Server Clustering

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Fergal1982, Mar 27, 2008.

  1. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    After a PSU failure on our server, we're considering some sort of clustering setup between two servers, to reduce the chances of it happening again.

    Server is an IIS server, running SQL Server 2005. That pretty much sums up the setup at present.

    I need to set two servers up so that they are live mirrors of each other, with (preferably automatic) failover processes so that if one fails, it switches over to the next one.

    I have no idea about how to go about doing this, so if anyone has links to good sites documenting what to do/how to do it, I would be greatful.
     
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  2. Phoenix
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    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    It's been a while since I set up any MCSC systems
    I'm not sure IIS is a cluster aware app, my understanding was IIS clusters were generally preferred in NLB farms

    again I am not sure on that, someone like Zeb may know a bit better

    the SQL is cluster aware, there are a lot of factors that come in to play though
    personally I would back the SQL server off to its own cluster, then have IIS as an NLB front end or something, thats how most web farms operate
    you can then scale the web front end easier


    this is probably a tad expensive and complex for your needs though, if IIS is cluster aware you could just cluster the system into a MSCS system but you will need shared storage for that as well (either direct attached or preferably SAN
     
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  3. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    Just found this site. Seems to think it can be done.

    Question: If I did this, and added a site to IIS on one machine, how does it handle mirroring it onto the second server? Is it handled automatically, or would I have to manually publish to both?

    Will the clustering keep both servers current as regards data, etc? I have application files that would need to be available to both.

    Also, someone mentioned that you need to use identical servers to do this, is that true? Is could we set up a vmware server on another machine and use it as a the second server inthe cluster?
     
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  4. neutralhills

    neutralhills Kilobyte Poster

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    This is generally done by having both systems store the site on a fault-tolerant external hard drive unit. That or you can use disk mirroring software that duplicates changes from the first system to the next.

    I used the former setup years ago and it works, but I've been out of that game for a while. It can be done, however. I did it using W2K Server.
     
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  5. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Perhaps migrate to a higher spec server with 2 PSUs?
     
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  6. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    it had them. fried them both - and its not the first time we've had one of these servers do this apparently.
     
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  7. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Weird,is the server on a UPS?
     
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  8. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    yeppers.
     
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  9. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Email alerting working ok? Might be an issue with the UPS which is damaging the server.
     
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  10. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    that server doesnt have any email alerting set up on it.
     
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  11. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Alerts are good :biggrin
     
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  12. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    Got any links for how to set it up, and what you can set up with it?
     
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  13. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Well you can do round robin DNS or you get get a hardware load balancer or CSS.

    http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPF-Cisco...ices-Switch-Load-balancing-device-CSS11503-AC

    Since this does not involve IIS being cluster aware you need to manually ensure the servers have identical config.

    You can use a NFS share or some other storage technology to minimise this.

    You won't get session replication either if you don't configure IIS.

    You could use the cluster services but this is not normally that great.

    http://forums.iis.net/t/1091387.aspx
    http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,1000000091,2124314-2,00.htm
     
  14. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    What kinda UPS is it? APC?
     
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  15. BrizoH

    BrizoH Byte Poster

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    If you don't have the hardware for a proper clustering solution it might be worth looking at this

    We use it for SQL replication/failover but I understand it can also be used for IIS - it does the job and is a lot cheaper than alternatives like XOSoft etc
     
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