Introduction The Failover Clustering module provides you with the instruction and server

hardware to develop your hands on skills in the defined topics. This module includes

the following exercises:

Configuring Windows Clustering

Installing a SQL Server Failover Cluster

Implementing the AlwaysOn Feature

Lab Diagram

During your session you will have access to the following lab configuration.

Connecting to your lab

In this module you will be working on the following equipment to carry out the steps

defined in each exercise.

PLABDC01 (Windows Server 2008 - Domain Controller)

PLABDC01(Domain Controller)192.168.0.1 /24

PLABCLUS01

(Cluster Server (1))192.168.0.2 /24

PLABSTORAGE

PLABCLUS02

(Cluster Server (2))192.168.0.3 /24

PLABCLUS01 (Windows Server 2008 - Cluster Server1)

PLABCLUS02 (Windows Server 2008 - Cluster Server (2))

PLABSTORAGE (Shared Storage)

Each exercise will detail which console you are required to work on to carry out the

steps.

To start simply click on the named Server from the device list (located on the left

hand side of the screen) and click the Power on from the in tools bar. In some cases

the devices may power on automatically.

During the boot up process an activity indicator will be displayed in the name tab:

Black - Powered Off

Orange - Working on your request

Green - Ready to access

If the remote console is not displayed automatically in the main window (or

popup) click the Connect icon located in the tools bar to start your session.

If the remote console does not appear please try the following option:

Switch between the HTML 5 and Java client versions in the tools bar.

In the event this does not resolve your connectivity problems please visit our Help /

Support pages for additional resolution options.

Copyright Notice

This document and its content is copyright of Practice-IT - © Practice-IT 2014. All rights reserved. Any

redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the

following:

1) You may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use

only.

2) You may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you

acknowledge the website as the source of the material. You may not, except with our express written

permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any

other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

Exercise 1 - Configuring Windows

Clustering In this module, you will perform the tasks required to configure a Microsoft SQL

Server 2012 cluster.

To get a better understanding of this technology, please refer to your course material

or use your preferred search engine to research this topic in more detail.

Task 1 – Create a Reverse Lookup Zone in DNS

server

Servers that form part of a Failover Cluster must be able to resolve their numeric IP

addresses to Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs). In this task, you will create a

reverse lookup zone and then verify that PLABCLUS01 and PLABCLUS02 will be able

to resolve their respective IP addresses to FQDNs.

To create a reverse look up zone, follow these steps:

Step 1

Ensure you have powered on the required devices mentioned in the Introduction of

this exercise.

Connect to PLABDC01.

Click Start, then go to Administrative Tools and select DNS.

Step 2

On DNS Manager window, expand PLABDC01 server then expand Reverse Lookup

Zones node.

Right-click on Reverse Lookup Zones and select New Zone…

Step 3

On the Welcome to the New Zone Wizard page, click Next.

Step 4

On the Zone Type page, ensure that Primary Zone option is selected.

Keep the other default selection and click Next.

Step 5

On the Active Directory Zone Replication Scope page, keep the default setting and

click Next.

Step 6

On the Reverse Lookup Zone Name page, verify that IPv4 Reverse Lookup Zone

option, click Next.

Step 7

On the Reverse Lookup Zone Name page, select Network ID option.

In the provided text box, type:

192.168.0.

Click Next.

Step 8

On the Dynamic Update page, keep the default selections and click Next.

Step 9

On the Completing the New Zone Wizard page, click Finish.

Step 10

Back on the DNS Manager window, click on Reverse Lookup Zone folder.

You will notice the 0.168.192.in-addr.arpa folder is the new zone.

Keep DNS Manager window open.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 2 – Create PTR records for the servers

In this task, you will configure PLABCLUS01 and PLABCLUS02 to register their pointer

(PTR) records in DNS server.

To create the PTR records for the two servers, follow these steps:

Step 1

On PLABDC01, while DNS Manager is open, expand Forward Lookup Zones then

click on PRACTICELABS.COM.

