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The_falcon
Starting Member
5 Posts |
 Posted - 2010-08-26 : 02:38:08
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| Hi,I currently have a Windows2003 cluster running SQL2005. We are about to do a harware refresh and want to upgrade to SQL2008R2 to take advantage of some new features. To me it seems to be the perfect opportunity to run a Windows2008R2 cluster. I have built one in our test environment and am very happy with the result.Unfortunately, my bosses are quite risk averse and, while they are keen on SQL2008, want to build the new cluster on Windows2003, the same as we arlready have.So, after that long winded explanation, my question is, what advantages do I get running SQL2008 on a Windows2008 cluster vs Windows2003 Cluster?Has anyone run SQL 2008 on a Windows2003 cluster previously? Where there and issues?How can I convince my boss that we should be using Windows2008 clustering?Any advice (for or against) would be most appreciated.ThanksAndrew |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
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The_falcon
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 2010-08-26 : 19:07:32
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| Thanks Tara,I have built a Windows 2008 cluster in our test environment and, once I got used to the new interface, found it great to work with. The only difference between the test environment and what I will be building in Prod is the shared storage is iSCSI instead of SAN.I will continue to push for Windows 2008 and tell the boss that the SQL MVP advice is 2008.Thanks again for your response.Andrew |
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The_falcon
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 2010-08-26 : 19:33:59
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| Hi all,Spoke to the boss again. He is still nervous about running a mixed environment. We are running Windows 2003 on application severs, proxies, etc and he wants some compelling reasons to have a Windows 2008 cluster.I have done a lot of searching of the internet to find what the benifits are of moving to 2008 but most of what I have found is along the lines of AD, networking and security. Is there anything I can say to him along the lines of "This is why we NEED Windows 2008 for the SQL cluster"?I would REALLY appreciate any advice as we already have the hardware here ready to build, I just need to convince the boss.CheersAndrew |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
Posted - 2010-08-27 : 00:10:32
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| A huge reason for us is that Windows 2003 is not going to be supported for very much longer, whereas 2008 will. Do you really want to put something that is out of date on brand new hardware?I don't have any articles handy on why to use SQL Server on Windows 2008, all I can tell you is what we've experienced. There are far less patches and reboots required for 2008 than there are for 2003. Microsoft releases security patches monthly, so it's important to get these installed without delay. Unfortunately this means downtime to your database servers due to the reboot typically. But with Windows 2008, there are much fewer to do.Plus the performance benefits. I believe Microsoft said that there is a 10-15% performance improvement with SQL Server right out of the box, as compared to Windows 2003.Tara KizerMicrosoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Serverhttp://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/Subscribe to my blog |
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The_falcon
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 2010-08-31 : 22:13:03
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| Hi Tara,Thanks for all your advice. I have manged to convince the boss that we need to go Windows 2008.CheersAndrew |
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tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess
38200 Posts |
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kenchee
Starting Member
49 Posts |
Posted - 2010-09-01 : 02:36:01
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| Hi Andrew, I've got a SQL 2008 R2 3 node cluster running on Windows 2008 R2. Here are some things that you might want to look out for.1. KB977158 DNS updates may be incorrectly reported as failed when you use a third-party DNS Server application for DNS registration on a computer running Windows Server 2008 R22. KB978527 The Resource Hosting Subsystem (Rhs.exe) process stops unexpectedly when you start a cluster resource in Windows Server 2008 R2Hope this will prevent you from sleepless nights like it had for me.Ken |
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The_falcon
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 2010-09-02 : 02:39:23
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| Thanks Ken, I will look at thoe KB's. |
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SQL2008R2 on Windows2003R2 Cluster
Tara Kizer