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In recent months, Marathon has put together a series of toolkits with materials on reducing downtime and data loss, including toolkits for Citrix XenApp and Microsoft Exchange 2007.

Our latest toolkit is now available, this time for Microsoft SQL Server. Protecting SQL Server from downtime has become even more critical in recent years, as businesses run more of their critical systems, including electronic commerce, online banking, just-in-time manufacturing and streaming media (just to name a few) on SQL.

This toolkit includes materials on SQL Server high availability in both physical and virtual environments.

White paper: 5 Secrets to SQL Server Availability This paper reviews five proven secrets to affordable SQL high availability that will help IT managers implement a SQL Server environment with little or no downtime - and zero data loss.

White paper: The SSWUG.org Increasing Reliability and Availability in a Virtualized SQL Server Environment white paper, authored by Microsoft SQL Server MVP Stephen Wynkoop, provides IT professionals with best practices and considerations for designing and implementing a virtualized SQL environment including:

• Potential pitfalls to avoid when virtualizing SQL Server
• How to increase reliability and availability of a virtualized SQL Server environment
• A SQL Server virtualization case study (Sullivan Group)

On-Demand Webinar: SQL Availability: Protecting your Database and Applications featuring Microsoft SQL Server MVP Stephen Wynkoop, helps IT administrators understand SQL back-up and restore options. Wynkoop also presents his Concentric Rings of Recovery plan, which covers the four levels of preparedness for local, alternate, off-site and remote locations.

Also, be sure to check out some addtional SQL Server resources, including SQL user groups, SQL Server job boards, SQL MVP blogs and Twitter feeds, and other SQL-related info.
 

We had a number of questions during the Q&A session of our June 24th webinar with Stephen Wynkoop, founder of SSWUG.org. I’ve posted the questions and responses here on our blog for everyone’s benefit. This webinar was recorded in case you weren’t able to attend, click here to view the webcast!

Q: Does everRun require a SAN?
A: It doesn’t require a SAN. We can also mirror storage between two different systems, if that’s what you chose to do. A lot of our customers do that, either locally or separated geographically. We can support a SAN in multiple ways. We can support a SAN where you have a single copy of the data. And both servers will connect too the single copy of the data. We also support a SAN where one of the servers is connected to that SAN and the other server has its own storage and we can mirror between that. A lot of our customers are using that option to provide data protection and fault tolerance at the data level. We can use different types of storage on either side.

Q: With your SplitSite product, are there distance requirements?
A: There are no pre-determined distance limitations – it’s really the latency and bandwidth requirements that determine the distance that can be supported.

Q Does everRun work with Exchange 2007 as well?
A: Yes it does. everRun supports any Windows application without requiring changes or customization.

Q: Does everRun work with iSCSI?
A: We have an agnostic approach to storage as well. Pretty much any type of storage will work. iSCSI, fiber, direct attached, etc.

Q: What are the requirements between the paired local servers?
A: A gigabit Ethernet connection with crossover cables is usually used between the two servers.

Q: What is the performance impact of using everRun with SQL?
A: Our preliminary testing has shown that the overhead is very small. There are variance rates depending on the servers and applications that you are using, but the impact has in general been shown to be very small.

Q: How does everRun handle the mirroring of data that’s loaded in the memory?
A: With our level 3 fault tolerance, we actually mirror the memory and CPU between the two systems, so they are running in lockstep. This provides a 100% uptime solution. Our everRun software makes sure that the memory and CPU state are mirrored and completely synchronized between the two servers at all times.

Q: Does everRun work with SQL 2008?
A: Yes. everRun supports any Windows application without requiring changes or customization. Because everRun resides below the operating environment, we are protected underneath that. We have a number of ISVs that use our software with their applications and they use us because they don’t have to make any changes to their software. It’s not tied into the application, and doesn’t need to be “cluster aware” or anything similar to that.

Q: Does everRun work with the free XenServer?
A: Yes, everRun VM for XenServer supports the free version of XenServer as well as Essentials for XenServer Enterprise and Platinum Editions.

Q: How would you tackle a shift from a single server to an everRun setup to have minimal downtime during the changeover?
A: It’s pretty straight forward. You could buy new servers if you wanted to refresh your hardware. Then you would perform a P2V migration. There are tools like PlateSpin to help you do that. It’s a standard migration process. If you wanted to use your existing server, you could buy one additional server and pair those up. We also offer migration services if you want additional help with the process.

Q: If using everRun with SQL Server, is the secondary server available for query/reports by other processes?
A: It‘s not because the two SQL environments have the same identity and exposed to the network as just a single server instance. Since they both have the same identity,you can’t access one by its production identity and then the other. They look and act as a single environment. They have the same MAC address, host name, and IP address. If you make a change, it happens to both of them.

Q: In a SplitSite implementation, if one hardware platform fails and the backup is used, how is the data re-synchronized once the primary hardware is available again?
A: everRun is completely automated, including the recovery process. When you have a failure and get that system back online, everRun will automatically synchronize the two systems to be identical again. There’s no additional work to do the syncing, it’s completely automated.

