Create SQL sever 2005 clustering in existing non cluster SQL 2005

Hi (I send one before but looklike it did not pass through)
I have questions as below.
1) On production server win 2003 64 bits, I can not see Cluster by
ClusterAdmin, Quarum is the folder in C:\Drive, SAN is only shared drive, SQL
logon by local system account, Sql connect as (local) or ComputerName from
Management Studio. Get info from my boss, it was SQL server 2005 Ent
clustering on this server. What else should I check?
2) Get info that I need to add just only SQL Virtual server name and IP
address to make it clustering. If item#1 is true, How? Any modification?
In the case I found single instance, I will detach databases, uninstall
SQL server, make cluster, reinstall and attached databasesto shared disk but
this scenario is beyond my knowledge.
This is new to me, please help.
Thanks
Please rephrase the question. Are you asking what to do if the cluster fails
and can't be found in cluster administrator or are you asking how to
reinstall sql.
It sounds like a little of both.
"James" wrote:

> Hi (I send one before but looklike it did not pass through)
> I have questions as below.
> 1) On production server win 2003 64 bits, I can not see Cluster by
> ClusterAdmin, Quarum is the folder in C:\Drive, SAN is only shared drive, SQL
> logon by local system account, Sql connect as (local) or ComputerName from
> Management Studio. Get info from my boss, it was SQL server 2005 Ent
> clustering on this server. What else should I check?
> 2) Get info that I need to add just only SQL Virtual server name and IP
> address to make it clustering. If item#1 is true, How? Any modification?
> In the case I found single instance, I will detach databases, uninstall
> SQL server, make cluster, reinstall and attached databasesto shared disk but
> this scenario is beyond my knowledge.
> This is new to me, please help.
> Thanks
|||Thank Burt,
I am sorry for confusion.
First: In my scenario, I open ClusterAdmin but can not found any cluster in
that server, can not found quorum disk and SQL server start up logon as Local
account.
My boss told me that this is SQL server 2005 Clustering on wins 2003 64
bits. I do not beleive this is true.
--> I want to ask, How can I confirm it was true as my boss said?
Do I have enough fact as above to tell there have no clustering in this
server?
Second: If my boss correct, he said I need to create SQL virtual name and IP
address to make it clustering no need to reinstall SQL server 2005.
-->I want to ask, What should I do?
If my boss misunderstand what is the other fact that I need to support my
idea?
Thanks you so much.
"burt_king" wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> Please rephrase the question. Are you asking what to do if the cluster fails
> and can't be found in cluster administrator or are you asking how to
> reinstall sql.
> It sounds like a little of both.
>
> --
> "James" wrote:
|||The simplest thing to do is ask him what the virtual name of the server is.
Then go to a command prompt on the server and enter "hostname" as the
command. The return value should be different than the virtual server name.
If you're using cluster administrator correctly (note that you can look at
local as well as remote clusters) then it sounds like it's not a cluster.
--DatabaseAdmins.com, LLC
Remote DBA Services for SQL and Oracle.
"James" wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> Thank Burt,
> I am sorry for confusion.
> First: In my scenario, I open ClusterAdmin but can not found any cluster in
> that server, can not found quorum disk and SQL server start up logon as Local
> account.
> My boss told me that this is SQL server 2005 Clustering on wins 2003 64
> bits. I do not beleive this is true.
> --> I want to ask, How can I confirm it was true as my boss said?
> Do I have enough fact as above to tell there have no clustering in this
> server?
> Second: If my boss correct, he said I need to create SQL virtual name and IP
> address to make it clustering no need to reinstall SQL server 2005.
> -->I want to ask, What should I do?
> If my boss misunderstand what is the other fact that I need to support my
