SPSMEL 2012 - SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups for SharePoint 2010 / 2013
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This document discusses SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups which can be used to provide high availability and disaster recovery for SharePoint 2010/2013 farms. It covers what AlwaysOn is, the requirements to implement it, different design options, and how it improves upon previous SQL mirroring technologies. A sample multi-replica design is presented with synchronous and asynchronous copies across primary, DR, and read-only farms.
SPSMEL 2012 - SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups for SharePoint 2010 / 2013
- 1. Sponsors SharePoint Saturday Gold SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups for SharePoint 2010/2013 Silver Farms Bronze Michael Noel CCO
- 2. Michael Noel Great to be back in Beautiful Australia! SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 3. What we will cover SQL 2012 AlwaysOn • What is SQL 2012 AlwaysOn? – AlwaysOn Failover Clustering – AlwaysOn Availability Groups • Why AlwaysOn Availability Groups for SharePoint? • Requirements and Prerequisites • Step by Step guide to implementing AlwaysOn Availability Groups • Demonstration SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 4. SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Hype or Reality? • Two distinct technologies that share the same name • AlwaysOn Failover Clustering is a different thing! – A Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) uses traditional Shared Storage Clustering (one copy of data shared by multiple nodes) – Same marketing name, but completely different technology • AlwaysOn Availability Groups correspond to the new version of SQL Database Mirroring – High Availability and Disaster Recovery at the Data Tier SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 5. History of AlwaysOn Availability Groups Background and Predecessor Technologies • Original concept was log shipping in SQL 2000 – making a duplicate copy of your databases on another server • Mirroring itself introduced in SQL 2005 SP1, improved in SQL 2008 and SQL 2008 R2 • Works by keeping a mirror copy of a database or databases on up to four additional SQL instances. • AlwaysOn Availability Groups introduced with SQL 2012, added up to four mirror copies, and more • This is a huge change to data tier design for SharePoint SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 6. Comparison of AlwaysOn with other SQL HA Greatly Improved HA and DR Potential Potential High Availability and Disaster Recovery Automatic Readable Data Loss Recovery SQL Server Solution Failover Secondaries (RPO) Time (RTO) AlwaysOn Availability Group - synchronous-commit Zero Seconds Yes 0-2 AlwaysOn Availability Group - asynchronous-commit Seconds Minutes No 0-4 AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instance NA Seconds Yes NA -to-minutes Database Mirroring - High-safety (sync + witness) Zero Seconds Yes NA Database Mirroring - High-performance (async) Seconds Minutes No NA Log Shipping Minutes Minutes No Not during -to-hours a restore Backup, Copy, Restore Hours Hours No Not during -to-days a restore SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 7. AlwaysOn Availability Groups Design Options • Create up to four additional copies of each database on a different SQL node • Copies can be a mix of synchronous (exact copy) or asynchronous (works across low latency link, but only supports content DBs and Secure Store DB) • Create a synchronous copy when connectivity is 1Gb or greater and latency is no more than 10ms • Create asynchronous copies across WAN links, for Disaster Recovery or when architecting a read-only farm SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 8. AlwaysOn Availability Groups Read-only Farms • Unlike SQL Mirroring, AlwaysOn Availability Groups allow for read-only access to the content on a remote SQL instance • Allows for the DR copy of the data to be used as part of a view-only SharePoint farm in a remote location • Requires a separate SharePoint farm from the production read/write farm SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 9. Design Options for SQL 2012 Sample Design • Two AGs • Content AG with four replicas – Synch and Asynch • Service App/Farm DBs on separate AG, Synch copies only • Read-only farm in remote office attached to content DB copy • DR farm in remote DC on standby to connect to content DB copy SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 10. AlwaysOn Availability Groups for SharePoint Improving Data Tier High Availability and Disaster Recovery • Completely changes the design options for the data tier • Allows for ‘Exchange Server’ like multi-copy database server failover on multiple replicas at the same time • The equivalent of running a constant backup of your databases • Can be used to create HA/DR copies of your SharePoint databases • SharePoint no longer needs to be ‘aware’ of the mirrored copy (in fact, it won’t failover if you configure it manually in SPCA.) SharePoint connects to the listener (Client Access Point) which is clustered • SharePoint 2010 Service Pack 1 supports SQL 2012 fully CAVEAT: Be sure to understand that synchronous mirroring copies need to be in close proximity and have very good bandwidth, as data needs to be written into all replicas before the transaction is committed. SharePoint will lock up if there are any interruptions at the data tier. SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 11. AlwaysOn Availability Groups Version Requirements • Windows Server 2008 R2 (w SP1 ideally, as patches are required) – Enterprise Edition – One per node – Can use Virtualization licensing options – Should also work on Windows 8 Server • SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition – MS has moved away from per-socket licenses. Licenses are now 1/4th the cost, but are now per each core. – Legacy licenses of SQL 2008/2005 Enterprise are ‘grandfathered in’ if you have upgrade assurance SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 12. AlwaysOn Availability Groups