From the right details pane, right-click on PLABCLUS01 then select Properties.

Step 2

On the PLABCLUS01 Properties dialog box, select Update associated pointer

(PTR) record check box.

Click OK.

Step 3

Next, right-click on PLABCLUS02 and select Properties.

Step 4

On the PLABCLUS02 Properties dialog box, if the Update associated pointer (PTR)

record check box is selected, clear the check box.

Click Apply.

Select Update associated pointer (PTR) record check box again.

Click OK.

Note: By doing the action above, this force a refresh on the PTR record of

PLABCLUS02 server.

Step 5

Back on the DNS Manager, click on 0.168.192.in-addr.arpa folder.

Press F5 to refresh the display.

Notice that you have pointer (PTR) records for each server.

Close DNS Manager.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 3 – Verify Name resolution

To verify that PLABCLUS01 and PLABCLUS02 can resolve their IP addresses to FQDNs,

follow these steps:

Step 1

Connect to PLABCLUS01 device, click Start and in Search programs and files box,

type:

Cmd

Press Enter.

Step 2

From the command prompt, type:

Ping –a 192.168.0.3

Press Enter.

Notice that the IP address was successfully resolved to its FQDN.

Close the Command Prompt window.

Step 3

Connect to PLABCLUS02 server.

Like in the previous step, open a command prompt.

Then type:

Ping –a 192.168.0.2

Press Enter.

Notice that the IP address was successfully resolved to its FQDN.

Close the Command Prompt window.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 4 - Configuring Shared Disks

One of the pre-requisites for a cluster to function is that all the servers in that cluster

should be able to access the same shared disk.

Step 1

Switch to PLABCLUS01 server.

Click Server Manager icon on taskbar.

Step 2

The Server Manager application opens.

Select and expand Storage in the left pane.

Select Disk Management.

Step 3

There are a number of disks available for use, for this exercise we will configure:

Disk 2 – Quorum

Right-click Disk 2 and select Online.

Note: At certain occasions, Disk 2 can appear as Shared Data and Disk 3 as

Quorum. If this happens, continue working with the lab. What’s important is that

the disks are functional and can be used by Failover Clustering in a later exercise.

Step 4

Then, right-click the partition of Disk 2 and select Format.

Step 5

The Format dialog box is displayed.

Use the following Parameters:

Volume Name: QUORUM

File System: NTFS

Allocation Unit Size: Default

Enabled: Perform Quick Format

Click OK.

Step 6

Click OK and acknowledge the warning message to format the volume.

Step 7

Disk 2 – Quorum E is now available as indicated by the Healthy status.

Right-click on Disk 3 and select Online.

Step 8

Right-click on Disk 3 partition and select Format…

Step 9

On the Format dialog box, use the following parameters for formatting:

Volume Name: Shared Data

File System: NTFS

Allocation Unit Size: Default

Enabled: Perform Quick Format

Click OK.

Step 10

Click OK to proceed with the formatting.

Step 11

When Disk 2 – Quorum E and Disk 3 – Shared Data F have the Healthy status

displayed, you have finished preparing the disk storage requirement for Failover

Clustering.

Keep Server Manager Application window open for the next task.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 5 – Install Windows Failover Clustering

After preparing the disk storage that will be used by Failover Clustering, you will now

install this feature.

To install Windows Failover Clustering, follow these steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01 server, while Server Manager is open, click Features node in the

left pane.

In the right pane, click Add Features.

Step 2

The Add Feature Wizard is displayed.

Select Failover Clustering check box and click Next.

Step 3

On the Confirm Installation Selections screen, click Install to complete the

installation of the feature.

Step 4

Please wait while Failover Clustering is being installed.

Step 5

Click Close after the Failover Clustering feature is installed.

Step 6

You are back on the Server Manager console.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 6 – Validate Cluster Configuration

To validate the cluster configuration, follow these steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01, while Server Manager is open, expand Features and select

Failover Cluster Manager.

Step 2

In the middle pane, click Validate a Configuration.

Step 3

This will launch the Validate a Configuration Wizard.

On the Before you begin page, click Next.

Step 4

On the Select Servers or a Cluster screen, enter plabclus01 in the Enter name

textbox and click Add.

There will be a momentary pause while the machine is being added.

Step 5

Notice that plabclus01.practicelabs.com is now added to the Selected servers

section.

Click Next.

Step 6

On the Testing Options screen, Run all tests (recommended) is selected by

default.

Click Next.

Step 7

On the Confirmation page, click Next.

Step 8

Please wait while Validate a Configuration Wizard runs.

This will take a few moments to finish.

Step 9

Once the test is complete you can review the results from the View Report…

Step 10

The Failover Cluster Validation Report opens.

Read through the presented information about this validation report.

Then close this web page.

Step 11

Back on the Summary page of Validate a Configuration Wizard, click Finish.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 7 – Create a new cluster

To create a new cluster on PLABCLUS01, perform the following steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01 server, you are back on the Failover Cluster Manager node, go to

the middle pane, click Create a Cluster.

Step 2

The Create Cluster Wizard is displayed

On the Before you begin page, click Next.

Step 3

On the Select Servers screen, enter plabclus01 in the Enter server name textbox

and click Add.

Step 4

On the Selected servers section, notice that plabclus01.practicelabs.com is added.

Click Next.

Step 5

On the Access Point for Administering the Cluster page, enter PLABCLUSTER in

the Cluster name text box.

Click under the Address column, enter 5 in the last octet field

Click Next.

Step 6

On the Confirmation page, click Next.

Step 7

The Creating New Cluster screen is displayed.

The cluster configuration will now be created, please wait.

Step 8

On the Summary screen, click View Report…

Step 9

A web page opens indicating the details of this Create Cluster procedure.

You can click on the different links provided by the report.

Close this web page when done.

Step 10

Back on the Summary page, click Finish.

Step 11

You will be redirected back to Failover Cluster Manager node.

Keep this window open for the next task.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 8 – Configure Failover Cluster Disk

To add a failover cluster disk, perform the following steps:

Step 1

Expand PLABCLUSTER.PRACTICELABS.COM in the left pane and select Storage

Right-click on Storage node and select Add a disk

Step 2

The Add Disks to a Cluster dialog box is displayed.

Note that both the disks are selected by default.

Click OK to add both the disks.

Step 3

Please wait while the disks are being added.

Step 4

On the Please confirm action dialog box is displayed.

If you get an error message just click Yes.

Step 5

Close the web page that indicates an error on adding the disks.

Step 6

Back on the Failover Cluster Manager node of Server Manager.

Close all applications.

Step 7

You need to restart PLACLUS01 server to initialize the disk storage in the Failover

Cluster.

Click Start and in the Search programs and files box, type shutdown /r /t 0

Press Enter.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 9 – Verify Availability of disk storage in

the cluster

To verify the disk storage, perform the following steps:

Step 1

On your computer, go to the Practice Labs web application.

Reconnect to PLABCLUS01 after 1 minute.

Step 2

On PLABCLUS01, click Start go to Administrative Tools and select Failover Cluster

Manager.

Step 3

On Failover Cluster Manager window, click on Storage node.

Verify that all disks have the Online status.

Close Failover Cluster Manager window.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 10 – Install Failover Clustering on

secondary node

To install Failover Clustering on PLABCLUS02, follow these steps:

Step 1

Connect to PLABCLUS02 server.

Click Server Manager icon on the taskbar.

Step 2

On Server Manager, click on Features node.

From the right pane, click Add Features.

Step 3

On the Select Features page, click Failover Clustering check box.

Click Next.

Step 4

On the Confirm Installation Selections page, click Install.

Step 5

Please wait while Failover Clustering is being installed.

