Mirroring and Windows updates

  • I have synchronous mirroring between Win 2008 R2 64 bit and Win 2003 Std 32 bit. Both are running Windows 2008 R2 32 bit.

    When doing Windows update on the mirrored servers, can someone advise what steps can be taken that will not require breaking the mirroring and re-setting up the mirroring after Windows update please? Links are appreciated if available. Thanks!

  • I'm a bit confused by your question. Installing windows updates on the secondary server and rebooting it should not cause mirroring to break. It should only briefly pause it. What operating mode is your mirroring set to?

  • If reboot is involved, then you would need to do manual failover from primary to secondary before rebooting that instance. SQL 2005 and 2008 are update insensitive, thus windows update rarely cause's any breaks there.

  • 1. To minimize downtime, we recommend Start the rolling upgrade by updating any mirroring partner that is currently the mirror server in all its mirroring sessions. You might have to update multiple server instances at this point.

    2. For each mirroring session whose mirror server instance has just been upgraded, wait for the session to synchronize. Then, connect to the principal server instance, and manually fail over the session. On failover, the upgraded server instance becomes the principal server for that session, and the former principal server becomes the mirror server.

    3. After you fail over, we recommend that you run the DBCC CHECKDB command on the principal database.

    4. Upgrade each server instance that is now the mirror server in all mirroring sessions in which it is a partner. You might have to update multiple servers at this point.

    5. Resume the mirroring session.

    6. Upgrade any remaining server instance that is the witness in all its mirroring sessions. After an upgraded witness rejoins a mirroring session, automatic failover becomes possible again. You might have to update multiple servers at this point.

    How to: Minimize Downtime for Mirrored Databases When Upgrading Server Instances

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677181.aspx

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