Server 2008 SQL Cluster and vSphere HA

[AaronKCollege]

I'm in the processing of looking at building a virtual SQL cluster on our vSphere 5 system.  The vSphere cluster is configured with DRS in partial automatic mode, and High Availablility is also turned on.  Reading through http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-50-mscs-gu... indicates that HA and DRS needs to be disabled for virtual cluster nodes.  It looks like our options are either creating a cluster in a box that would run on a single host (so we would lose hardware redundancy) or set up a cross host cluster using RDM's on the SAN.  However, a third option occured to us, and thought I'd throw it out here so see what people thought.

Create a cluster in a box setup, running on a host with virtual disks.  Configure the cluster as esentially Active/Passive.  Disabled DRS on both nodes.  Disable HA on the *passive* node, but leave it configured for the *active* node.  If the cluster is running on Host1, and Host1 goes down, then the active node would be subject to HA and be brought back up on Host2.  Seems like this would give us the best of both worlds....the more simple cluster in a box configuration (i.e. no need for RDM's or a physical private heartbeat network) plus hardware redundancy vi vSphere HA.

Thoughts?

[abirhasan]

Have a look followings thread..

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1872990

abirhasan 

[MartinAmaro]

Hmmm I could be wrong but the document you looked at indicates to enable HA and DRS and configure VM-Host affinity. Please see these other documents recommending the same.

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/solutions/SQL_Server_Availability_Guide_FINAL.pdf

http://www.vmug.nl/cms/images/stories/vmugevent2010/presentaties/vmugevent2010-exchangesql.pdf

PS. We also have a large virtual SQL cluster in vmware with HA\DRS and VM-Host affinity configured.

[AaronKCollege]

In that second document you linked, regarding SQL availability, on page 39, it says:  "This is a screenshot of a VMware vSphere cluster.  It should be noted

that Windows failover clustering is not supported in a vSphere cluster.  This means that DRS and VMotion will not function in that the VMs are engaged in bus sharing mode (sharing virtual disks between ESX servers). *Any servers hosting VMs that are using windows failover clusters should be removed from a HA/DRS cluster*".    That seems pretty direct to me.    Is your SQL cluster running in an actual VMWare cluster?

EDIT:  sorry, FIRST document.

[AaronKCollege]

I had a chance to go through the second document you linked and it too says, rather directly, that DRS and HA need to be disabled on any VM's participating in a Microsoft cluster.  It does not, however, go so far as to say that the host itself must be removed from the DRS/HA cluster.  I'm starting to lean towards adding some disks to the array, creating RDM luns, and then using them to do cross host clustering....

[AaronKCollege]

You know what?  I take it *ALL* back.  I have re-read the documentation I originally posted, and have discovered that all the references to removing HA and DRS are not in there.  And, just like you said, there is an entire section on setting up affinity rules for clustered virtual machines in a DRS/HA cluster.  I'm having a bit of a Matrix moment here.  I *think* I may have originally be looking at an older version of this document meant for earlier versions of vSphere.  Man, I need to go get some more coffee I think.  After a re-read of the document, it looks like a "cluster-in-the-box" SQL cluster using virtual disks will work, and be do-able with HA once the appropriate affinity rules are in place.