Scribd
Upload
12 views43 pages

Clustering SQL Server 2012 On Windows Server 2012 2

This document provides a step-by-step guide for installing SQL Server 2012 on a Windows Server 2012 cluster, focusing on creating an AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance. It outlines the necessary preparations, including configuring DataKeeper Cluster Edition for replicated storage, and details the installation process for both the primary and secondary nodes. The article emphasizes the similarities with previous SQL versions and highlights new features in SQL Server 2012 clustering technology.

Uploaded by

abrar.jalali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
12 views43 pages

Clustering SQL Server 2012 On Windows Server 2012 2

This document provides a step-by-step guide for installing SQL Server 2012 on a Windows Server 2012 cluster, focusing on creating an AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance. It outlines the necessary preparations, including configuring DataKeeper Cluster Edition for replicated storage, and details the installation process for both the primary and secondary nodes. The article emphasizes the similarities with previous SQL versions and highlights new features in SQL Server 2012 clustering technology.

Uploaded by

abrar.jalali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 43

CLUSTERING SQL SERVER 2012 ON

WINDOWS SERVER 2012 STEP-BY-STEP


In my previous post I walked through the process of building a 2-node cluster
up to the point where we are ready to start configuring the cluster resources.
If you have completed those steps you are ready to move on and actually
create your clustered application. First up, we have SQL Server 2012. SQL
Server 2012 cluster installation is pretty much identical to SQL 2008/2008 R2
cluster installations, so most of this will apply even if you are using SQL
2008/2008 R2. The terminology around SQL Server 2012 Clustering gets a
little convoluted. You will hear mention of SQL Server AlwaysOn, which
essentially could mean one of two different things: AlwaysOn Availability
Groups or AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance. The confusion arises because
both solutions require some level of integration with Windows Server Failover
Clustering and it is even further confused by the fact that you can deploy a
combination of AlwaysOn Availability Groups and AlwaysOn Failover
Clustering, but that is a topic for another day!
I’ll break it down in easy to understand terms. Essentially AlwaysOn
Availability Groups is what used to be called Database Mirroring in SQL 2008
R2 and earlier. It has some new bells and whistles that overcome some of
the limitations of earlier versions of database mirroring, so it is certainly
worth checking it out. AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance is simply what
used to be called a SQL Server Failover Cluster. This is the latest edition of
the same clustering technology that has been available since early versions
of SQL Server. One of the best new features of SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn
Failover Cluster Instance is the ability to have nodes in different subnets.
This was a major limitation in earlier versions of SQL Server. In a previous
blog entry I discussed some of the limitations of AlwaysOn Availability
Groups, you should check that out before you make any decisions on which
technology to deploy.
With that said, this article is going to focus on the Step-by-Step instructions
on deploying a SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance.

Step 1 is to make sure your cluster storage is ready. If you followed the
instructions in my previous post, you will know that instead of a shared disk
resource, we are going to use a replicated disk resource using the 3 rd party
software DataKeeper Cluster Edition. If you are using shared storage and
have added the storage than you can skip right to Step 2 where we begin the
SQL install. Otherwise, follow the steps below to configure DataKeeper
Cluster Edition to replicate the local disks for use in a SQL cluster.
1. Install and configure DataKeeper Cluster Edition
1. Run DK Setup

2. Go through the entire installation process selecting all of the


default values.
3. Restart the computer after the installation completes as
prompted and repeat the process on the SECONDARY server
4. Launch the DataKeeper UI on PRIMARY and click Connect to
Server. Connect to PRIMARY and then connect to SECONDARY
5. Click on Create Job and walk through the Create Job wizard to
create a mirror of the E drive
Choose the source volume of the mirror and the IP address of the
NIC that will carry the replication traffic.

Choose the target of the mirror and click Next


Here you will choose your mirror options:
Compression – only enable for replication across a WAN
Asynchronous – choose this for all WAN replication
Synchronous – this is ideal for LAN replication
Maximum bandwidth – used in WAN replication as a way to put a
cap on the amount of bandwidth replication is allowed to use.
Generally it should be left on 0, however for initial mirror
creation you may want to limit the bandwidth so replication does
not use all available bandwidth to do the initial synchronization
Once you click Done the mirror will be created.

Once the mirror is created you will be prompted to register the


volume in Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC). Click Yes
and a new DataKeeper Volume Resource will be registered in
Available Storage (see picture in Step 2).

2. In Step 2 we are going to begin the installation of SQL Server 2012


on the first cluster node.
1. Before we begin, make sure your storage appears in Failover
Cluster Manager and is assigned to the Available Storage group
as shown below

2. At this point we are going to launch the SQL Server 2012 setup
and go to the Installation Tab and click New SQL Server failover
cluster installation

3. Step through the installation as shown in the following screen


shots.
The following error is expected if your servers are not connected
to the internet. If you are connected to the internet you should
go ahead and accept the updates it finds.
For Service Account best practices read the
following: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143504.asp
x
For our lab purposes I am just using the Administrator account
Before you click next, click on the Data Directories tab and
change the location of tempdb. With Windows Server 2012
tempdb no longer has to reside on the cluster storage. In our
example we are moving tempdb to the C drive to avoid
replicating unnecessary data.
At this point you will need to make sure to create the same
tempdb directory on the SECONDARY server as advised by the
warning.
Congratulations, the 1st cluster node has been installed.
3. We are now ready to install SQL on the second node of the cluster.
1. Go to the SECONDARY server and launch the SQL Server 2012
Setup and follow the wizard as shown in the following screen
shots, starting with clicking on Add node to a SQL Server failover
cluster.
The following error is expected if your servers are not connected
to the internet. If you are connected to the internet you should
go ahead and accept the updates it finds.
4. Congratulations – you have built a 2-node SQL Server 2012
AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance. Open up Failover Cluster
Manager and you should see something that looks like this.
This article was meant to be just a quick run through on how to
install SQL 2012 in a Windows Server 2012 cluster.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy