1. Failover Clustering SQL 2012/2014
George Walters
Data Platform Specialist
@gwalters69 on twitter!

2. IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY GREATER HARDWARE UTILIZATION
SQL Server Delivers Required 9s Maximize uptime for mission critical applications
GREATER UPTIME
AlwaysOn High Availability
Windows Server Core Support
Online Operations Enhancements
IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY
Integrated Configuration Wizard
Windows PowerShell Support
AlwaysOn Dashboard
Microsoft System Center Monitoring
OPTIONAL CASE STUDY
“We have a lot of confidence in SQL Server 2012 as the backbone of our business.”
Home Shopping Network -
OPTIONAL PRODUCT DETAIL
Now let’s take a step back and look at how SQL Server 2012 is helping deliver required 9s and protection across the release. The investments in the area of high availability will help deliver greater uptime, improved productivity, and greater hardware utilization.
Greater uptime is delivered through AlwaysOn, Windows Server Core which helps reduce OS patching by as much as 50-60%, and enhancements with Online Operations which enables customers to performance maintenance without taking machines offline.
Microsoft continues to offer highly productive tools and SQL Server 2012 delivers this for higher availability in 3 key ways:
Easy-to-use click-through wizards that allow global HA systems to be set up in a matter of minutes and dashboards for insight and productive maintenance.
Scripting via PowerShell 2.0 support – Microsoft PowerShell is a task-based command-line shell and scripting language designed especially for system administration. This ease of administration is extended to AlwaysOn Availability Groups that enable customers to deploy, manage, and monitor availability groups, availability replicas, and availability databases.
Alignment with System Center Operations Manager Management Packs – a new SQL Server Management Pack will be available for SQL Server 2012 at time of RTM so customers who monitor via System Center can immediately take advantage of these capabilities with AlwaysOn
Greater Hardware Utilization is enabled through the addition of readable or active secondaries. This means hardware that is currently serving as failover hardware can now be utilized for read-only workloads like reporting and analytics. Shifting workloads off the primary to the readable secondary also offers inherent performance gains to the primary as well as the read-only workload.
GREATER HARDWARE UTILIZATION
Active Secondaries
Scale Read-Only Applications
Offload Backups
Fast Application Failover

3. Failover Cluster Instance Logical Architecture
Network subnet x
Node1
Node2
WSFC Configuration
WSFC Configuration
SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance
Instance 1 Network Name
Instance 1 databases
Storage
Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC)
© 2010 Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Materials - Confidential. All rights reserved.

4. SQL Server Failover Clustering Components
Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC)
Node
Heartbeat
Quorum Mode
Split-brain situation
Votes
Shared disks
Fiber Channel
iSCSI
Client Access Point
Network Name (VNN)
IP Address (VIP)
SQL Server Resource Group
IP Address
Network Name
SQL Server Agent
SQL Server  
Cluster Disk 1   
SQL Server Resource DLL
rhs.exe
sqlservr.exe
sqsrvres.dll
clussvc.exe
Service Control Manager
rhs.exe
sqagtres.dll
rhs.exe
sqlagent.exe

5. AlwaysOn Multi-site Failover Cluster Instance HA & DR Solution
Provide High Availability at the Instance Level
Unit of failover = SQL server instance
Maintain same virtual network name after failover. Clients re-connect to same name
Instance restart requires database to go through recovery
Provide Disaster Recovery at the Instance Level
Provide Disaster Recovery protection from site failure: be it network, power, infrastructure or other site disasters.
Require storage based replication technology and networking considerations
Multi-subnet support

6. AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances
Multi-Subnet Failover Clustering
Predictable Recovery Time
Windows Multi-site Clustering
Save cost of maintaining Stretched V-LAN
Set Target Recovery Time based on RTO
Indirect Checkpoint
Broader Storage Support
Flexible Failover Policy
SMB file share support
Tempdb on local drive
Better mount point support
Control how FCI responding to failures
Reliable and precise health detection
Easy Failure Cause Analysis with Diagnostics Logs

