Month: September 2013

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 12: Kerberos n SSL

So here we are, at the end of a somewhat long journey. Yes, this is the last installment in the SQL 2012 Failover cluster series. However, two very important settings are configured. The first is Kerberos, which is the preferred authentication protocol (vice NTLM). In fact, some software will break...

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 11: Jobs n More

The SQL 2012 failover cluster series is finally starting to wind down. While this is not the last installment, it's pretty darn close. In this session we configure some critical SQL maintenance checks and run a configuration check script to see how badly our SQL server is configured. A big...

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 10: Email & RAM

In this installment of the SQL 2012 failover cluster guide 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. Blog Series SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 1:...

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 9: 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. Current best practices is to create 1/4-1/2 the number of TempDB files that you have processor cores....

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 8: Firewall

I'm a big proponent of using the Windows firewall on all computers, be they clients or servers. It may not be perfect, but it's better than nothing. Layered defenses are key in the enterprise, so protecting each host may save your bacon some day. Many programs automatically add Windows firewall...

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 7: Node B SQL Install

Yes, we are finally at Part 7 of the SQL 2012 failover cluster install. Now that your first node is healthy, we can join the second node to the cluster. The installer process is fairly different, since it will detect your existing cluster and ask you far fewer questions. It...

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 4: Cluster Creation

This is part four of the SQL 2012 failover cluster installation series. In this installment we will create the Microsoft cluster and add the storage resources. If you are using two VM NICs then we will also tweak their configuration. While this process is fairly straight forward, it can be...

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 3: iSCSI Config

This is Part 3 of the SQL 2012 failover clustering series we will configure the required LUNs and iSCSI components, so that Windows Server 2012 can mount the shared LUNs. As I mentioned before, I'm choosing to do in-guest iSCSI for the shared LUNs vice RDMs. RDMs are acceptable as well, and...

VMware vSphere 5.5 now downloadable!

After teasing us last week with a vSphere 5.5 pull-down under My VMware Downloads, but no content, today we have content! You can now download the GA bits for vSphere 5.5. Seems a little odd to go GA on a Sunday, but hey, I'm not one to complain! My 20Mbps...

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 2: VM Deployment

SQL 2012 Failover Cluster Pt. 2: VM Deployment

First up in this series is deploying your two Windows Server 2012 VMs, which will be the SQL 2012 failover cluster 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 VM...