We've now come to the point where we need to install and configure the Windows cluster role. Even though SQL AAGs don't use shared disks like a traditional failover cluster, AAGs do rely on the Windows cluster service. We will also be implementing the Cluster Aware updating feature. This is...
In this fifth installment of the SQL 2015 AAG series, we do an unattended installation of Node B, using a modified INI file produced from our Node A installation. This streamlines the installation process, reduces human error, and makes your installation repeatable. This will probably be the shortest installment, since...
This is Part 4 of the SQL Always-on Availability Group installation, where we finally get to install the SQL Server database engine and related tools. This first SQL installation will be a fully manual process where we walk through the GUI to get SQL installed. For our second node we will use...
This is Part 3 of the SQL 2014 Always-On Availability group series where we setup two service accounts and a security group. One account is for the database engine and the other is for the SQL agent. In order for Kerberos to work properly the database engine account must be Active Directory based. We will also...
First up in this series is deploying your two Windows Server 2012 R2 VMs, which will be the SQL 2014Â Always-On availability group nodes. I have a standard VM template that is built in a nearly fully automated manner with Microsoft MDT 2012 Update 1. If you are still making your...
This series of posts will show you how to configure SQL 2014 on VMware vSphere 5.5 using SQL Always-On Availability Groups (AGs). Always-on Availability Groups is the 'next generation' in high availability technology that relies on application level data replication versus shared SCSI disks like traditional failover clustering. No more shared...
Securing your Windows computer (both client and server) should be a top priority in your organization. To that end Microsoft just released EMET 5.0. It's not a matter of IF, but WHEN you will have a security breach. But the trick is to raise the security bar to make it...
Earlier this year I had the distinct pleasure of working with Luca Dell'oca (@Dellock6) from Veeam on a Nutanix + Veeam Backup and Replication + VMware vSphere whitepaper. You can check out that post and whitepaper here. Now, just a few months later, we've collaborated on a Nutanix + Veeam + Hyper-V...
Since joining Nutanix I've had the opportunity to get exposed to Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2, as our platform supports the three most common hypervisors: VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, and KVM. I'm now embarking on writing some Hyper-V guides for Nutanix, and wanted a way to leverage my existing ESXi 5.5 Nutanix...
Session: DCIM-B395 Building a Web-Scale Private cloud (without losing your cool) by Steve Poitras, Nutanix (@StevenPoitras). This was a good session showing how the combination of the Windows Azure pack, Hyper-V, and Nutanix enable large scale-out private clouds. You can check out the full video and slide deck of the session here on...