Protecting SQL Server and its related applications continues to be one of the most common concerns we hear from our customers. With that in mind, we’ve pulled together some SQL-related info and links for your reference below.

While you’re here, be sure to sign up for our free June 24th webinar “SQL Availability: Protecting Your Database and Applications”. The featured speaker will be SQL MVP Stephen Wynkoop, founder and editor of the SSWUG.com website and user group.

SQL Server User Groups and Communities:
SQL Server Worldwide Users Group http://www.sswug.org/
Professional Association for SQL Server http://www.sqlpass.org/
Microsoft SQL Server Community http://sqlcommunity.com/
SQL Server Professionals Group on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=54395&trk=anet_ug_hm&goback=%2Egdr_1243518339929_1

SQL Server Publications:
SQL Server Magazine http://www.sqlmag.com/
TechTarget’s SearchSQLServer.com http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/
SQLServerPedia Wiki http://sqlserverpedia.com/

Listing of SQL MVP/User Blogs:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/bb671052.aspx

Listing of SQL Experts to follow on Twitter:
http://sqlserverpedia.com/wiki/Twitter

SQL Server Job Boards:
SQL Jobs.com http://www.sqljobs.com/
Contract and Permanent IT jobs in Europe http://www.theitjobboard.com/
Dice –tech-focused career board http://www.dice.com/
Common SQL Server DBA/Developer interview questions http://vyaskn.tripod.com/iq.htm
 

(also check out the User Group and Community websites above for SQL related job postings and message boards)

Do you have any favorite SQL links? Do you host a SQL blog or community? Feel free to share your links in the comments section.
 

We had a lot of great questions during the Q & A session of our January webinar with one of our customers. We’ve posted the questions and responses here on our blog for everyone’s benefit.

Questions for The Sullivan Group:

Q: Which everRun product are they running? everRun HA or FT?
A: everRun VM

Q: How did you migrate your VMware VMs to XenServer?
A: We used a V2V software migration tool from Visioncore that worked really well.

Q: What was the procedure when bringing back up one of the servers when the RAID card failed. How easy was it?
A: It couldn’t have been easier. Once we repaired the failed component, everRun identified it and put it back into use. everRun used a mirror copy to bring the two systems back in complete synchronization. This all happened without our intervention and without impacting our users.

Q: Was a short implementation time a demand from The Sullivan Group, and what was the expectations before the implementation?
A: Short implementation time wasn’t a hard requirement. We expected the implementation to take a couple of weeks and were pleasantly surprised when we had it all up and running in a little less than a week.

Questions for Marathon:

Q: Is there a special license for SQL? Or any other special considerations?
A: Special licensing for the applications you protect is not required. You should refer to the SQL license agreement or the agreement for the application on the VM that you are protecting. With everRun, only one instance of the application is running at any one time.

Q: Is this active active or active passive?
A: We refer to it as ‘active/ready’. The secondary VM is in a paused state, however disk and network I/O are being processed. This allows everRun to deliver fault tolerance at the component level, while immediately starting the paused VM fully in the event of a full host failure on the primary side.

Q: Do you have to install everRun prior to your application, so if I already have an application installed would I need to rebuild the production server? IF so does this change the install time and impact?
A: Assuming you have a VM set up on a host, the application can be installed before or after the VM is protected with everRun. The protection process does require the VM to be shutdown prior to beginning the protect process, however the process takes about 2 minutes to complete after which time the VM can be restarted.

Q: How does everRun handle Software or OS hangs?
A: everRun does not monitor applications.

Q: In your opinion what is the strongest difference between this and MS Clustering?
A: MS Clustering can be a nice fit, especially with applications such as SQL Server. One of the requirements for MSCS is shared storage, or a SAN. This requirement can push the cost out of reach for many small and midsized businesses. everRun does not require shared storage and can utilize any type of storage the customer may have or intend to purchase. In addition, everRun provides fault tolerance and not just failover restart. This helps to minimize interruptions typically caused by failed devices.

Q: Does everRun VM support Windows x64 architecture on VM?
A: Yes, everRun and XenServer support 64-bit hardware and software.

Q: Can VM run Windows 2008 x64? Or Windows 2003 x64?
A: Citrix XenServer supports VMs running Windows 2008 64-bit and Windows 2003 64-bit. Currently everRun VM can protect VM’s running Windows Server 2003, 32-bit and 64-bit. Our next release planned for calendar Q2 09 will support Windows Server 2008 32-bit and 64-bit VM’s.

Q: How much overhead do you have when you protect a VM?
A: When protecting a VM you are able to define how much of a particular resource is to be utilized and reserved. This helps to reduce the amount of resources required for protecting VM’s. Performance overhead can vary depending on if it is I/O heavy, CPU heavy, what the application is, etc. Typically however performance overhead is not impactful.

Q: Is everRun tied to a VM on a particular physical XenServer, what would happen if you used XenServer technology to move to another physical server?
A: Once a VM is protected with everRun, it is hard-configured to two physical hosts. everRun allows online migration of the active VM between these two hosts without interruption. To move one or both VM’s in the protected pair to a different host would require it to be unprotected, migrated if necessary, and protected again with the new host.

