Making changes to a pre-existing cluster. Need help!

Hello,
We are making some changes to our existing SQL 2 Node cluster with Heartbeat
cross over.
1). We are adding a third node for Failover.
2). We added new NICS to all three servers and will set the Heartbeat up on
a switch.
3). Need to team the other two NICS on each server which I believe will
trash the cluster because the cluster is bound to one of the NICs on each of
the two node cluster.
Just looking for some insight on which steps need to be done. Do we have to
remove the servers from the cluster and recreate? What does that do to SQL?
What are the steps for adding a Failover node?
Thanks for your help,
Jeremey
First of all, you have to be running Win2K Datacenter Edition or at least
Win2K3 Enterprise Edition to support more than 2-node failover server
clusters.
The heartbeat network needs to be segmented differently than the public
networks, with NETBIOS disabled, which uses multi-cast; so, you'll want to
VLAN it and can not use NIC-teaming with it.
Each of the public networks can use NIC-teaming. As soon as you configure
each node, the cluster will recognize the networks. Each bound IP will go
offline and reregister.
To add nodes, you use the Cluster Administrator to add nodes to the cluster.
You use the SQL Server installation to deploy the binaries to the additional
nodes. You then apply the service packs from the newly joined Inactive
nodes only.
Here are a few links as well as Books Online for reference.
SQL Server 2000 Failover Clustering
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../failclus.mspx
Both of the Maintaining and Troubleshooting sections talk about adding nodes
and service packs.
Server Clusters: Rolling Upgrades. Upgrading to Windows Server 2003
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../rllupnet.mspx
Sincerely,
Anthony Thomas

"Jeremey" <Jeremey@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:39C48FBE-D7CB-4907-B7A1-DF1ADEB5499F@.microsoft.com...
> Hello,
> We are making some changes to our existing SQL 2 Node cluster with
Heartbeat
> cross over.
> 1). We are adding a third node for Failover.
> 2). We added new NICS to all three servers and will set the Heartbeat up
on
> a switch.
> 3). Need to team the other two NICS on each server which I believe will
> trash the cluster because the cluster is bound to one of the NICs on each
of
> the two node cluster.
> Just looking for some insight on which steps need to be done. Do we have
to
> remove the servers from the cluster and recreate? What does that do to
SQL?
> What are the steps for adding a Failover node?
> Thanks for your help,
> Jeremey
|||Hi Anthony,
Thanks for the links. I am however coming a cross a problem where the newly
added Node is now part of the storage group on the SAN but I can't format the
drives through the new servers Disk Manager, at which point I can't add it to
the cluster because it can't see any of the drives. In Disk Manager the
description of each drive is unavailable and New Partition is greyed out.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Jeremey
"Anthony Thomas" wrote:

> First of all, you have to be running Win2K Datacenter Edition or at least
> Win2K3 Enterprise Edition to support more than 2-node failover server
> clusters.
> The heartbeat network needs to be segmented differently than the public
> networks, with NETBIOS disabled, which uses multi-cast; so, you'll want to
> VLAN it and can not use NIC-teaming with it.
> Each of the public networks can use NIC-teaming. As soon as you configure
> each node, the cluster will recognize the networks. Each bound IP will go
> offline and reregister.
> To add nodes, you use the Cluster Administrator to add nodes to the cluster.
> You use the SQL Server installation to deploy the binaries to the additional
> nodes. You then apply the service packs from the newly joined Inactive
> nodes only.
> Here are a few links as well as Books Online for reference.
> SQL Server 2000 Failover Clustering
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../failclus.mspx
> Both of the Maintaining and Troubleshooting sections talk about adding nodes
> and service packs.
> Server Clusters: Rolling Upgrades. Upgrading to Windows Server 2003
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../rllupnet.mspx
> Sincerely,
>
> Anthony Thomas
>
> --
> "Jeremey" <Jeremey@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:39C48FBE-D7CB-4907-B7A1-DF1ADEB5499F@.microsoft.com...
> Heartbeat
> on
> of
> to
> SQL?
>
>
|||You are adding an additional node to the cluster. What is the purpose of
this node with respect to SQL Server? Will this be a new active instance or
will this be an inactive node for existing instances?
If a new SQL Server instance, then yes, you will need to detect the drive,
format it, create a new cluster group with separate IP and Network Name and
then add this new disk.
To get the Disk Manager to "see" new disks, you'll have to "Rescan Disks"
and then "Refresh." You might also have to mark the disk as "Online," all
through the Disk Manager interface. If it does not recognize the disk,
you'll have to check the zoning configuration in the SAN.
Also, check the other cluster nodes to see if they recognize the new disk.
You will also want to check out the DISKPAR utility if prior to SP 1 and
DISKPART utility if post SP1 on Win2K3. Look into disk sector alignment.
Here's a link.
Examining and Tuning Disk Performance
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d...e_exa_oori.asp
Disk Geometry
http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Disk-Geometry.html
Even though many of these refer to Exchange Server, much is still relevant
to SQL Server, Clustered Disks, and SAN configurations.
Sincerely,
Anthony Thomas