> idea?
> Thanks you so much.
> "burt_king" wrote:
|||Thank ypu again Burt,
I ask her and she reply that we just delete the clustering out but the SQL
that create on clustering still run. (I have no idea, but it is working so I
think it is not install in clustering)
They will create new windows clustering again. The hard part is
"they do not allow me to reinstall or create name instance but want me to
only add SQL virtual name and IP address and make it clustering".
--> last question: Is it possible to make SQL server 2005 local(I believe it
is local) to be SQL server 2005 clustering by add SQL virtual name and IP
address without reinstall (or new install) after network guy create windows
clustering? If yes,How?
Thank you so much.
"burt_king" wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> The simplest thing to do is ask him what the virtual name of the server is.
> Then go to a command prompt on the server and enter "hostname" as the
> command. The return value should be different than the virtual server name.
> If you're using cluster administrator correctly (note that you can look at
> local as well as remote clusters) then it sounds like it's not a cluster.
> --
> --DatabaseAdmins.com, LLC
> Remote DBA Services for SQL and Oracle.
>
> "James" wrote:
|||Did you run the command at the command line and see what was returned? It's
hard to give good advice here because it seems like we're not getting the
whole picture.
Additionally, it sounds like your manager is asking if an existing instance
that is not clustered can be made a cluster without reinstalling: to my
knowledge no.
HTH
"James" wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> Thank ypu again Burt,
> I ask her and she reply that we just delete the clustering out but the SQL
> that create on clustering still run. (I have no idea, but it is working so I
> think it is not install in clustering)
> They will create new windows clustering again. The hard part is
> "they do not allow me to reinstall or create name instance but want me to
> only add SQL virtual name and IP address and make it clustering".
> --> last question: Is it possible to make SQL server 2005 local(I believe it
> is local) to be SQL server 2005 clustering by add SQL virtual name and IP
> address without reinstall (or new install) after network guy create windows
> clustering? If yes,How?
>
> Thank you so much.
> "burt_king" wrote:
|||Thanks
As they said they delete the windows cluster out, and do not have SQL
virtual name. the hostname command show the server name when run that command.
Thank you for your answer.
Just coming up in my head, If you install SQL server 2005 over windows
clustering and you delete windows clustering out. Can SQL server still
survive or running? I never delete windows clustering before.
Thank you so much.
James
"oracleSQLdba" wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> Did you run the command at the command line and see what was returned? It's
> hard to give good advice here because it seems like we're not getting the
> whole picture.
> Additionally, it sounds like your manager is asking if an existing instance
> that is not clustered can be made a cluster without reinstalling: to my
> knowledge no.
> HTH
>
> "James" wrote:
|||Sorry, what to you mean, "delete the windows cluster out"?
If you mean, can you uninstall windows cluster services, the answer is yes.
But if you're at the virtual server and run the hostname command and receive
that same name back then you're not likely to be on a cluster.
I think you may be best served by getting a consultant in there for a day to
look at what you've got and help you.
"James" wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> Thanks
> As they said they delete the windows cluster out, and do not have SQL
> virtual name. the hostname command show the server name when run that command.
> Thank you for your answer.
> Just coming up in my head, If you install SQL server 2005 over windows
> clustering and you delete windows clustering out. Can SQL server still
> survive or running? I never delete windows clustering before.
> Thank you so much.
> James
> "oracleSQLdba" wrote:

Create SQL cluster on 2003

I have 2 2003 servers each running a separate copy of SQL. I have purchased
a external storage Dell Powervault running RAID 5 to serve as the shared disk
space. I would like to create a SQL cluster with these 2 machines. Each SQL
server has databases that will need to be moved to the shared space. What is
the easiest way to accomplish this?
I was thinking I would need to do backup my databases from both SQL servers.
Create a cluster in 2003 cluster management
Uninstall SQL server from both SQL servers
Install SQL server as a virtual server from one of the 2003 servers.
Restore the SQL databases to the shared disk space
Am I missing anything?
First, your configuration is unsupported. A cluster must be purchased as a
cluster, not just assembled ad-hoc from components that may or may not be on
the cluster Hardware Compatibility list in order to be a supported
configuration. Some storage vendors will certify the entire platform if you
purchase installation services along with the storage device.
Second, your RAID-5 Powervault will run very slowly in a cluster. RAID-5
has significant overhead for writes. Normally a caching controller can
mitigate these issues but with clustering, all SCSI controllers for shared
storage must disable write cache. Since you have the PowerVault divided
into a single array, you will have to install SQL onto the Quorum partition,
again an unsupported configuration. Note that Clustering will work at the
RAID container level, not at the logical partition level. Data and
transaction logs will be on the same physical device so there goes another
bit of performance and recoverability. The whole purpose of SQL Clustering
is to increase availability. I don't see how this configuration will help
reach that goal.
I would talk to my Dell representative about their certified cluster
offerings rather than pursue this path.
Since you did ask for how to do something instead of whether it should be
done, here goes. Create a cluster and install an instance of SQL onto the
cluster (likely a named instance since I would guess that the local
machine(s) already use a default instance). After that, it is a simple
matter to move the databases as you would between any two SQL servers.
Windows 2003 Server has a really great clustering wizard that keeps you from
building a non-functional cluster. Once that is working, you can easily
install SQL clustering according to the instructions in BOL.
HOW TO: Move Databases Between Computers That Are Running SQL Server
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;314546
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
"Amy Lewis" <AmyLewis@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EF12ECFD-4BA7-48DD-8605-46D045E39532@.microsoft.com...
>I have 2 2003 servers each running a separate copy of SQL. I have
>purchased
> a external storage Dell Powervault running RAID 5 to serve as the shared
> disk
> space. I would like to create a SQL cluster with these 2 machines. Each
> SQL
> server has databases that will need to be moved to the shared space. What
> is
> the easiest way to accomplish this?
> I was thinking I would need to do backup my databases from both SQL
> servers.
> Create a cluster in 2003 cluster management
> Uninstall SQL server from both SQL servers
> Install SQL server as a virtual server from one of the 2003 servers.
> Restore the SQL databases to the shared disk space
> Am I missing anything?
|||Thanks for the response. I have actually talked with Dell about this and
given the small volume of SQL database activity - they recommended this.
I have not configured my PowerVault yet - would Raid 1 be better relating
to performance? My current 2003 servers have a single RAID 5 configuration -
and the databases are stored in the normal c:\program files\.... and it
seems to be working fine for us. We only about about 20 databases - all
small (the largest is 500M) and all with less than 20 users connected at 1
time.
"Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:

> First, your configuration is unsupported. A cluster must be purchased as a
> cluster, not just assembled ad-hoc from components that may or may not be on
> the cluster Hardware Compatibility list in order to be a supported
> configuration. Some storage vendors will certify the entire platform if you
> purchase installation services along with the storage device.
> Second, your RAID-5 Powervault will run very slowly in a cluster. RAID-5
> has significant overhead for writes. Normally a caching controller can
> mitigate these issues but with clustering, all SCSI controllers for shared
> storage must disable write cache. Since you have the PowerVault divided
> into a single array, you will have to install SQL onto the Quorum partition,
> again an unsupported configuration. Note that Clustering will work at the
> RAID container level, not at the logical partition level. Data and
> transaction logs will be on the same physical device so there goes another
> bit of performance and recoverability. The whole purpose of SQL Clustering
> is to increase availability. I don't see how this configuration will help
> reach that goal.
> I would talk to my Dell representative about their certified cluster
> offerings rather than pursue this path.
> Since you did ask for how to do something instead of whether it should be
> done, here goes. Create a cluster and install an instance of SQL onto the
> cluster (likely a named instance since I would guess that the local
> machine(s) already use a default instance). After that, it is a simple
> matter to move the databases as you would between any two SQL servers.
> Windows 2003 Server has a really great clustering wizard that keeps you from
> building a non-functional cluster. Once that is working, you can easily
> install SQL clustering according to the instructions in BOL.
> HOW TO: Move Databases Between Computers That Are Running SQL Server
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;314546
> Geoff N. Hiten
> Microsoft SQL Server MVP
> Senior Database Administrator
>
> "Amy Lewis" <AmyLewis@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:EF12ECFD-4BA7-48DD-8605-46D045E39532@.microsoft.com...
>
>
|||I am assuming a PV 220S with 14 slots.
2ea RAID-1 drives for Quorum and MSDTC (36GB 15KRPM) Normal best practices
has them apart but with your small scale combining them should be safe.
2ea RAID-1 drives for Logs (73GB 15KRPM)
2ea RAID-1 drives for Data (146GB 15KRPM)
That leaves 8 slots for future expansion. Make sure you have blanks so the
airflow works correctly. You can adjust the sizes of the drives to meet
your needs, but try to keep the Quorum and Logs drives at 15KRPM. The speed
definitely makes a difference. Since you are in a cluster configuration,
the physical location of the drives in the individual slots makes no
difference. This will give you a decent performing system that is also
pretty reliable and recoverable.
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
"Amy Lewis" <AmyLewis@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F0ECD371-DAB4-433C-8445-750EB2D45AA3@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Thanks for the response. I have actually talked with Dell about this and
> given the small volume of SQL database activity - they recommended this.
> I have not configured my PowerVault yet - would Raid 1 be better relating
> to performance? My current 2003 servers have a single RAID 5
> configuration -
> and the databases are stored in the normal c:\program files\.... and it
> seems to be working fine for us. We only about about 20 databases - all
> small (the largest is 500M) and all with less than 20 users connected at 1
> time.
> "Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:

