Changing cluster configuration

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Jerrick D.H - 13 Jan 2005 17:51 GMT

My current cluster configuration is Active/Passive, I'm exploring a change to
Active/Active, but I haven't been able to find any informaon on how to do
this, has anyone ever done this? My reason for considering this is the size
of the current server, and the need to bringup other applications on the
seconday node.

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Geoff N. Hiten - 13 Jan 2005 18:36 GMT

Active/Passive and Active/Active are old terms. What you want to build is a
multi-instance cluster. You simply install a new instance of SQL server
with its own disk(s), IP address, and network name. After the installation
you can configure each instance to have preferred owner nodes under normal
conditions.

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Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
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> My current cluster configuration is Active/Passive, I'm exploring a change to
> Active/Active, but I haven't been able to find any informaon on how to do
> this, has anyone ever done this? My reason for considering this is the size
> of the current server, and the need to bringup other applications on the
> seconday node.

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Donna Lambert [MS] - 24 Feb 2005 21:45 GMT

Jerrick,
Geoff's answer is dead on!
The only other thing to consider is that there can only be ONE default
instance PER CLUSTER.
The second instance you install will likely be a NAMED INSTANCE.
The virtual server name you choose for your second instance MUST BE UNIQUE,
and the instance name will of course need to be unique as well.
Here are some good resources:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2000/maintain/failclus.mspx
and in BOL -
Multiple Instances of SQL Server
Failover Clustering Example - This is very good and I think speaks to your
question perfectly as well.

Hope that helps!
Donna Lambert
Microsoft PSS
SQL Server Support

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