When installing SQL Server onto a two node cluster setup -
how many shared disk drives do you need ie am I right in
thinking that you should have the following shared drives
C:\ for SQL Server installation
D:\ for data files
E:\ for log files
Q:\ for quorum disk

Also I am right in thinking that SQL Server gets installed
on a shared disk - or does it get installed locally on
both servers in the cluster?

Thanks in advance.

You are very close. SQL Clusters use a local binary and a 'shared' data
storage model. 'Shared' in that all host nodes can access the physical
disks, but only one node at a time actually owns each disk. Changing
ownership requires taking the resource offline. C: should be local for each
machine and will be where the binaries are installed unless you specify
otherwise. You can only specify local disks. Q for Quorum is correct. You
will need M: for MSDTC. You can use Q, but best practices changed with
Windows Server 2003 and now recommend using a separate disk for MSDTC. D:
and E: for logs and data. SQL only allows you to pick a single data drive
during installation, but it is very easy to add another disk to the cluster
group. I typically select my log device for my system databases and move
tempdb after I add the extra disk(s).

--
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
Careerbuilder.com

I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
www.sqlpass.org

"Chris" <anonymous (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote

What are the gotchas of adding extra disks to an existing active/activ
cluster.
Thanks
Bolo

Allan Hirt wrote:

-
Bol
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You have to stop the SQL Service to add it as a dependancy on the new
disk(s) after moving the disk to the SQL Virtual server resource group. The
dependancy must be there in order for Clustered SQL to store data on a
physical disk resource. All of my clustered instances have multiple
physical disk resources for performance and scalability.

--
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
Careerbuilder.com

I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
www.sqlpass.org

"Bolo" <Bolo.1agz03 (AT) mail (DOT) mcse.ms> wrote