7. Multi-subnet Clustering
Corpnet
Network Name: SqlClust
IP1:
IP2:
Node1
Node2
Node3
Node4 OR
subnet 1
subnet 2
Local Site
Remote Site
SAN Replication

8. AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance Failover Condition Policy
Flexible Failover Policy provides administrators control over the conditions when an automatic failover should be initiated.
Configurable options eliminate false failover
Improved logging for better diagnostics
SQL Server 2008 R2
SQL Server 2012
Resource DLL
Resource DLL
Select
sp_server_diagnostics
Diagnostics
SQL Server
SQL Server

9. Configure New IP Address - AddNode

10. Multi-Subnet Clustering Requirements
SQL Server SKU: Enterprise Edition OS version: Windows Server 2008 R2 + SAN replication for cross-site DR (e.g. EMC SRDF) Single AD domain for all nodes

11. Best Practices – 1. Quorum Mode
Node and file share majority
Node majority
Even number of nodes
Odd number of nodes
Majority nodes on primary site
Force quorum needed when primary site down
File Share
Witness

12. Best Practices – 2. Heartbeat Settings
Default Value
Frequency is once per 1 second
If miss 5 heartbeat then initial failover
Tune the setting for cross subnet heartbeat
CrossSubnetDelay can be up to 4 seconds
CrossSubnetThreshold can be up to 10

13. Best Practices – 3. SAN Replication
Use block replication
File and Application replication is not supported
Preserve block size and write-order to prevent data corruption
Choose Replication Mode according to the network latency
Sync if Network latency < 10ms (regional DR)
Async if Network latency > 10ms (Geo DR)

14. Best Practices – 4. DNS Settings
Parallel Client Connection (new client connection string parameters)
sqlcmd.exe -M switch
ADO .Net, native clients MultiSubnetFailover=true
OLE DB, legacy clients Connection Timeout = 21* (# of IPs)
Reduce DNS replication delay
DNS/AD inter-site replication schedule, by default is 180 minutes
Set replication frequency to 15 minutes (minimum value)

15. Better Storage Support - SMB
SMB2 Protocol
SWITCH 1Gbe
SWITCH 1Gbe
Redundant Connection
SQL Servers standalone
File Server (Windows or 3rd party)
Database storage consolidation
Support 26+ clustered instances in a single WSFC
File Server OS: Windows Server

16. Who should consider using this? Benefits
TempDB on Local Disk
Who should consider using this?
Heavily use tempdb
Fast local HDD/SSD
Benefits
Better overall performance
Cost saving
Important Note!
Ensure that tempdb local paths are available to SQL Service on all the nodes

17. TempDB on Local Disk Why We Enable This? Benefits Important Note!
Tempdb access occupies large % of SAN I/O
Fast local HDD/SSD becomes standard Server configuration
Benefits
Better overall performance
Cost saving
Important Note!
Ensure that tempdb local paths are available to SQL Service on all the nodes
LOCAL TEMP DB (Fast disk, SSD)
LOCAL TEMP DB (Fast disk, SSD)
primary
Secondaries
Shared Disk (SAN)

18. Better Mount Point Support
Mounted disk root path now supported for database files Setup automatically add mounted disk dependency Setup performance fix for large # of mounted disks
Cluster Disk 1
Cluster Disk 2
\data\
No drive letter assigned
F:\

19. Predictable Recovery Time – Indirect Checkpoints
Previously checkpoints mode (automatic vs. fixed intervals)
Variance in failover time
Variance in IO load
New in SQL Server 2012:
Background checkpointing over time
Smoother IO load
More predicable failover times
Configurable per database
Off-by-default for backwards compatibility – Experiment. Test before deploy!