Step 6

On the Installation Results page, click Close.

Step 7

Close Server Manager window.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 11 - Adding Server to a Cluster

To add PLABCLUS02 into the cluster configuration, perform the following steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS02 device, click Start and go to Administrative Tools then select

Failover Cluster Manager.

Step 2

The Failover Cluster Manager opens.

In the middle pane, click Manage a Cluster.

Step 3

The Select a cluster to manage dialog box, enter PLABCLUSTER in the Cluster

name text box.

Click OK.

Step 4

In the left pane, expand PLABCLUSTER and right-click the Nodes folder and select

Add Node.

Step 5

The Add Node Wizard is displayed.

On the Before you begin page, click Next.

Step 6

On the Select Servers page, click in the Enter server name textbox, enter

plabclus02

Click Add.

Step 7

When plabclus02.practicelabs.com is in the Selected servers box, click Next.

Step 8

On the Validation Warning page, select No, I do not require support from

Microsoft…

Click Next.

Step 9

On the Confirmation page, click Next.

Step 10

The Configure the Cluster screen is displayed.

Please wait while this node is being added into the cluster.

Step 11

On the Summary page, click Finish to complete the operation.

Step 12

You are back on the Failover Cluster Manager window.

Select Nodes in the left pane.

Note that both the nodes are online and ready to be configured with relevant cluster

configuration.

Step 13

Click the Storage in the left pane.

You will notice the clustered disk between the nodes.

Close Failover Cluster Manager window.

Leave the devices you have powered on in their current state and proceed to the

next exercise.

Exercise 2 - Installing a SQL Server

Failover Cluster To install the SQL Server Failover Cluster, you will need to first install it on one of

the cluster nodes. In this exercise, you will perform the installation on

PLABDCLUS01.

Task 1 – Prepare SQL Server cluster on

PLABCLUS01 server

To prepare SQL Server in failover cluster configuration, follow these steps:

Step 1

Switch to PLABCLUS01 device.

Open Windows Explorer.

Expand Computer node and run setup from DVD Drive (D:).

Step 2

The SQL Server Installation Center window is displayed.

Click Advanced.

Step 3

Note that the right pane displays the Advanced specific content.

Click Advanced Cluster Preparation.

Step 4

The SQL Server 2012 dialog box is displayed.

This dialog box automatically closes.

Step 5

The SQL Server 2012 Setup dialog box is displayed.

Click OK on the Setup Support Rules when the operation is completed.

Step 6

The SQL Server 2012 dialog box is displayed. This dialog box automatically closes.

On the Product Key screen, note that the product key is pre-entered.

Click Next.

Step 7

On the License Terms screen, select I accept the license terms check box and click

Next.

Step 8

On the Product Updates screen, keep the default selections and click Next.

Step 9

The Install Setup Files screen is displayed.

After the installation process is completed, this dialog box will automatically close.

Step 10

The SQL Server 2012 dialog box is displayed once again. It will automatically close.

Step 11

The Prepare a SQL Server Failover Cluster dialog box is displayed.

On the Setup Support Rules screen has completed, click Next.

Step 12

On the Feature Selection screen, select Database Engine Services.

Note that SQL Server Replication and Full-Text and Semantic Extractions for

Search, Data Quality Services are automatically selected.

Also, select Analysis Services and Reporting Services – Native.

Step 13

In the Shared Features section, select SQL Server Data Tools, Integration Services,

and Management Tools – Basic check boxes.

Click Next.

Step 14

The Please wait message is displayed for a short while.

Step 15

You are then redirected to the Prepare Failover Cluster Rules screen.

Note that the installation has passed both the rules.

Click Next.

Step 16

The Instance Configuration screen is displayed.

Keep the default configuration and click Next.

Step 17

The Please wait message is displayed for a short while.

The Disk Space Requirements summary page is displayed.

Click Next.

