A/A or A/P

Hello:
I'm sort of new to clustering and some of these questions
popped into mind:
- From an administrative perspective, which of the two is
more easily manageable, Active/Active or Active/Passive?
- When would one want to use A/A or A/P (i.e. how to
evaluate key objectives to determine clustering type)
Thanks for your response.
Once you "get" clustering, A/A or A/P management is the same from a
clustering standpoint. From a SQL standpoint, A/A is more work, cause you
have another copy of SQL to manage.
It is not recommended to run A/A, most systems are not configured to handle
the double load upon failure.
Cheers,
Rod
MVP - Windows Server - Clustering
http://www.nw-america.com - Clustering
http://msmvps.com/clustering - Blog
"Rob" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2fc901c4a23c$d284ea00$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> Hello:
> I'm sort of new to clustering and some of these questions
> popped into mind:
> - From an administrative perspective, which of the two is
> more easily manageable, Active/Active or Active/Passive?
> - When would one want to use A/A or A/P (i.e. how to
> evaluate key objectives to determine clustering type)
> Thanks for your response.
|||Hi Rob,
A/P and A/A terminology does not really apply for SQL Server 2000. It was used for SQL 7.0 clustering.
* Single instance cluster: replaces an active/passive cluster. A single instance cluster means there is one SQL Server 2000 virtual server installed.
* Multiple instance cluster: replaces an active/active cluster. A multiple instance cluster is one in which there is more than one SQL Server 2000 virtual server installed. Because of the way the implementation of
clustering is different with SQL Server 2000, using the active/active terminology does not really apply. A multiple-instance cluster has up to four server nodes and supports up to 16 instances (1 default, 15 named or
16 named). Each SQL Server 2000 virtual server requires its own disk resources that cannot be used by other instances
I would recommend you to review Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Failover Clustering whitepaper to get a clear picture
Microsoft Whitepaper - SQL Server 2000 Failover Clustering
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../failclus.mspx
Although A/P and A/A are old terms, many still use it. For many, A/P means that there is just one instance of SQL Server 2000 running on the A node and nothing is running on P node. Many refer to A/A as first SQL
Server instance running on first A node and second SQL Server instance running on second A node. This way both nodes are being used. This is used very commonly by customers. The IMPORTANT thing is
that each node should have enough resources to host both the SQL Servers in case one node goes down. The above whitepaper has good scenarios and talks about how to configure the resources. A/P and
A/A terms work ok till two instances. With SQL 2K, we can have upto 16 instances on a two node cluster. I have seen customers having four instances of SQL Server on a two node cluster. what will this be called
now? So, its better to use that we have four instance SQL cluster on a two node windows MSCS. In case of a four instance SQL Cluster, each node should have enough resources to host all of them if one of the
nodes fails.
Additional Information:
===================
Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Clustering
http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb051001.asp
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Virtual Server: Things You Should Know
http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb032602.asp
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Virtual Server Basic Setup, Maintenance, and Service Pack http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb061002.asp
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Failover Clustering Disaster Recovery Procedures
http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb101802.asp
Troubleshooting SQL 2000 Virtual Server and Service Pack Setups for Failover Clustering
http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb020703.asp
INF: Installation Order for SQL 2000 Enterprise Edition
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=243218
SQL Server 2000 Virtual Server Setup Error: "The Drive Chosen for the Program Files Installation Path <C:>, Is Not a Valid Path on All the Nodes of the Cluster"
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279642
INF: Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server 2000 - Failover Clustering
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=260758
HTH,
Best Regards,
Uttam Parui
Microsoft Corporation
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Are you secure? For information about the Strategic Technology Protection Program and to order your FREE Security Tool Kit, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/security.
Microsoft highly recommends that users with Internet access update their Microsoft software to better protect against viruses and security vulnerabilities. The easiest way to do this is to visit the following websites:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
http://www.microsoft.com/security/guidance/default.mspx
|||We have A/A SQL 2000 Clusters...from an administrative standpoint, A/A is
more to manage...the same principles as A/P apply, you just have more
resources ( drives for ach instance, ip's for each instance, etc.) Setting up
back ups to get the clustered drives can be a bit messy...you have to be able
to authenticate to your back up server as both nodes from both sides...what
if one node owns both instances? We do it every day though...read all you
can, then make it happen.
"Uttam Parui[MS]" wrote:

> Hi Rob,
> A/P and A/A terminology does not really apply for SQL Server 2000. It was used for SQL 7.0 clustering.
> * Single instance cluster: replaces an active/passive cluster. A single instance cluster means there is one SQL Server 2000 virtual server installed.
> * Multiple instance cluster: replaces an active/active cluster. A multiple instance cluster is one in which there is more than one SQL Server 2000 virtual server installed. Because of the way the implementation of
> clustering is different with SQL Server 2000, using the active/active terminology does not really apply. A multiple-instance cluster has up to four server nodes and supports up to 16 instances (1 default, 15 named or
> 16 named). Each SQL Server 2000 virtual server requires its own disk resources that cannot be used by other instances
> I would recommend you to review Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Failover Clustering whitepaper to get a clear picture
> Microsoft Whitepaper - SQL Server 2000 Failover Clustering
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../failclus.mspx
> Although A/P and A/A are old terms, many still use it. For many, A/P means that there is just one instance of SQL Server 2000 running on the A node and nothing is running on P node. Many refer to A/A as first SQL
> Server instance running on first A node and second SQL Server instance running on second A node. This way both nodes are being used. This is used very commonly by customers. The IMPORTANT thing is
> that each node should have enough resources to host both the SQL Servers in case one node goes down. The above whitepaper has good scenarios and talks about how to configure the resources. A/P and
> A/A terms work ok till two instances. With SQL 2K, we can have upto 16 instances on a two node cluster. I have seen customers having four instances of SQL Server on a two node cluster. what will this be called
> now? So, its better to use that we have four instance SQL cluster on a two node windows MSCS. In case of a four instance SQL Cluster, each node should have enough resources to host all of them if one of the
> nodes fails.
> Additional Information:
> ===================
> Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Clustering
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb051001.asp
> Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Virtual Server: Things You Should Know
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb032602.asp
>
> Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Virtual Server Basic Setup, Maintenance, and Service Pack http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb061002.asp
> Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Failover Clustering Disaster Recovery Procedures
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb101802.asp
> Troubleshooting SQL 2000 Virtual Server and Service Pack Setups for Failover Clustering
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...lurb020703.asp
> INF: Installation Order for SQL 2000 Enterprise Edition
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=243218
> SQL Server 2000 Virtual Server Setup Error: "The Drive Chosen for the Program Files Installation Path <C:>, Is Not a Valid Path on All the Nodes of the Cluster"
> http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279642
> INF: Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server 2000 - Failover Clustering
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=260758
> HTH,
> Best Regards,
> Uttam Parui
> Microsoft Corporation
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> Are you secure? For information about the Strategic Technology Protection Program and to order your FREE Security Tool Kit, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/security.
> Microsoft highly recommends that users with Internet access update their Microsoft software to better protect against viruses and security vulnerabilities. The easiest way to do this is to visit the following websites:
> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
> http://www.microsoft.com/security/guidance/default.mspx
>
>