"Jeremey" <Jeremey@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:62D731CD-7129-459B-AF92-79D2FF588BC7@.microsoft.com...
> Hi Anthony,
> Thanks for the links. I am however coming a cross a problem where the
newly
> added Node is now part of the storage group on the SAN but I can't format
the
> drives through the new servers Disk Manager, at which point I can't add it
to[vbcol=seagreen]
> the cluster because it can't see any of the drives. In Disk Manager the
> description of each drive is unavailable and New Partition is greyed out.
> Any thoughts?
> Thanks,
> Jeremey
> "Anthony Thomas" wrote:
least[vbcol=seagreen]
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|||Hi Anthony,
It will actually be an Inactive node used for failover. All servers are
Win2k3 Ent SP1 with the latest patches. We are not adding any new LUNs to
the group just a new Node at which I will need to at least be able to connect
to the Quorum drive. I will try the suggestions you gave me. Also when I go
to install SQL as a Failover will I need a dedicated Drive for the install
that is part of the SAN?
Thanks again for all your help, this is the first more than two node SQL
cluster that I've ever worked on.
Jeremey
"Anthony Thomas" wrote:

> You are adding an additional node to the cluster. What is the purpose of
> this node with respect to SQL Server? Will this be a new active instance or
> will this be an inactive node for existing instances?
> If a new SQL Server instance, then yes, you will need to detect the drive,
> format it, create a new cluster group with separate IP and Network Name and
> then add this new disk.
> To get the Disk Manager to "see" new disks, you'll have to "Rescan Disks"
> and then "Refresh." You might also have to mark the disk as "Online," all
> through the Disk Manager interface. If it does not recognize the disk,
> you'll have to check the zoning configuration in the SAN.
> Also, check the other cluster nodes to see if they recognize the new disk.
> You will also want to check out the DISKPAR utility if prior to SP 1 and
> DISKPART utility if post SP1 on Win2K3. Look into disk sector alignment.
> Here's a link.
> Examining and Tuning Disk Performance
> http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d...e_exa_oori.asp
> Disk Geometry
> http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Disk-Geometry.html
> Even though many of these refer to Exchange Server, much is still relevant
> to SQL Server, Clustered Disks, and SAN configurations.
> Sincerely,
>
> Anthony Thomas
>
> --
> "Jeremey" <Jeremey@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:62D731CD-7129-459B-AF92-79D2FF588BC7@.microsoft.com...
> newly
> the
> to
> least
> to
> configure
> go
> cluster.
> additional
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../failclus.mspx
> nodes
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../rllupnet.mspx
> up
> will
> each
> have
> to
>
>
|||"It will actually be an Inactive node used for failover. . . . Also when I
go to install SQL as a Failover will I need a dedicated Drive for the
install that is part of the SAN?"
I am not sure what you are asking. Are you trying to add an additional node
to an existing SQL Server failover instance or are you adding another node
in order to add another instance?
If you have a cluster, then you already have a Quorum drive visible to the
cluster and configured as a Disk cluster resource in the Default Cluster
Resource Group. You can use Cluster Administrator to add another node to
the cluster. After which, you attempt to move the Cluster Resource Group
from the existing node to the newly added node and then back again. If all
works out, then the Quorum drive will automatically be configured on the new
node. Move the Cluster Resource Group back to the original node.
Now, whether or not you are trying to add another node to an existing SQL
Server failover instance or installing a new instance, you install new and
manage existing instances with the SQL Server installation media and
program. Each instance will require a separate cluster resource group which
contains at least a Disk, IP, and Network Name resource. You begin by
adding the disk resource. Since it is in a separate resource group, it MUST
be a uniquely identified and shared disk visible to all nodes in the cluster
that will be potential owners of this resource. The SQL Server installation
program will automatically create and manage the IP and Network Name
resources.
When only dealing with a 2-node, single or dual instance SQL Server failover
cluster, the installation is not too complicated; however, when you are
dealing with a multi-node, multi-instanced cluster, the choices and, thus,
the installation and configuration gets more complicated. You have to
decide which nodes will be possible owners of which instances. Those nodes
will need to be added as members for those instances, each will receive
copies of the binaries for those instances only, each Resource Group will
need to have a unique Network Name resource, but each instance that can run
on specific nodes must also be unique by instance name.
You'll have to decide if every node can host resources, configure a
round-robin solution, or an N x I solution. You will also want to consider
configuring a dedicated Resource Group, separate Disk, IP, and Network Name,
for the single MS DTC instance.
If you are running the IA-64 version of SQL Server, the installation is
completely different; so, you would need to do some additional research.
Sincerely,
Anthony Thomas

"Jeremey" <Jeremey@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EAA547F9-8295-40BA-A088-2571C7D97F94@.microsoft.com...
> Hi Anthony,
> It will actually be an Inactive node used for failover. All servers are
> Win2k3 Ent SP1 with the latest patches. We are not adding any new LUNs to
> the group just a new Node at which I will need to at least be able to
connect
> to the Quorum drive. I will try the suggestions you gave me. Also when I
go[vbcol=seagreen]
> to install SQL as a Failover will I need a dedicated Drive for the install
> that is part of the SAN?
> Thanks again for all your help, this is the first more than two node SQL
> cluster that I've ever worked on.
> Jeremey
> "Anthony Thomas" wrote:
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