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SQL Server Forum / Other Technologies / Clustering / April 2005SQL 2000 cluster on Win 2003
Hi! I am planiing to install SQL 2000 EE on Win 2003 Cluster: 2 node cluster, Windows 2003 1 SQL Server instance (active/passive) In order to do so I need some answers: 1. Should I install Win 2003 SP1 on both nodes (what are the experiences?, any problems?). 2. What is recommended practice: default instance or named instance? 3. I plan to Install hotfix SQL2000-KB815495-8.00.0818-ENU.exe Is there a newer hotfix that should be installed and where to find it? 4. Each node has 2GB of RAM so /3GB switch in boot.ini should be used? 5. MSDTC will have it's own group and disk resource, it's own IP and network name. Because of lack of disk space Quorum, MSDTC, and system databases (master, model, msdb) will be on different disk resources but on the same physical disk (mirrored-RAID 1) (the disk will have three volumes each forming its own disk resource). Quorum, MSDTC, and system databases are not heavily used so we should not have IO contention problems. Right? 6. Database, Log and Tempdb (with log) each on it's own disk (mirrored w. RAID 1). The question is: TempDb and it's log on the same drive - BOL mentions putting tempdb on the separate disk but says nothing about it's log. 7. Because the server is SQL Server dedicated we can leave Dynamic SQL Server memory and use "Boost SQL Server priority on Windows" option. Is this OK? All advices are welcome, Tom Answers below... Cheers, Rod MVP - Windows Server - Clustering http://www.nw-america.com - Clustering Website http://www.msmvps.com/clustering - Blog > Hi! > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > 1. Should I install Win 2003 SP1 on both nodes (what are the > experiences?, any problems?). Yes. Mine have been very good. If you add in the Security Configuration Wizard, read the screens carefully. > 2. What is recommended practice: default instance or named instance? If you are going to have more then one named instance, then the popular vote is go with only named instances and not to install a default instance. The call is really yours. You can have one default instance, and 15 named instances or 16 named instances in a SQL cluster. > 3. I plan to Install hotfix SQL2000-KB815495-8.00.0818-ENU.exe > Is there a newer hotfix that should be installed and where to find > it? Good question! I don't put this one on. You should only install a hotfix, if you have the problem that the hotfix solves. > 4. Each node has 2GB of RAM so /3GB switch in boot.ini should be used? Testing will tell you for sure, but in general, yes. > 5. MSDTC will have it's own group and disk resource, it's own IP and > network name. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > are not heavily used so we should not have IO contention problems. > Right? Again, you will have to test. How busy will the system be? How many concurrent users? Will MSDTC actually be used and how hard? > 6. Database, Log and Tempdb (with log) each on it's own disk (mirrored > w. RAID 1). The question is: > TempDb and it's log on the same drive - BOL mentions putting tempdb > on the separate disk but > says nothing about it's log. Databases and Logs should be on seperate disk subsystems, this includes TempDB. > 7. Because the server is SQL Server dedicated we can leave Dynamic SQL > Server memory and use > "Boost SQL Server priority on Windows" option. Is this OK? Yes :) > All advices are welcome, > > Tom 1. No problems so far. 2. Named instance if you are going to be installing more later (subject to application compatability) 3. 878 is later. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;838166 4. No 5. Never put anything else on the quorum drive other than the quorum. If need be, partition the drive so that the quorum is 1Gb and then the rest for another drive letter with the rest of the stuff. Not a formula for high availability. 6. Unlesss you do a lot of work in TempDB, it does not really matter 7. Dynamic on, but do NOT select "boost" as there is not need to do it as it is not sharing the server with anything else. I have found there is actually no need to use it ever. Regards Mike > Hi! > [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > Tom Thanks a lot! You helped me, but now I have a few more questions: 1. What is the preferred order of installation for Windows 2003 SP1, MSCS, SQL, SQL SP3a. Is it OS, SP1, virtual server, SQL, SQL SP3a, or maybe Windows 2003 SP1 goes last, or ...??? 2. To my question: <default or named instance?> Mike responded: <Named instance if you are going to be installing more later (subject to application compatibility)> Please explain application compatibility issue or provide link. 3. <SQL Server Failover Clustering> whitepaper and Rod say to put /GB switch into boot.ini file on system with 2GB of RAM. Mike said NO to /3GB switch. Please explain. 4. Although the server is going to be SQL Server dedicated I presume some vendor specific monitoring software will be installed along with IIS to support it. Mike's advice is NOT to use "Boost SQL Server priority on Windows" option. Thanks, Tom Comments Inline > Thanks a lot! > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Windows 2003 SP1, MSCS, SQL, SQL SP3a. Exactly this order. Document each step and any choices different from defaults. That will be the start of your disaster recovery procedure. > Is it OS, SP1, virtual server, SQL, SQL SP3a, or maybe > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > application compatibility)> Please explain application compatibility issue > or provide link. It is more an esthetic thing than a compatibility issue. Try explaining to your users why one instance has a name <DefaultName> while all the others look like <VirtualServerName\InstanceName>. It is easier if the names all look alike. If you have client connectivity issues, make sure to use MDAC version 2.7 or higher so it will recognize named instances. > 3. <SQL Server Failover Clustering> whitepaper and Rod say to put /GB > switch into boot.ini file on system with 2GB of RAM. Mike said NO to /3GB > switch. Please explain. /3GB will have no effect. It only comes into play with systems over 2GB of physical RAM. Having said that, I strongly suggest you add more memory to your servers. SQL Enterprise Edition can use up to 32GB of RAM and SQL really likes as much as you can give it. I would take the boxes up to at least 8GB to start. Then I would use /3GB and /PAE in the boot.ini file. You can then use AWE memory for SQL. > 4. Although the server is going to be SQL Server dedicated I presume > some vendor specific monitoring software will be installed along with IIS > to > support it. Mike's advice is NOT to use "Boost SQL Server priority on > Windows" option. This is correct. It really won't buy you anything and it may cause starve the cluster software. That may lead to a false failover.> Geoff N. Hiten Microsoft SQL Server MVP Senior Database Administrator. > Thanks, > > Tom Geoff is completely correct on the priority boost. It's NOT recommened on SQL Servers running on a cluster. MS will promptly tell you to turn it off. :-) Donna > Comments Inline > > [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > > > > Tom |
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