Prerequisites and Requirements – Windows OS • Cannot be installed on a Domain Controller • Must be either x86 (non-WOW64) or x64 Windows Server 2008 or later versions. • Must be a node in a Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) cluster. • Ensure that WSFC cluster contains sufficient nodes to support your availability group configurations. • Ensure that all applicable Window hotfixes have been installed on every node in the WSFC cluster, OS patches required for SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups include the following: – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976097 (Asymmetric Storage) – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2494036 (Node Weight Fix) – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2531907 (SCSI Device Test Failure) – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2616514 (Unneded Reg Key Change Notifications) – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2654347 (Net 35 Always On Features) – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980915 (IPSecConnection Delay) - Not needed if you aren’t using IPSec – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2578113 (IPv6 Long Failover) - Not needed if you aren’t using IPv6 – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2582281 (Slow Failover with No Router) – Not needed in most scenarios, review to determine if it applies to you SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 13. AlwaysOn Availability Groups Prerequisites and Requirements – SQL Server • If you plan to use a SQL Server failover cluster instance (FCI) to host an availability replica, ensure that you understand the FCI restrictions and that the FCI requirements are met (Manual config required) • All the server instances that host availability replicas for an availability group must use the same SQL Server collation. • If any databases that use FILESTREAM will be added to an availability group, ensure that FILESTREAM is enabled on every server instance that will host an availability replica for the availability group. SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 14. Creating AlwaysOn Availability Groups Step 1: Create Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) • Install Windows Server 2008 R2 w/SP1 on multiple nodes • Patch with Critical, Security, and the specific OS patches listed in previous slide • Enable the Failover Cluster Feature on each node • Use the Failover Cluster Manager Wizard to create a cluster. • Name the cluster a unique name that will be separate from the instance name that will be used for SharePoint SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 15. Creating AlwaysOn Availability Groups Step 2: Prepare Nodes • Install .NET Services 3.5 Feature on each SQL node • Install SQL 2012 Enterprise Edition Database Services (Also recommend adding SQL Management Tools – Complete) • Ensure proper Windows Firewall ports are open • Service Account for SQL – Use the same service account for all nodes – Don’t use Network Service – If using Kerberos, make sure all SQL names have SPNs associated with the service account • Make sure databases are set to FULL recovery mode • Ensure that the file paths and drive letters are consistent throughout all instances (ideally, or config will have to be manual) • Copy or Create SharePoint databases on Primary node only (use SQL Alias to change name later) • Perform a full backup of your SharePoint databases • Create a file share location that is accessible by all nodes that will be used for the shared backups (i.e. SQL1Backups) SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 16. Creating AlwaysOn Availability Groups Step 2: Enable AlwaysOn on each SQL Node • Enable AlwaysOn High Availability in SQL Server Configuration Manager • Repeat on Each Node • Restart SQL Services SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 17. Creating AlwaysOn Availability Groups Step 3: Create the Availability Group • Ideally use the New Availability Group Wizard, it automates the process SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 18. Creating AlwaysOn Availability Groups Step 3: Create the Availability Group – Continued… • Be sure to have a shared network location for the backup files (Created in earlier step) • Depending on size of databases, this could take a while • Backups can also be pre-staged (Join Only) SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 19. Creating AlwaysOn Availability Groups Step 3: Create the Availability Group – Continued… • Validation should show all green, except warning for Listener • The listener (‘SQL’ in this example) will be created later, and is required for SharePoint to connect to SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 20. Creating AlwaysOn Availability Groups Step 4: Create the Availability Group Listener • After the wizard completes, manually create the Availability Group Listener • This is the shared name that SharePoint will connect to and will provide failover (Also called the ‘Client Access Point’) • Modify the DNS record for this listener to have a low TTL (60 seconds or less) for cross- subnet failover scenarios SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 21. DEMO SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 22. Session Summary • Throw away all previous data tier designs for SharePoint! • SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups are the preferred design option for High Availability and Disaster Recovery at the data tier • SQL 2012 is fully supported by SharePoint 2010 Service Pack 1 databases • Follow closely the guidelines, ensure data paths are the same, double-check security requirements SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012
- 23. SharePoint Saturday Sponsors Gold Thanks for listening! Remember to submit your feedback so Silver you can go into the raffle draw at the end of the day! And don’t forget that Bronze you have to be at the draw to claim your prizes!
- 24. Michael Noel Twitter: @MichaelTNoel www.cco.com Slides: slideshare.net/michaeltnoel Travel Blog: http://sharingtheglobe.com SharePoint Saturday Melbourne 2012