Please start any new threads on our new site at https://forums.sqlteam.com. We've got lots of great SQL Server experts to answer whatever question you can come up with.

 All Forums
 SQL Server 2005 Forums
 High Availability (2005)
 Aliases

Author  Topic 

jordanam
Yak Posting Veteran

62 Posts

Posted - 2008-02-04 : 11:10:16
On my 3-node all active cluster, I have three virtual instances, one on each physical machine.

I popped into Cliconfig on all three, and noticed that there is only 1 Alias across the three servers, and it is only on one node. Is this "correct"? Should I have aliases for each virtual instance? Does one server act as a host for all of the aliases?

Also, on every server, it says that all 4 protocols are disabled. If that were true, how am I connecting successfully?

-----------------------
Possibly related: http://www.sqlteam.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=96731

Not related at all. Also changed subject from Using Cliconfg to Aliases.

tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess

38200 Posts

Posted - 2008-02-04 : 15:52:51
The aliases are not important unless you are having issues with connectivity. We had to add aliases to all 4 of our nodes for all 11 SQL instances (so 44 aliases were added, 11 on each node) due to connectivity issues we were having. IIRC, the connectivity issue was with Database Mail.

One server does not act as a host for all of the aliases. All of the serves have their own registries, which is where aliases are stored.

Tara Kizer
Microsoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Server
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/
Go to Top of Page

jordanam
Yak Posting Veteran

62 Posts

Posted - 2008-02-04 : 16:00:43
IIRC? Can you elaborate a little on the database mail issue? http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?acronym=IIRC

Also, can you think of any reason why RDP access might be impacted by aliases? Or, if a server with an alias actually had an alias for a different server on it?
Go to Top of Page

tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess

38200 Posts

Posted - 2008-02-04 : 20:51:24
I wrote a blog on the Database Mail issue that we had:
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/archive/2007/02/20/60111.aspx

RDP doesn't use the SQL Server driver to connect, so aliases wouldn't be used. I don't understand your last question.

Tara Kizer
Microsoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Server
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/
Go to Top of Page

eyechart
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

3575 Posts

Posted - 2008-02-04 : 22:25:53
jordanam, are you having an actual problem?

to answer your questions:

1. you don't need aliases in place unless you are using them for a specific reason (see tara's blog). Aliases are local to the machine they are configured on, they are not global.

2. cliconfg is for configuring protocols/settings on client connections, not for server connections. you can look in the sql error log and see what protocols it is listening on. I too have seen no protocols listed in cliconfg on a server with no ill effects.

3. i don't understand your RDP question. RDP uses tcp port 3389 to communicate, it has nothing to do with sql connections or sql aliases.



-ec
Go to Top of Page

jordanam
Yak Posting Veteran

62 Posts

Posted - 2008-02-05 : 10:40:36
@Tara
The alias configuration makes sense, even though it almost seems silly. Microsoft's input seemed so general, it's kind of a wonder it got resolved so simply.

As for my last question, yes, it is confusing because it only makes a little sense.

@ec

Thanks for the responses. Cliconfg seems to just be a factor I was considering for the hell of it. As for RDP, I lost RDP access to one of the SQL servers in the cluster after a reboot. I have been working with our systems admin and network admins to figure out why, but we can't. The only changes I made were to a few DTC settings, local to the machine. I was shooting in the dark for anything that might sound familiar, and I was hoping Tara's blog would clear it up because she found that some registry setting somewhere was awry, causing general network miscommunication.

When I try to RDP to the server, I just get "The computer cannot connect to the remote computer" and nothing appears in the event log of either machine.
Go to Top of Page

eyechart
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

3575 Posts

Posted - 2008-02-05 : 11:51:26
rdp failing is a pretty common problem. I think there are several kb articles about how to troubleshoot that.


-ec
Go to Top of Page

jordanam
Yak Posting Veteran

62 Posts

Posted - 2008-02-05 : 12:40:15
I checked all the normal places. Looked for relevant kb articles. Nothing stuck out. I went to Windows Updates on the server, just to see if there was anything that may have been downloaded... sure enough, it was screaming for a reboot. Silly terminal services... (more silly dba)
Go to Top of Page
   

- Advertisement -