Month: September 2014

SQL 2014 Always-on AG Pt. 9: SQL Maintenance

In this blog installment we configure some critical SQL maintenance checks and run a configuration check script to see how well our SQL server is configured. A big shout out to Brent Ozar and Ola Hallengren for their outstanding SQL Server scripts and blog resources. These scripts are must-haves for all SQL...

SQL 2014 Always-on AG Pt. 8: Max Mem & Email

In this installment of the SQL 2014 Always-on Availability how-to we are configuring two very important parameters: SQL server max memory and email alert notifications. Both settings are often overlooked, yet are critical to a properly performing and healthy SQL server cluster. Even if you are using a tool like SCOM or...

SQL 2014 Always-on AG Pt. 7: TempDB

One of the most important aspects of SQL performance is TempDB. Applications can use TempDB as a scratch space, and in most cases you should not rely on just a single TempDB file. If the number of vCPUs is less than 8, then configure an equal number of TempDB files...

SQL 2014 Always-On Pt. 6: Cluster Config

 We've now come to the point where we need to install and configure the Windows cluster role. Even though SQL AAGs don't use shared disks like a traditional failover cluster, AAGs do rely on the Windows cluster service. We will also be implementing the Cluster Aware updating feature. This is...

SQL 2014 Always-On AG Pt. 5: Unattended Node B

In this fifth installment of the SQL 2015 AAG series, we do an unattended installation of Node B, using a modified INI file produced from our Node A installation. This streamlines the installation process, reduces human error, and makes your installation repeatable. This will probably be the shortest installment, since...

vCenter 5.5 U2 does not upport SQL AlwaysOn AGs afterall

VMware has just published a KB article (KB 2086946)  on using Microsoft failover clustering services to support high availability of vCenter 5.5 U2. My assumption for this support is the demise of the vCenter Heartbeat product. I appreciate VMware giving customers a new choice for vCenter high availability. Slightly buried...

SQL 2014 AlwaysOn AG Pt. 4: Node A Install

This is Part 4 of the SQL Always-on Availability Group installation, where we finally get to install the SQL Server database engine and related tools. This first SQL installation will be a fully manual process where we walk through the GUI to get SQL installed. For our second node we will use...

SQL 2014 Always-on AG Pt. 3: Service Accounts

This is Part 3 of the SQL 2014 Always-On Availability group series where we setup two service accounts and a security group. One account is for the database engine and the other is for the SQL agent. In order for Kerberos to work properly the database engine account must be Active Directory based. We will also...

vSphere 5.5 Update 2 Released

Hot off the digital presses is vSphere 5.5 Update 2. This is a minor update, but with some important supported database updates. It's great to see SQL Server 2014 now supported. I'm in fact surprised they supported SQL 2014 so fast, so kudos to VMware. Now if we can only...

SQL 2014 Always-on AG Pt. 2: VM Deployment

First up in this series is deploying your two Windows Server 2012 R2 VMs, which will be the SQL 2014 Always-On availability group nodes. I have a standard VM template that is built in a nearly fully automated manner with Microsoft MDT 2012 Update 1. If you are still making your...

SQL 2014 Always-On AG Pt. 1: Introduction

This series of posts will show you how to configure SQL 2014 on VMware vSphere 5.5 using SQL Always-On Availability Groups (AGs). Always-on Availability Groups is the 'next generation' in high availability technology that relies on application level data replication versus shared SCSI disks like traditional failover clustering. No more shared...