Create databases in a cluster

I am trying to create a database but it failes when creating the log file.
Q:\ quorum drive
H:\data
I:\log
The message I get on the I:\
Cannot use file 'I:\Log\rentclicks_Log.ldf' for clustered server. Only
formatted files on which the cluster resource of the server has a dependency
can be used.
Msg 1802, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
CREATE DATABASE failed. Some file names listed could not be created. Check
related errors.
From the cluster admin tool:
Stop the SQL server service.
Move the I: drive into the SQL resource group.
Add the new disk resource as a dependency of the SQL Service.
Start the SQL Service.
Geoff N. Hiten
Senior Database Administrator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
"SAM" <SAM@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:04407CD9-0DC4-4859-9546-B1F461955ADE@.microsoft.com...
>I am trying to create a database but it failes when creating the log file.
> Q:\ quorum drive
> H:\data
> I:\log
> The message I get on the I:\
> Cannot use file 'I:\Log\rentclicks_Log.ldf' for clustered server. Only
> formatted files on which the cluster resource of the server has a
> dependency
> can be used.
> Msg 1802, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
> CREATE DATABASE failed. Some file names listed could not be created. Check
> related errors.
|||Thanks that worked. A outside source configured the Windows Cluster so I am
learning as I go in working with clustering.
"Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:

> From the cluster admin tool:
> Stop the SQL server service.
> Move the I: drive into the SQL resource group.
> Add the new disk resource as a dependency of the SQL Service.
> Start the SQL Service.
> --
> Geoff N. Hiten
> Senior Database Administrator
> Microsoft SQL Server MVP
>
> "SAM" <SAM@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:04407CD9-0DC4-4859-9546-B1F461955ADE@.microsoft.com...
>
>
|||Not to put too fine a point on it, but if your consultant didn't include
training, then someone screwed up. Whether it was the consultant who didn't
do the training or your company who didn't insist on it is not important.
The important thing is you have a system you cannot support. That kind of
kills the whole "high availability" reason for a cluster in the first place.
Just my opinion.
Geoff N. Hiten
Senior Database Administrator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
"SAM" <SAM@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FAE23EF2-929B-442A-98B1-C7CD191F4185@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Thanks that worked. A outside source configured the Windows Cluster so I
> am
> learning as I go in working with clustering.
> "Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:
|||The company didn't insist. Myself and the system admin were support to
closely work with Dell when implementing the Windows cluster but there was
some confusion on who was do what and the training got left to the waist
side.
So I left to train myself and seek advice from experienced cluster
professionals. Thanks for your help.
"Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:

> Not to put too fine a point on it, but if your consultant didn't include
> training, then someone screwed up. Whether it was the consultant who didn't
> do the training or your company who didn't insist on it is not important.
> The important thing is you have a system you cannot support. That kind of
> kills the whole "high availability" reason for a cluster in the first place.
> Just my opinion.
> --
> Geoff N. Hiten
> Senior Database Administrator
> Microsoft SQL Server MVP
>
>
> "SAM" <SAM@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:FAE23EF2-929B-442A-98B1-C7CD191F4185@.microsoft.com...
>
>
|||Dell is notorious for plug -n- play -n- leave. Unless you contracted for
specific training classes, the implementation consultants usually don't go
out of their way to teach. Not their fault, they are under severe time
pressure to get the systems up and move on.
If you can find a place teaching the MS course 2788, Designing High
Availability Database Solutions using Microsoft SQl Server 2005, I would
advise signing up. I am very familiar with that course and it should cover
exactly what you need.
Geoff N. Hiten
Senior Database Administrator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
"SAM" <SAM@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AB66AB78-6AD8-46AB-9210-719A1C18CB17@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> The company didn't insist. Myself and the system admin were support to
> closely work with Dell when implementing the Windows cluster but there was
> some confusion on who was do what and the training got left to the waist
> side.
> So I left to train myself and seek advice from experienced cluster
> professionals. Thanks for your help.
>
> "Geoff N. Hiten" wrote:

