Windows Server Clustering & PCNews : SQL Server

114 Days until Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008...

clustering — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:01:00 GMT

Are you ready for another OS version? February 27^th, 2008 is the public launch date. Microsoft has a Vista sidebar gadget to help you remember the date - http://www.wedsg.com/winclient/vistasidebargadget/download.htm They seem to love this date, the end of February as they have done it before. Could it be they know by wives birthday is Feb 28?

Free E-Learning for 2008 - https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=127516 (requires Microsoft Passport login to get the free stuff).

Links to everything: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/2008/default.aspx

Nice overview: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/evaluation/overview.mspx

2008 Learning Portal: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/windowsserver2008/default.mspx

Clustering: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/13c0a922-6097-4f34-ac64-18820094128b1033.mspx?mfr=true

File Server Clustering: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/40bdcbc9-ce96-4477-8df3-7a20d4bc42a51033.mspx?mfr=true

Print Server Clustering: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/40bdcbc9-ce96-4477-8df3-7a20d4bc42a51033.mspx?mfr=true

NLB: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/40bdcbc9-ce96-4477-8df3-7a20d4bc42a51033.mspx?mfr=true

I love new OS releases and 2008 looks to be an excellent one!

Observations about the software industry today

clustering — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:42:00 GMT

Sometimes I think that the movie Conspiracy Theory should have been about the software industry today. What has become of it lately? Here is what I believe:

· I believe the Anti-Virus companies write all the viruses.

· I believe most software is way over priced.

· I believe we now alpha test software for vendors

· I believe we beta test when service pack 1 comes out.

· I believe 1.0 is not the standard to avoid, RTM (release to manufacturing/gold code) is.

· I believe we get the final, ready for the world product when service pack 2 comes out.

· I believe most software has too many features for 98% of the users.

· I believe all the added features cause 100% of the problems with software today.

· I believe it is better to update software then to design it properly to begin with.

· I believe we, the paying consumer, don’t complain enough so things are only going to continue to get worse.

· I believe you pay 10 times the cost of software in support costs and lost productivity when it does not function properly out of the box.

· I believe the world has become too computer savvy because of buggy software.

· I believe a computer should be just another asset at the office place, taken for granted like a stapler or pencil.

· I believe that a computer isn’t taken for granted because broken things always get attention and notice.

· I believe release dates are based upon dates on PowerPoint slides, not when the product is anywhere near being ready or bug free.

Windows Server Codename "Longhorn" Beta 3 is out

clustering — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:00:00 GMT

But if you want to test failover clustering....

Standard SCSI based clustering will no longer work (yes I tested it, no go).

Rocket Division StarWind will be the product you want to use to test Failover Clustering. http://www.rocketdivision.com/wind.html You will have to wait until the June 2007 time frame while they make it work with Beta 3.

FalconStor iSCSI Storage Server http://www.falconstor.com/en/solutions/?pg=Products&sb=iSCSI I am not sure when they will support it.

Microsoft bought StringBean (http://www.stringbeansoftware.com/downloads_update2_0.asp) which has a great WinTarget program. The program is now part of Windows Unified Data Storage Server and it called Microsoft iSCSI Software Target. That one works today, if you are lucky enough to have a copy.

Clustering terms made easy

clustering — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:39:00 GMT

Clusters are Highly Available and should never be considered Fault Tolerant.

Highly Available = is when I come anytime my wife calls me.
Fault Tolerant = Marriage.

You don't want to be married to you SQL/Exchange Cluster :) You do want it around whenever you need it though.

Active/Active = when your cluster is too busy for its own good.
Active/Passive = one worker, one manager, you decide which is which.
Node = Clustered computer, could also be the worker who sits in a cube, not to be confused with Dude.
Virtual Server = this is kind of like be on a telecom at work, only you are calling in from Hawaii and nobody knows.
Quorum = Cluster=Quorum, Quorum=Clustering.
Failover = the only time at work that you can fail and still be a hero.
Failback = great way to get fired, let your server failover without you controlling it (Don't confuse with the above term).
Cluster = when it fails, also known as a Cluster Fork, only fork is spelled funny - u c what I mean?

Yes, I know, this post should have been on April 1st

Your Cluster won’t start and you can’t get into Cluster Administrator

clustering — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:51:00 GMT

Don’t panic, but you do have a problem. You look under Services and the Cluster service is running on the nodes. Open Cluster Administrator from one of the nodes, but don’t use the name of the cluster, the node name or an IP address, use a period (.). This will open it using a Local Procedure Call (LPC) and not a Remote Procedure Call (RPC). See Cluster Administrator Switches for Connecting to a Cluster for complete switch details.

