Jpotucek (9/7/2012)

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I have a couple of questions about installing SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard in a 2 node active\passive cluster

First, a little background. The Admin guys have not Clustered Windows yet. The hardware is due in next week so I'm just trying to get my notes together for the SQL install once the Cluster is available.

From what I'm reading, Failover clustering setup has a whole new work flow in SQL Server 2008.

These are the (very high level) steps as a see them to be:

- Run setup on the Active Node of the Cluster using the New Server Server Failover Cluster option

- Failover the resources and run set on the second (now active) Node using the Add Node to a SQL server Failover Cluster option

Is that correct?

Also, I'm not clear about how you would patch the installation and add Instances.

Would you run Service Packs and Cummulative Updates against both nodes? if so, in what order?

In order to add an Instance (I'll be adding 2 Named Instances), What setup option would you use? Would you run set up on the Active Node then failover and run it again to add an Instance?

Also about Named Instances... If I have a simple Active\Passive Cluster with one set of cluster resources and multiple instances, do I need seperate IP addresses for each Instance?

I apologize if the questions seem elementary but this is our first time with SQL Server 2008 and Clustering!

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.