SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup

This tutorial will guide you through how to create a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster. This tutorial follows on from the Microsoft Windows Cluster Setup Tutorials located by click here

SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup

1. Launch the Setup for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and we will be selecting System Configuration Checker.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
2. The SQL Server System Configuration Checker begins


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
3. The Configuration Checker is ran against the server and all test Passed. We have a healthy server to begin our SQL Cluster Setup. Click Ok.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
4. Click on Installation on the left hand side. We will be clicking on New SQL Server failover cluster installation.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
5. A few more checks are run against the server. All 7 test have passed successfully. Click Ok.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
6. Enter in the SQL Server Product Key or you can Specify a free edition and run the evaluation version. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
7. Select the license terms and click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
8. The wizard will now install the Setup Support Files. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
9. Setup support rules have been installed and completed successfully. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
10. Select the options that you would like to install. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
11. Specify a Network Name for the SQL Server Failover Cluster and whether you would like to use the Default Instance or a Named Instance. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
12. A Disk Space Summary is displayed. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
13. Specify a name for the SQL Server Cluster resource group name. In this example I will simply use the name SQL Cluster. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
14. In this step we will select the shared disks used for the SQL Server Cluster install and for the Volume Mount Point Base. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
15. Specify the static IP that will be used for the failover cluster.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
16. For Cluster Security Policy I will use the recommended service SIDs option. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
17. I have created an sqlservice Windows Active Directory account that I will be using for the SQL Server Agent and SQL Server Database Engine services. My sqlservice account is a Domain User and belongs to the Administrators group of the local SQL Servers. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
18. Click the Collation tab. Latin1_General_CI_AS is the default. Click Customize if you need to change it. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
19. Select the Authentication Mode you would like to use, Windows authentication mode or Mixed Mode.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
20. Under Specify SQL Server administrators, click Add and select a user that will have admin access to the SQL Management Console. In this tutorial I will simply add the Windows Domain Administrator account.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
21. Click Data Directories. I will change the directories to sit in the shared drives that we allocated in step 14. I: is the SQL Install Volume and V: is the Volume Mount Root Directory. Within V: I have created 2 mount points, Mount1 and Mount2. Mount1 will be used for the User Database Directory and Mount2 will be used for the User database log directory. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
22. If you would like to send Error Reports to Microsoft select this option or simply click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
23. Cluster rules are running to check for any installation errors of the Cluster once we proceed. Click Next.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
24. A Summary is displayed of your SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster setup. Click Install.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
25. The installation is now complete. Click Close.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
26. Open up Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio. Select the Server Cluster Name, Windows Authentication and click Connect. You will be connected into the SQL Server Cluster Resource.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
27. If we open up Failover Cluster Manager, we can see the Shared Disk Drives are all online, along with the SQL Cluster Resource.


Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster Setup
Disclaimer:
All the tutorials included on this site are performed in a lab environment to simulate a real world production scenario. As everything is done to provide the most accurate steps to date, we take no responsibility if you implement any of these steps in a production environment.