Now with Cluster Administrator open, expand the Cluster group and attempt to start any failed resources. Whatever keeps failing should give a clue as to what is broken, disk, IP, network name, etc.

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 – the good, the bad, and the ugly

clustering — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:14:00 GMT

By now you are aware that SP2 is out for Windows Server 2003 and R2. I have already seen quite a few posts in the public newsgroups where people are not aware of a few things.

The Good

It is a really good idea to backup your system before you attempt any major update or service pack. Remember your backup is only as good as your restore. Or as Geoff N. Hiten SQL MVP and SQL God says “Until you test a backup by restoring, you don't have recovery plan, you have a recovery hope.”

Another good idea, read the readme or release notes. They can be found here Release Notes for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2.

Next and maybe most important is to check with your hardware vendor before installing. They might not support it yet. For instance Dell says they don’t have any reported issues, but EMC (A Dell partner) does not support it yet.

The Bad

You will have to take an outage to install this on your cluster. Please read How to install service packs in a cluster. Please note that this document has not been updated for SP2 yet. I won’t bring up the mess everyone had to deal with on Dell’s for SP1 (see http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps2q05-20050113-Callaway.pdf or better yet http://msmvps.com/blogs/clustering/archive/2005/06/28/56167.aspx).

The Ugly

I remember growing up as a kid and going to Circus World and getting a small usually square white box with question marks all over it. They sold these for $1.49 - $2.99. The more you paid, the better the crap they put in. Installing Service Packs from just about any vendor is exactly like this. You really never know what they have changed, thrown in, made better or worse.

Always test a service pack install on a test cluster. Bad things happen when you test with production servers.

Good luck and keep me posted on your experiences.

What I learned at the MVP Summit last week - and I can tell you about!

clustering — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:52:00 GMT

The 2007 MVP Summit in Redmond/Seattle was awesome. Lots of great content. Here is what I learned:

1) SQL 2005 can cluster with Standard Edition (ok I knew that). What I learned was that you can have multiple SQL instances (that run on 2 nodes only) within any size cluster. So, if you have a 4 node cluster you can run 2-3 instances with multiple copies of SQL 2005 Standard Edition. Cool! Think of the savings.

2) Exchange 2007 Clustering is way cool and different, but in a good way.

3) Windows Server 2003 can support GPT - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919117 - and volumes larger then 2 TB in size!!! Rumor has it Longhorn will also allow this.

4) Windows Server 2003 SP2 did not add anything compelling for a cluster. Check with your hardware vendor before deploying to ensure full support.

5) Windows 2000/2003 clusters can restart resources after a set amount of time - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/228923. This KB is for 2000 and 2003, I know it's old but I just found out about this feature (I was not the only Clustering MVP that had no idea).

6) Windows Server Codename "Longhorn" Failover Clustering will be very different, but again in a very good way. Come to my Tech Ed 2007 session in Orlando, Florida to learn a lot more!

My Tech Ed 2007 Session - Top 10 Microsoft Windows Server Codename "Longhorn" Failover Clustering Enhancements over Windows Server 2003 Clustering, Based on Best Practices

clustering — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:49:00 GMT

I was chosen again this year to speak at Tech Ed 2007 - http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2007/default.mspx

Here is the abstract:

Be the very first to learn about Windows Server codename "Longhorn" Failover Clustering. Are you using Windows Server 2003 Clustering? Are you following best practices? In this session we explore Windows Server codename "Longhorn" Failover Clustering by comparing it to Windows Server 2003 Clustering based on current best practices. The session begins with hardware configuration issues, concerns, and best practices—then and now. Next, we explore operating system configuration issues, concerns, and best practices. Then, we move on to the cluster service, and finally applications. After this session you will look forward to deploying Windows Server codenamed "Longhorn" Failover Clustering.

I hope to see you there!

Surviving the Windows Server 2003 Cluster Bomb, Part II

clustering — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 21:26:00 GMT

I can't believe it. Just when you think it's safe to go back to reading the web... Part II of the worst clustering article of all time is out. Back in July (http://msmvps.com/blogs/clustering/archive/2005/07/21/58509.aspx) I wrote how bad Part I was. Several months later Part II came out and I missed it. A former ClusterHelp.com student asked what Russ and I thought of Part II.