Q: Please speak about XenServer integration, process for failover to DR site?
A: everRun has a tight integration with XenServer. everRun is installed on top of XenServer and is completely compatible and able to protect Windows VMs created in XenCenter. During the protection process, everRun takes the chosen VM and clones it to the designate secondary host. This creates a complete and identical VM on the secondary host. everRun maintains these two VM synchronously so that they are always identical. everRun’s unique architecture exposes these two mirrored VM’s as a single VM; there is no need to install, manage, or update both sides, only the one single instance of the OS/application. Should the entire ‘primary’ host fail, the ‘secondary’ host will immediately start the cloned VM. It comes up with the same IP address, hostname, and MAC address of the primary so that there are no client-side, DNS, Active Directory, or other infrastructure changes required.

Q: Will everRun run on x64?
A: Yes, it requires 64-bit servers.

Q: I assume the servers must match i.e. memory, HD space and memory as well as other array controllers and type of arrays?
A: The only requirement for similarities within the servers is same family of processors. everRun can mirror storage between dissimilar storage types and vendors, allowing lower-cost storage to be deployed on the ‘secondary’ host.

Q: Is everRun for virtual servers XenServer specific, or does it work with Hyper-V, Virtual Iron, etc.?
A: Today everRun is developed for XenServer. In January we announced a development and marketing agreement with Microsoft, we will be developing an everRun product for Hyper-V as well.

Q: What if the server is up but a single app on the server fails? Also, how do you detect the app failed?
A: everRun does not monitor applications. However if by ‘single app’ you mean a single VM, everRun does protect at the individual VM level. If a VM fails yet the host and other VM’s remain alive, everRun can restart the VM on the secondary host.

Q: Do you have to purchase redundant licenses for the applications that you have replication as Virtual Machines across two physical servers? For example, do you have to purchase double the Exchange licenses to do it or just the licenses as if you had a single server?
A: You would need to refer to the license agreement for each application. With everRun, the application is running as a single instance and many vendors don’t require two licenses, but this varies between vendors.

Q: Can you have full fault tolerance on XenApp servers between 2 datacenters, where users would not be disconnected from their session if a failover occurred?
A: everRun can certainly protect XenApp as it can protect any Windows application. A number of customers are using everRun to protect XenApp today. The ability to separate between data centers (there are latency requirements due the synchronous nature of everRun) will be available in Q2. To prevent session disconnects will require Level 3 protection, or full System-Level Fault Tolerance, which will also be available for everRun VM in Q2.

Q: Can the VM servers be in different data centers across a WAN behind firewalls?
A: The ability to separate servers geographically will be available in Q2.

Q: Are there general guidelines on the number of VM's that can be protected between two host machines? I'm thinking of SQL Server systems hosting highly transactional databases.
A: The answer to this is dependent on the applications running within the VM’s, hardware, and activity within them, so providing a set number of VM’s would not be practical. Please contact Marathon if you would like to discuss your environment to better understand what VM limits may be suitable.

Q: How can you use the USB interface, for example when software requires a dongle?
A: everRun does not redirect the USB interface to a protected VM.

Everyone is well aware of the recent market turbulence and the pressure this will put on corporate spending. The economic situation is going to have an effect on every aspect of business action. However, despite budget cuts, I think that the increase in virtualization adoption will continue unabated. Here are a few things I expect:

• Since the beginning of 2008, the virtualization industry has seen changes in its landscape. Microsoft’s Hyper-V introduction has made a lot of noise, as more and more customers are seeing and trying it for themselves. One of the big draws for Hyper-V is its price point. In this market, its price will continue to make it an attractive solution. In fact, I believe the price will dip even further by year’s end, keeping it in consideration for enterprises as other solutions are ditched to shore up costs. As additional vendors support Hyper-V it will only become easier for companies to evaluate, justify, and acquire the solution.

• I believe that not only will Hyper-V demand continue, but people will also begin to adopt more than one hypervisor. Almost all companies have more than one operating system or hardware platform. Since IT departments are adapt at integrating heterogeneous technologies, it is only natural for companies to mix and match hypervisors to solve the specific challenges they have while meeting budget requirements.

• In general, many of the companies that made initial virtualization-related purchases capitalized on its “low-hanging fruit.” Most Fortune 1000 companies have already completed relatively low risk actions and virtualized applications like dev and test systems and file and print. Moving forward, I think that customers will now want to implement virtualization on more of their mission-critical applications. Applications like Exchange and SQL, which both have growing needs for high availability solutions.

• Expect the interest level and the actual deployment of both higher-end availability technology and sophisticated management tools, and the infrastructure that surrounds that, to quickly ratchet up. This will allow people to complete the first phase of adoption and will begin a speedier move towards mainstream inclusion of virtual technology in data centers.

How do you think the rest of the year will play out in the virtualization industry? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts; I’m interested to hear the insights of others.