20. Current Algorithm: Dirty Pages
Buffer Pool
Algorithm
1, 100
Checkpoint starts
FlushCache() visits all pages and writes each dirty page: P10, P20, P30, P40 in that order
FlushCache() order has nothing to do with log order
MinRecLSN must be == begin checkpoint LSN …
10, 111 …
20, 108 40
100 30
101
102
103 20
104
105
106
107
108 10
109
110
111
112 …
30, 112
Log Order …
40, 110

21. Indirect Checkpoint: Dirty Pages
Buffer Pool
Algorithm
1, 100
New structure links dirtied buffers in the order they are first dirtied.
Checkpoint can write buffers in that order:
Writing page 40 covers log up to < LSN 101. Writing page 30 next covers up to < LSN 104. Writing page 20 next covers log up to < 109.
MinRecLSN can advance independently of checkpoint …
10, 111 …
20, 108
Dirtied buffers with “first dirtied LSN”
40, 100
30, 101
20, 104
10, 109 … …
30, 112 40
100 30
101
102
103 20
104
105
106
107
108 10
109
110
111
112 …
40, 110
Log Order

22. Health Detection – SQL Server 2008 R2 And Below
Simple pull mechanism
Node1
Are you alive?
SELECT SERVERNAME
Server1
SQL Server
Depends on Query Processing
ResDLL

23. Flexible Failover Policy - SQL Server 2012
Push mechanism
Node1
Are you alive?
Precisely detect server component state
SQL Server
EXEC SP_SERVER_DIAGNOSTICS
ResDLL
Configurable failure condition
Diagnostics logs
Diagnostics

24. Flexible Failover Policy - Configuration
Health Check Timeout
Failure Condition Level
Frequency of checks & speed of failure response
Default: 60 sec
Minimum: 15 sec
Default Level: 3 “Failover or restart on critical SQL Server errors”
User configurable
Diagnostics always captured

25. Flexible Failover Policy – Failure Condition Levels5
Failover/restart on any qualified failure conditions
Query Processing errors 4
Failover or restart on moderate SQL Server errors
Resource errors 3
Failover or restart on critical SQL Server errors
System errors 2
Failover or restart on server unresponsive
No response from sp_server_diagnostics 1
Failover or restart on server down
Service is down
No Automatic Failover or restart

26. Why Windows Server Core for SQL Server 2012?
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
Why Windows Server Core for SQL Server 2012?
More secure
Less surface area with fewer things installed
Command line a deterrent for many
Less to patch = higher uptime, less risk
Shorter outages
Also noted in KBs
Possibility of slightly better performance
Less “stuff” running, a bit more overhead
Not a guarantee, and won’t be night/day
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

27. Windows Server 2012 Installation
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
Windows Server 2012 Installation
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

28. Windows Tips for SQL Server Deployments
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
Windows Tips for SQL Server Deployments
Can switch between Full/MinShell/”Pure” Core
TIP: If start with Core, GUI payloads not installed by default see
How SQL will be supported in this scenario is still TBD
If using WSFC, will have to load GUI management payload
W2K8 R2 SP1 – Enable remote management (will also enable .NET 3.5/2.0) -
Unbind protocols in W2K8 R2: NVSPBIND
sconfig may be useful for some things if don’t want to write scripts
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

29. .NET Framework & Server Core
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
.NET Framework & Server Core
.NET 3.51
Must enable payload in W2K12 (
How To: (DISM) or (PS)
May be enabled automatically if enabling remote management and payload is there
.NET 3.51 (incl. 2.0)
How to Install
.NET 4.0
Windows Server 2008 R2
In Band
Server Manager (GUI), DISM, PowerShell
Out of Band
SQL media, download
Install or later for AlwaysOn enhancements
Windows Server 2012
Already enabled (.NET 4.5)
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

30. .NET Framework & Server Core
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
.NET Framework & Server Core
DISM (Full)
DISM (Core)
PS (Full)
PS (Core)
Windows Server 2008 R2
NetFx3
NetFx2-ServerCore
NetFx2-ServerCore-WOW64
NetFx3-ServerCore
NetFx3-ServerCore-WOW64
Net-Framework-Core
Use DISM (will be enabled with remote management)
Windows Server 2012
TIP: Feature/role names usually case sensitive
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

31. SQL Server 2012 Install Behavior on Full GUI OS
Have to manually install .NET Framework 3.51
Will install .NET 4.0 (if necessary)

32. SQL Server 2012 Install Behavior on Server Core
Will enable/install .NET Framework (3.51 and 4.0) if not already done