Step 18

The Server Configuration screen is displayed. You will need to set the account name

and password

Use the Account name: practicelabs\administrator

Password is Passw0rd

For these SQL Server services:

SQL Server Agent

SQL Server Database Engine

SQL Server Analysis Services

Click Next.

Step 19

On the Reporting Services Configuration screen.

Install only is selected. Click Next.

Step 20

On the Error Reporting screen, keep the default selections and click Next.

Step 21

On the Prepare Failover Cluster Rules screen, when the progress bar reached the

end, click Next.

Step 22

The Ready to Install screen is displayed.

Click Install.

Step 23

The Installation Progress screen is displayed.

Note that the installation process takes a while to complete, so please wait.

Step 24

After the installation is complete, you are redirected to the Complete screen.

Note that Computer restart required dialog box is displayed.

Click OK.

Step 25

The SQL Server 2012 dialog box is displayed. It will automatically close.

Step 26

Click Close on the Complete screen.

Step 27

Click Start and in the Search programs and files box, type:

Shutdown /r /t 0

Press Enter.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 2 – Prepare SQL Server cluster on

PLABCLUS02 server

Following the same steps in Task 1 – Prepare SQL Server, switch to PLABCLUS02 to

prepare it for SQL Server cluster.

Step 1

On the PLABCLUS02 server, refer to Task 1 and follow the steps to prepare SQL

Server for a clustered configuration.

Step 2

Ensure that the installation completes successfully before you proceed to the next

task.

Step 3

Restart PLABCLUS02 server.

Click Start and in the Search programs and files box, type:

Shutdown /r /t 0

Press Enter.

Wait for PLABCLUS02 to complete its restart before working on the next task.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 3 – Run Advanced Cluster Completion on

PLABCLUS01 server

To run the SQL Advanced Cluster Completion, follow these steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01 server, open Windows Explorer and run setup from DVD Drive

(D:).

Note: You must run the Advanced Cluster Completion Wizard only ONCE. This

wizard will prepare all nodes for the cluster.

After preparing each node for cluster, you need to now complete the cluster

configuration.

The SQL Server Installation Center window is displayed.

Click Advanced in the left pane. Note that the right pane displays the Advanced

specific content.

Click Advanced Cluster Completion.

Step 2

The Setup Support Rules screen is displayed.

Click OK when progress check is completed.

Step 3

The SQL Server 2012 dialog box appears for a short while.

The Install Setup Files dialog box appears briefly.

On the Setup Support Rules screen, click Next.

In the following screen shot, there is a failed status on MSCS cluster verification

errors.

Click Cancel.

Step 4

Click Yes to exit the SQL Server 2012 Setup dialog box.

Step 5

Close the SQL Server Installation Center window.

Step 6On Windows Explorer, navigate to

c:\Windows\Cluster\Reports folder.

Locate Validation Date for Node Set xxxx.. file and delete this file.

Note: There is an issue about SQL Server 2012 when creating a failover cluster

using the validation wizard. In this step, you deleted the Validation Date for

Node Set xxxx to allow SQL Server 2012 start over with the validation process.

Keep Windows Explorer open for the next task.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 4 – Re-run SQL Server setup using the

command-line

To re-run the SQL Server setup and prepare SQL Server for failover cluster, follow

these steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01 device, while Windows Explorer is open, click on DVD Drive D.

Click in the address bar and type:

Cmd

Press Enter.

Step 2

Notice that on the command line, you are in the DVD Drive path.

To setup SQL Server, type:

Setup /SkipRules=Cluster_VerifyForErrors

/Action=InstallFailoverCluster

Press Enter.

Step 3

Please wait while setup runs

Step 4

On the Setup Support Rules page, when the operation is completed, click OK.

Step 5

SQL Server 2012 Setup then continues, checking for updates.

Step 6

On the Product Updates page, click Next.

Step 7

On the Install Setup Files page, please wait while the process is running.

Step 8

Please wait while the Setup Support Rules runs.

