SQL Server 2008 64 Bit Active-Active Clustering.

  • Hello,

    I hope somebody out there could clear something up. I was looking at having a shared SAN with 2 nodes running Windows 2008 64 bit and SQL Server 2008 Enterprise 64 bit in an active-active cluster. The idea being that I would consolidate a few databases from other stand alone SQL servers, place them on the SAN and have both nodes servicing requests for the databases. The goal being that the two SQL servers would share the work load and make things nice an speedy.

    Now from what I am reading on the web and on here, this does not seem totally possible, and that this cluster\load balancing is not available in SQL server at all. That windows can load balance, but SQL server can not. The hardware\RAM and software builds etc on the two nodes will be identical.

    I have found lots of coverage on Active\Passive on the web, but virtually nothing on Active-Active.

    So is active-active clustering\load balancing possible in SQL server, or is the only realistic clustering option active\passive with one node doing nothing until a failover occurs?

    Thanks in advance for any replies and advice.

    Regards,

    D.

  • Clustering a sqlserver instance (can host multiple user databases) is no problem.

    Load balancing does not exist for sqlserver.

    Off course you can load balance the applications, but when they get to your sqlserver database, that database will be active on a single instance (read/write) of sqlserver. (unless you use some of the replication technologies)

    Active/Active for SQLServer means you have one or more active instances at both nodes of your windows cluster that hosts your instances.

    Johan

    Learn to play, play to learn !

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    but keeping both feet on the ground wont get you anywhere :w00t:

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  • Hello,

    Thanks for getting back. So if I am following you correctly, on Node 'A' I can have instances 1,2 and 3 and on Node 'B' I would have instances 4,5 and 6. I 'A' were to fail, would 'B' run instances 1,2 and 3 along with instances 4,5 and 6 or would they (instances 1,2 and 3) be offline?

    Regards,

    D.

  • That depends on your resource group settings.

    By default - for sqlserver - it will be configured to become active at the onther node(s).

    Keep in mind, this will be done at instance level.

    Johan

    Learn to play, play to learn !

    Dont drive faster than your guardian angel can fly ...
    but keeping both feet on the ground wont get you anywhere :w00t:

    - How to post Performance Problems
    - How to post data/code to get the best help[/url]

    - How to prevent a sore throat after hours of presenting ppt

    press F1 for solution, press shift+F1 for urgent solution 😀

    Need a bit of Powershell? How about this

    Who am I ? Sometimes this is me but most of the time this is me

  • Hello,

    OK, so the instances would failover and continue to be available on the one remaining node, so the hardware on each node would need to be powerful enough to take on the work of the other should one go down.

    Could you elaborate on resource group stings, I've not heard that expression, or is that a typo for resource group settings?

    Also, can any application be load balanced or do they have to be written a particular way or customized to allow for this?

    Regards,

    D.

  • Duran (8/3/2010)


    Hello,

    OK, so the instances would failover and continue to be available on the one remaining node, so the hardware on each node would need to be powerful enough to take on the work of the other should one go down.

    Or at least consider the impact of hosting all your instances at a single node.

    Work out a plan of which instances will get priority (cpu/ram) for being up and running and at what kind of performance impact.

    Could you elaborate on resource group stings, I've not heard that expression, or is that a typo for resource group settings?

    That was indeed a typo. I corrected it later.

    Also, can any application be load balanced or do they have to be written a particular way or customized to allow for this?

    Regards,

    D.

    Some nice blogs ...

    http://blogs.msdn.com/b/clustering/archive/2009/08/11/9863688.aspx

    http://blogs.msdn.com/b/clustering/archive/2009/08/11/9864574.aspx

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947712

    http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=372

    Johan

    Learn to play, play to learn !

    Dont drive faster than your guardian angel can fly ...
    but keeping both feet on the ground wont get you anywhere :w00t:

    - How to post Performance Problems
    - How to post data/code to get the best help[/url]

    - How to prevent a sore throat after hours of presenting ppt

    press F1 for solution, press shift+F1 for urgent solution 😀

    Need a bit of Powershell? How about this

    Who am I ? Sometimes this is me but most of the time this is me

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