33. WSFC & Server Core All the same supportability rules GUI or SC except:
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
WSFC & Server Core
All the same supportability rules GUI or SC except:
W2K8 R2: Cannot mix Core + full OS nodes – one or the other
Windows Server 2012: Can mix Core/MinShell/Full
Feature enabled in two steps: core WSFC feature, tools
Instead of DISM, use PS cmdlet Install-WindowsFeature with IncludeManagementTools switch
IncludeManagementTools will not enable GUI tools on “Pure” SC
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

34. WSFC & Server Core Enabling the feature Cluster.exe
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
WSFC & Server Core
Enabling the feature
Cluster.exe
Deprecated in W2K8 R2, but still there
Not enabled by default in Windows Server 2012
Should learn PowerShell cmdlets
DISM (Full)
DISM (Core)
PS (Full)
PS (Core)
Windows Server 2008 R2
FailoverCluster-FullServer
FailoverCluster-Core
FailoverCluster-Core-WOW64
Failover-Clustering
WoW64-FailoverCluster
Windows Server 2012
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

35. WSFC & Server Core Automation Server DISM PS PowerShell cmdlets
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
WSFC & Server Core
Automation Server
Deprecated in Windows Server 2012
Not enabled by default
Used by SQL Server (FILESTREAM), so recommended to enable
DISM PS
PowerShell cmdlets
FailoverCluster-AdminPak
FailoverCluster-PowerShell
RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell
Old Automation Server (deprecated)
FailoverCluster-AutomationServer
RSAT-Clustering-AutomationServer
Old cluster.exe (deprecated)
FailoverCluster-CmdInterface
RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

36. Activation Without Internet Connectivity
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
Activation Without Internet Connectivity
Enter the key (full with dashes)
slmgr.vbs –ipk key
Get the installation ID (CTRL-C)
slmgr.vbs –dti
Copy it into Notepad or something you can use
TIP: Break it up into groups of 6 numbers
Call your local number for activation
Enter the code you receive (no spaces)
slmgr.vbs –atp code
Verify OS is activated
slmgr.vbs -xpr
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

37. Installing SQL Server 2012 on Server Core
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
Installing SQL Server 2012 on Server Core
Command line or command file only
Relevant BOL topics
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

38. Installing SQL Server 2012 on Server Core
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
Installing SQL Server 2012 on Server Core
Need to install things from the feature pack ( in this order:
Shared Management Objects (base for any management utilities)
PowerShell Extensions (will have AG cmdlets)
Command Line Utilities (sqlcmd, BCP)
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

39. Installing SQL Server 2012 on Server Core
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
Installing SQL Server 2012 on Server Core
Ensure TCPENABLED option is set if standalone instance
Enabled by default for FCIs
Utilize UPDATEENABLED and UPDATESOURCE if applicable
Much better, easier than the SQL 2K8/R2 slipstream process
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

40. Additional Information
TechEd 2012
1/29/2018 7:55 AM
Additional Information
KB The Microsoft SQL Server support policy for Microsoft Clustering
KB – The Microsoft Support Policy for Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clusters
KB – Recommended hotfixes and updates for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Failover Clusters
SQL Server 2012 Bare Metal Workshop Series
Server Core team blog
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

41. Next steps
SQL Server 2012 Case Studies: (Search on SQL Technologies) SQL Server 2012 Hands On Labs: SQL Server 2012 Certification: SQL Server 2012 Best Practices:

42. Better availability Windows Server 2012
Tech Ready 15
1/29/2018
Better availability Windows Server 2012
Key Benefits
Maintain SQL Server availability while decreasing planned downtime in virtualized environments
Reduce the cost and complexity of SQL Server deployments in virtualized environments
Reduce the cost of non-mission critical DR in virtualized environments
Increase availability & simplify set-up of SQL Server clusters during updates
Base infrastructure for highly available mission-critical SQL Server apps
Significantly decrease downtime
Enhanced Live Migration
Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU)
Windows Server Core
Dynamic Quorum in Cluster
Hyper-V Replica
Windows Clustering
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V significantly decrease the downtime of virtual machines through enhancements in Live Migration, Cluster Aware Updating, more flexible Windows Server Core support, and Dynamic Quorum in cluster. A new DR mechanism called Hyper-V Replica allows disaster recovery for virtual machines that is easy to setup and can work across any workloads in the VM.
© 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