Russ, summed it up nicely (http://msmvps.com/blogs/clusterhelp/archive/2006/06/23/102671.aspx) and I won't restate what I wrote about Part I - even though it still fits. Let's just say I hope there is not going to be a Part III.

Having problems installing SQL SP4 on a SQL 2000 Cluster?

clustering — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:43:00 GMT

Verify that there are no dependencies or extra resources other than those created by the SQL Server setup on any of the SQL Server cluster resources. Resources such as file
shares, print servers, etc.must always have a unique network name and an IP address resource. You must remove any such non-default dependencies before you install SQL Server 2000 SP4. No dependencies other than those supplied by the SQL Server setup should be used.

For example, if you have MSDTC resource in the SQL group and if MSDTC is
dependent on SQL Server Network Name and SQL IP Address then you may have
this issue. If this is the case then you will need to remove the dependencies and then try running the setup again.

If you still have the same problem, then the next step will be to review
the logs. I would start with the sqlsp.log (created on the node where you
ran the SP4 setup).

SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3, Service Pack 3a, or Service Pack 4
pre-installation checklist for SQL Server 2000 virtual server for failover
clustering
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811168

SQL 2000a? Does it really exist, or is it a misprint?

clustering — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 12:30:00 GMT

After the fun Microsoft had with Slammer a change was made:

SQL 2000a does exist and is the current version. SQL 2000a is basically the original disk of SQL 2000 with one DLL replaced to protect against getting the Slammer worm. Windows Server 2003 actually has a check for this particular patch (hence the need for SQL SP3a or higher requirement) and disables network access for SQL until it is in place. That is why we have to do the named pipe alias (see http://msmvps.com/clustering/archive/2005/10/19/71580.aspx) for clustered non-default instance installs on Windows Server 2003. Windows Server 2003 doesn't like installing the original version and prefers SQL 2000a. The easy way to tell is that one or more of the folders in the root of the SQL 2000 CD are now show a date in 2003 instead of in 2000.

Any version downloaded today via MSDN or any of the licensing fulfillment
programs will be SQL 2000a. If you have an older version, contact
whomever you purchased the license from to obtain a new media kit. This has been the case for a few years now, so don't panic.

Thanks to Geoff N. Hiten a true Microsoft SQL Server MVP for cluing in about all this!

Installing a new SQL instance into an existing cluster on a new Node

clustering — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 12:14:00 GMT

We added a node to one of our clusters. We confirmed that the hardware, firmware, bios, OS, and installed programs were exactly alike. The new machine joined the cluster like a champ, no issues.

When I went to install SQL and create a new instance, I was hit with this error:

The cluster resource failed to come online. If extended error information was reported by the clustering service it can be obtained from the event log.

It turns out this is a known issue. From http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;815431 “To run SQL Server on Windows Server 2003, you must have SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) installed. Windows Server 2003 blocks TCP/IP functionality for named instances that are not running SQL Server 2000 SP3 or later. “

This will only happen when a named instance is added to a new cluster node.

The fix is really easy, follow the articles steps to install the client utilities and create a SQL Service Alias in the SQL Server Client Network Utility .

Should Clustered services be set to 'manual' or 'automatic'?

clustering — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 00:32:00 GMT

The question goes something like this:

My cluster is installed and running SQL/Exchange nicely but I noticed that all the services for SQL/Exchange are set to start manaully. Should I set the services to automatic instead?

Answer:

Cluster controlled services should always be set to manual, so that the
cluster can control the startup and shutdown. Remember with Microsoft
clustering only one server can control a resource at any given time. Leaving
the services set to manual will help the cluster service do it's job and
ensure an error free service :)

Small Business Server (SBS) Clustering

clustering — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 02:11:00 GMT

I get this question from time to time:

“Does Windows 2003 Small Business Server support clustering and if not would you suggest a 3rd party clustering solution. The only catch I see is the SBS feature of not letting any other SBS servers in the same domain.”

Let me answer these questions with the facts:

1) You can add servers to an SBS domain. You can't not add another SBS Domain Controller (though a standard DC can be added), but a server running Exchange or SQL is allowed and works nicely.

2) You can't have another SBS server into the domain, only one SBS server is supported per domain/tree/forest. It must also own the FSMO roles for the forest.

3) SBS does not support Clustering. Never has and probably never will.

4) I do not know of any third party solutions that would work with SBS and be supported by the vendor or Microsoft.

Yes, oddly enough I am SBS certified (71-282 exam - http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-282.asp). I was invited to take the beta exam and passed.