When the Setup Support Rules has completed, verify that no errors are reported.

You can ignore the Warning message icons.

Click Next.

Step 9

On the Product Key page, accept the supplied license key and click Next.

Step 10

On the License Terms page, select I accept the license terms check box.

Click Next.

Step 11

On the Setup Role page, keep the default selections and click Next.

Step 12

On the Feature selection page, select the following:

Database Engine Services. This will auto select SQL Server Replication, Full-Text

and Semantic Extractions for Search and Data Quality Services check boxes

Analysis Services

Data Quality Services

Notice that SQL Server Data Tools, Integration Services and Management Tools-

Basic are auto selected, because of an earlier you performed earlier.

Click Next.

Step 13

On the Feature Rules page, when the progress bar has completed, click Next.

Step 14

On the Instance Configuration page, in the SQL Server Network Name box, type:

PLABSQL

Select Named instance and type:

MSSQLSERVER2

Please note that you cannot use MSSQLSERVER database instance, because of the

failed installation of SQL Server in a clustered configuration that occurred in an

earlier task. Therefore, you have to create a new database instance.

Click Next.

Step 15

On the Disk Space Requirements page, click Next.

Step 16

On the Cluster Resource Group page, accept the default specifications and click

Next.

Step 17

On the Cluster Disk Selection page, notice that Cluster Disk 2 is automatically

selected.

Click Next.

Step 18

On the Cluster Network Configuration page, select IPv4 check box.

Click in the Address column and type:

192.168.0.6

Please note that you cannot use 192.168.0.5 as this IPv4 address is used for

managing the Windows Failover Cluster servers. You need to set aside a new IPv4

address for the SQL Server Failover Cluster.

Click Next.

Step 19

On Server Configuration page, use the following account name and password:

Practicelabs\administrator

Passw0rd

For the following services:

SQL Server Agent

SQL Server Database Engine

SQL Server Analysis Services

Click Next.

Step 20

Please wait while the account is being configured for use by the SQL Server services.

Step 21

On the Database Engine Configuration page, click Add Current User.

Step 22

When the user account is added, click Next.

Please wait while Database Engine Configuration is being setup.

Step 23

On the Analysis Services Configuration page, click Add Current User.

Step 24

When the user account is added in the Analysis Services Configuration, click Next.

Step 25

On the Reporting Services Configuration page, keep the default settings and click

Next.

Step 26

On the Error Reporting page, click Next.

Step 27

On the Cluster Installation Rules page, when the progress bar has completed with

no errors, click Next.

Step 28

On the Ready to Install page, read through the summary of what is about to be

installed.

Click Install.

Step 29

Please wait while the Installation Progress is busy installing the SQL Server Failover

Cluster.

This process will take a number of minutes to finish.

Step 30

On the Complete page, notice that all Features were successfully installed.

Click Close.

Step 31

Notice the message indicating that a cluster log has been successfully generated on

node PLABCLUS01.

Close the command prompt window and the Windows Explorer.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 5 – Manage SQL Server application in

Failover Cluster Manager

To manage SQL Server Cluster, follow these steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01 server, click Start and select Failover Cluster Manager.

Step 2

On the Failover Cluster Manager window, expand

PLABCLUSTER.PRACTICELABS.COM > Services and Applications node.

Then click on SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2).

Notice on the SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2) details pane on the right, system

information about this database as a clustered resource.

Step 3

Right-click on SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2) and select Properties.

Step 4

On the SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2) Properties, select PLABCLUS01 and

plabclus02 check boxes.

Click Failover tab.

Step 5

On the Failover tab, go to the Failback section and select Allow failback option.

Click OK to save changes.

Close Failover Cluster Manager window.

Leave the devices you have powered on in their current state and proceed to the

next exercise.

Exercise 3 – Implementing the

AlwaysOn Feature In this exercise, you will perform the tasks required to configure AlwaysOn for

Microsoft SQL Server 2012.

