• Databases don't live on nodes. They re on shared storage. The instances run on particular nodes.

    Don't use the term active/passive. It's misleading and out of favour. What you are describing there is a mult-instance cluster, 2 nodes and 3 instances.

    In that config, 2 instances on one node and one on the other or all three on one node. If a node fails, any instances active on it will fail over to the other one.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

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