43. Better availability with Windows Server Technical Benefits
Enhanced Live Migration
Simultaneous Live Migration of as many SQL Server VMs as you want (e.g. not just 2 or 4)
Faster Live Migration of multiple SQL Server VMs (with priority settings) in a clustered environment and using up to 10 GB of network bandwidth
Live Migration of a SQL Server VM in a non- clustered environment with or without shared storage
Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU)
Allows updates to be applied automatically to the host operating system in clustered SQL Server environments while maintaining availability during the update process
Windows Server Core
Eliminate 50-60% of the OS-level patches & reduce OS reboot while allowing easy conversion between full GUI mode and Server Code mode.
Dynamic Quorum
Enables SQL Server Always On cluster to dynamically adjust the number of required quorum votes
Hyper-V Replica
provides asynchronous disaster recovery to SQL Server VM that’s easy to set- up & manage
Let’s look at the details:
Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU) is an automated feature that allows you to update SQL Server clustered servers with little or no loss in availability during the update process. During an Updating Run, CAU transparently performs the following tasks: Puts each node of the cluster into node maintenance mode, Moves the clustered roles off the node, Installs the updates and any dependent updates, Performs a restart if necessary, Brings the node out of maintenance mode, Restores the clustered roles on the node, and finally Moves to update the next node
Server Core is a minimal server installation option for computers running on the operating system. Server Core provides a low-maintenance server environment with limited functionality and SQL Server 2012 fully supports it. Starting with Windows Server 2012, it is possible to transition between Full Server and Server Core without reinstalling the operating system so maintenance of the system can be done in either modes while production is ideally be done in Server Core mode.
Dynamic Quorum allows SQL Server AlwaysOn to dynamically adjust the number of votes in the quorum in order to stay running in the event of failover. Dynamic quorum is the ability of the cluster to recalculate quorum on the fly and still maintain a working cluster. This reduces the setup up to 80% in most scenarios and greatly increase the availability of SQL Server AlwaysOn in production environment.
Hyper-V Replica, a new feature of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V that replicates all changes on a virtual machine to a counterpart virtual machine hosted by a different server. It is asynchronous and easy to configure and does not require shared storage and the two servers can be located in a widely separate geo-location.
Windows Clustering
High availability for SQL Server Always On, with an architecture that maintains a consistent image of the cluster on all nodes & allows nodes to transfer resource ownership on-demand

44. Key Learnings from Early Customer Deployments
Windows Cluster
is the foundation for HA and DR in SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn
AlwaysOn inherits all “characteristics” of Windows Cluster
every single AlwaysOn deployment is a Windows Cluster deployment
understand Windows Cluster in order to succesfully deploy, operate, monitor, troubleshoot, administer AlwaysOn
key areas are: quorum model, cluster network communication, DR procedures, cluster.exe, PowerShell
≠ SQL Cluster (SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance)
therefore, is NOT necessarily a shared-storage cluster
many key enhancements have been made to Windows Cluster specifically for SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn
Asymmetric Disk
Node Votes
Asymmetric Disk as Quorum resource

45. Key Learnings from Early Customer Deployments
Organizational structure
Typically, teams and skills are organized into separate groups – SQL Server DBA team and Windows Server Admin team
AlwaysOn reaches out beyond the SQL Server DBA
DBAs need to work closely with Windows / Network Administration teams
Not just for initial deployment, but for troubleshooting and disaster recovery as well
Historical experience
Need to unlearn and relearn a few things if you are already experienced with Windows Cluster, but new to AlwaysOn
For example, if you haven’t read the Windows Cluster documentation in the last few months, it is worth a re- read now
New/Different Tools for administration and troubleshooting
Windows cluster log
Failover Cluster Manager
Knowledge of PowerShell and cluster.exe command lines will come very handy

46. SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn HA+DR Design Patterns
Corresponding Pre-SQL Server 2012 Solution
Solution Characteristics
Multi-site Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) for HA and DR
Multi-site FCI using stretch VLAN
Shared Storage solution a
aMasked by storage replication 1
Availability Group for HA and DR
Database Mirroring for Local HA and Log Shipping for DR
Non-Shared Storage solution 2
Failover Cluster Instance for local HA +
Availability Group for DR
Failover Cluster Instance for Local HA and Database Mirroring for DR
Combined Shared Storage and Non-Shared Storage 3
Slight variations of these design patterns are occasionally observed as well.

