thinking of files that may get placed on mount points as share folders and such. I'm assuming that since backup software can be configured to travel down every folder of a drive and a mount point appears as a folder within a drive that I can do file backups. of mount points.
One minor hiccup is the root drive does not show the true space (Root drive space + mount point space). It only shows the space of the root drive. Could cause issues with space monitoring software...
JohnC
March 11, 2010 at 10:55 am
True on the space monitoring software. That can be avoided as well. You can create a script to monitor your database files from inside sql server.
For the mount points, I would align them solely for the use of either files and folders, or use them strictly as database file locations. Don't intermix the two.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
_______________________________________________
I have given a name to my pain...MCM SQL Server, MVP
SQL RNNR
Posting Performance Based Questions - Gail Shaw[/url]
Learn Extended Events
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