- The document discusses the basics of Windows clustering and quorum models. It defines what clustering is and why it is used for high availability of critical applications. - It covers the differences between Windows 2008 and 2012 clustering capabilities. Windows 2012 supports more nodes, built-in iSCSI, and file/storage services. - Common clustering terms are defined like active/passive, heartbeat network, shared disks, quorum, cluster resources, and groups. - Quorum configuration options are reviewed including typical settings, adding witnesses, and advanced configurations. Quorum helps ensure only one cluster remains active if communication is lost.

1. © 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or
other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must
respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided
after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION
Presented by Yogesh Arora
SQL Community Session –
Delhi NCR
Basics of windows Clustering & Quorum Models

2. 1. Basics of windows Clustering
2. Quorum Models
Welcome.
Microsoft Services
helps businesses
around the world
maximize their return
on investment in
Microsoft products
and technologies.
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3. Basics of
windows
Clustering
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 The word Cluster itself is self-descriptive—a bunch
or group. When two or more than two computers
are connected to each other by means of a network
and share some of the common resources to
provide redundancy or performance improvement,
they are known as a cluster of computers
 Clustering is usually deployed when there is a
critical business application running that needs to
be available 24 X 7 or in terminology—High
Availability.
 MS Windows server Standard, Enterprise and
Datacentre edition supports failover clustering
 SQL Server Clustering is built on top of Windows
Clustering, which means before we go about
installing SQL Server clustering, we should have
Windows clustering installed

4. Differences
between
Windows 2008
and 2012
cluster
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Windows 2008 Windows 2012
maximum Limit 32 nodes maximum limit of 64 nodes
per cluster
No Cluster Aware updation
No Geo Clusters
No File and storage Services
You need to have Star wind
or SCSI interface for Shared
disks
Inbuilt ISCSI Interface
Mo

5. Clustering
Common
Terms
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 Active/Passive Cluster
 Active/Active Cluster
 Public Network:
 Private Network aka Heartbeat
 Shared Disk Array
 Quorum
 Cluster Name:
 Cluster IP
 Cluster Resource Type
 Cluster Account
 Cluster Group
 Cluster Name for Virtual SQL Server
 IP for Virtual SQL Server

6. Quorum
Configuration
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 It helps ensure that the failover
cluster can start properly or
continue running when the active
cluster membership changes.
 Configuring a witness vote helps
the cluster sustain one extra node
down in certain configurations.
 Cluster quorum configuration
helps ensure that only one of the
subsets continues running as a
cluster in case a subset cannot
communicate with another subset

7. Overview of
the quorum
configuration
options
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 Use typical Settings
 Add or change the
quorum Witness
 Advanced quorum
Configuration and witness
selection

8. Overview of
the quorum
configuration
options
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Impact of data distribution

9. Add or
remove
Quorum
witness
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10. Overview of
the advanced
quorum
configuration
options
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Sort

11. FAQ’s
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Question: What will happen
to the data that is being
accessed?
Question: What about clients
that were connected
previously? Does the failover
mean that developers will
have to modify the
connection string?

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