Create Database with Filegroups restore Database without Filegroup

I have a SQL Server 2000 virtual server with Austin_Sales as the virtual
server name and REPT as the name instance. This is Active\Active Cluster with
Windows 2000 Advanced Server as the OS.
I have a new server and would like to have filegroups for the database. Can
I create filegroups on the new server and restore the backup from
Austin_Sales\REPT in the database with filegroups?
Please help me with this task.
Thanks,
Restore will give you (essentially) a binary image of what is inside the database. I.e., you cannot
change filegroup layout through backup/restore. You'd have to do that before the backup or after the
restore...
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
http://www.solidqualitylearning.com/
"Joe K." <JoeK@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CFB09E6E-E210-4D53-B26E-98FFAC443E70@.microsoft.com...
> I have a SQL Server 2000 virtual server with Austin_Sales as the virtual
> server name and REPT as the name instance. This is Active\Active Cluster with
> Windows 2000 Advanced Server as the OS.
> I have a new server and would like to have filegroups for the database. Can
> I create filegroups on the new server and restore the backup from
> Austin_Sales\REPT in the database with filegroups?
> Please help me with this task.
> Thanks,

Create Database with Filegroups restore Database without Filegroup

I have a SQL Server 2000 virtual server with Austin_Sales as the virtual
server name and REPT as the name instance. This is Active\Active Cluster with
Windows 2000 Advanced Server as the OS.
I have a new server and would like to have filegroups for the database. Can
I create filegroups on the new server and restore the backup from
Austin_Sales\REPT in the database with filegroups?
Please help me with this task.
Thanks,Restore will give you (essentially) a binary image of what is inside the database. I.e., you cannot
change filegroup layout through backup/restore. You'd have to do that before the backup or after the
restore...
--
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
http://www.solidqualitylearning.com/
"Joe K." <JoeK@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CFB09E6E-E210-4D53-B26E-98FFAC443E70@.microsoft.com...
> I have a SQL Server 2000 virtual server with Austin_Sales as the virtual
> server name and REPT as the name instance. This is Active\Active Cluster with
> Windows 2000 Advanced Server as the OS.
> I have a new server and would like to have filegroups for the database. Can
> I create filegroups on the new server and restore the backup from
> Austin_Sales\REPT in the database with filegroups?
> Please help me with this task.
> Thanks,

Create Database with Filegroups restore Database without Filegroup

I have a SQL Server 2000 virtual server with Austin_Sales as the virtual
server name and REPT as the name instance. This is Active\Active Cluster wit
h
Windows 2000 Advanced Server as the OS.
I have a new server and would like to have filegroups for the database. Can
I create filegroups on the new server and restore the backup from
Austin_Sales\REPT in the database with filegroups?
Please help me with this task.
Thanks,Restore will give you (essentially) a binary image of what is inside the dat
abase. I.e., you cannot
change filegroup layout through backup/restore. You'd have to do that before
the backup or after the
restore...
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
http://www.solidqualitylearning.com/
"Joe K." <JoeK@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CFB09E6E-E210-4D53-B26E-98FFAC443E70@.microsoft.com...
> I have a SQL Server 2000 virtual server with Austin_Sales as the virtual
> server name and REPT as the name instance. This is Active\Active Cluster w
ith
> Windows 2000 Advanced Server as the OS.
> I have a new server and would like to have filegroups for the database. C
an
> I create filegroups on the new server and restore the backup from
> Austin_Sales\REPT in the database with filegroups?
> Please help me with this task.
> Thanks,