To better understand this task, please refer to your course material or visit

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff878487.aspx to gain an understanding of

this topic.

Task 1 – Enable AlwaysOn

You can use AlwaysOn as an alternative solution to database mirroring. You need to

create availability groups, which can hold a primary and four secondary databases.

To be able to complete this task, ensure the following:

You have setup SQL clustering on Windows Cluster. To do this, you need to

perform the following exercise: Failover Clustering

All required patches are installed

You are not using a domain controller in the cluster setup

Step 1

You will need to first enable AlwaysOn Availability Groups. To do this, perform the

following steps:

From PLABCLUS01 server, click Start, select All Programs, select Microsoft SQL

Server 2012, select Configuration Tools, and then select SQL Server Configuration

Manager.

Step 2

The SQL Server Configuration Manager window is displayed.

Click on SQL Server Services node.

In the right pane, right-click SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2) and select Properties.

Step 3

The SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2) Properties dialog box is displayed.

Click AlwaysOn High Availability tab.

Step 4

On the AlwaysOn High Availability tab, note that PLABCLUSTER is mentioned in

the Windows failover cluster name field.

Select Enable AlwaysOn Availability Groups checkbox.

Click OK.

Step 5

Click OK to acknowledge that the service must be restarted before the changes to

the system become effective.

Step 6

Right-click SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER2) and select Restart.

Step 7

The SQL Server Configuration Manager dialog box is displayed.

Note that it will automatically close after the service has been restarted.

Step 8

Close SQL Server Configuration Manager.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 2 – Create a Sample Database for the High

Availability feature

To create a sample database that will be used for SQL Server High Availability

feature, follow these steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01, click Start then go to All Programs > SQL Server 2012 and select

SQL Server Management Studio.

Step 2

On the Connect to Server dialog box, verify that the Server type is set to Database

Engine and Server name field indicates PLABSQL\MSSQLSERVER2.

Click Connect.

Step 3

Expand Databases folder.

Then right-click Databases folder and select New Database…

Step 4

On the New Database dialog box, click in the Database name text box and type:

PlabWorks

Click OK.

Step 5

You are back in SQL Server Management Studio.

Keep this application open.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 3 – Backup PlabWorks database

As a pre-requisite in enabling PlabWorks database to be part of AlwaysOn High

Availability group, this database must be fully-backed up.

To back up PlabWorks database, follow these steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01, while the SQL Server Management Studio is open, right-click

PlabWorks database and select Tasks > Back up…

Step 2

On the Back Up Database – PlabWorks properties page, accept the default

specifications and click OK.

Step 3

Click OK when notified that the PlabWorks database backup was successful.

Step 4

Keep the SQL Server Management Studio open for the next task.

Keep all devices powered on in their current state and proceed to the next task.

Task 4 – Create and Manage the AlwaysOn

Availability Groups

To manage the AlwaysOn Availability Groups, follow these steps:

Step 1

On PLABCLUS01, while the SQL Server Management Studio is open, expand

AlwaysOn High Availability node and click Availability Groups.

Then right-click on Availability Groups node and select New Availability Group.

Step 2

On the New Availability Group dialog box, in the Availability group name, type:

PlabsHA

Under Database Name box, click Add.

Step 3

The Database Name box becomes active. Click in the box and type:

PlabWorks

Step 4

Under the Availability Replicas section, locate Failover Mode drop-down list and

change it to Manual.

Note: When you are configuring Availability Groups in the Failover cluster

instances, you can configure only manual failover.

Click OK.

Step 5

The new Availability Group named PlabsHA (Primary) appears under the

Availability Groups node in the left pane.

Shutdown all virtual machines used in this lab, by using the power functions located

in the Tools bar before proceeding to the next module.

Alternatively you can log out of the lab platform.

Summary In this exercise, you learnt about Microsoft SQL Server 2012:

Installing SQL Server Failover Clustering

Implementing AlwaysOn