47. When to pick which one?
Understand RPO/RTO requirements for local HA as well as DR
Data Centers: Number, location and network characteristics (bandwidth, latency) between data centers
What is the storage model?
Impacts unit of failover
Do you have multiple databases in your application?
Do you have cross-database transactions?
Can you modify these applications?
Desired Failover Mode
What solutions did you use earlier?
People, skills, organizational standards
Cost Factor

48. Multi-site Failover Cluster Instance for HA and DR
Primary Site
Node 1
Node 2
Active
Passive
DR Site
Node 3
Node 4
Windows Server Failover Cluster
SQL-FCI
Storage Replication
SQL Server 2012 Always On HA+DR Solution
Multi-site Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) for HA and DR
( 2011/12/22/sql-server-2012-alwayson_3a00_- multisite-failover-cluster-instance.aspx)
Solution Characteristics
Corresponding
Pre-SQL Server 2012 Solution 1
Shared Storage solutiona
Instance Level HA (automatic)
Instance Level DR (automaticb)
Uses storage replication
Masked by storage replication
Consider 3rd data center
Multi-site FCI using stretch VLAN

49. Quorum Considerations
Quorum is managed by the WSFC, irrespective of the number of SQL Server instances (FCI or standalone), number of nodes, number of availability groups
Important goal: Design to ensure
Unavailability of the DR site, or loss of network connectivity between sites should not impact the quorum of the WSFC
Two steps:
Node votes: First decide which nodes should have a vote
Quorum Model: Then choose the appropriate quorum model
Node Votes
By default, every node has a vote => May not be ideal for your specific HA / DR goals
Windows Server hotfix:
Guidelines:
Odd number of votes
Quorum Models:

50. Quorum Model and Node Votes Availability Groups for HA and DR
Primary Site
DR Site
Windows Server Failover Cluster
Node 1
Node 2
Node 3
VOTE
VOTE
NO VOTE
Availability Group
Asynchronous
Synchronous
VOTE
File Share
Note: The Fileshare Witness always has 1 vote.

51. Windows Server Failover Cluster
Quorum Model and Node Votes Failover Cluster Instance (HA), Availability Group (DR)
Primary Site
DR Site
Windows Server Failover Cluster
Node 1
Node 2
Node 3
Node 4
VOTE
VOTE
NO VOTE
NO VOTE
SQL-FCI-1
SQL-FCI-2
Availability Group
Synchronous / Asynchronous
VOTE
File Share
Note: The Fileshare Witness always has 1 vote.

52. Quorum Model and Node Votes How to set / view
To View Quorum Model
To Change Quorum Model
Windows Failover Cluster Manager GUI
PowerShell
Cluster.exe
SQL Server DMVs
AlwaysOn Dashboard in SSMS
Windows Failover Cluster Manager GUI
PowerShell
Cluster.exe
To View Node Votes
To Change Node Votes
PowerShell
Cluster.exe
SQL Server DMVs
AlwaysOn Dashboard in SSMS
PowerShell
Cluster.exe
Note: Only cluster.exe can be used to set quorum model to “Node and (asymmetric) Disk Majority” or “(asymmetric) Disk Only”

53. DEMO Build a windows cluster – Done, review
SQL Cluster – Done, let’s examine our components

54. SQL Server 2012 Case Studies: SQL Server 2012 Hands On Labs:
Next steps
SQL Server 2012 Case Studies:
(Search on SQL Technologies)
SQL Server 2012 Hands On Labs:
SQL Server 2012 Certification:
SQL Server 2012 Best Practices: