I don't have any experience setting up a SQL cluster in vSphere, but it appears this article may answer most of your questions:
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1037959 - Sean On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 5:04 AM, Michael Leone <[email protected]> wrote: > Sorry for the OT, but I haven't received any answers on the VMware forums. > > I need to set a 2 node Win2008 R2/SQL 2008 R2 cluster on ESXi 5.5 U3b. > This will be only for testing; I have a production cluster on 2 > physical nodes already, but what I need to do is test making some > changes to the configuration, so I thought I would test the procedure > on a couple VMs, rather than barrel ahead on the production > machine.What I need to test is first removing one of the SQL > instances, then removing one of the nodes completely. > > I know this cluster is supported on my ESXi; what I don't have is a > specific step-by-step HOWTO. My production cluster is 2 nodes SQL 2008 > R2 cluster, and it has 2 SQL instances. What I need to test is first > removing one of the instances, then removing one of the nodes > completely. > > From what I've read, this should be one of those "cluster-in-a-box" > configurations. > > I know I need 2 NICs, one for the heartbeat, one for the public IP of > the node. I'm pretty sure I know how to handle the heartbeat: a > virtual switch that has no physical NICs assigned to it, and have the > heartbeat NIC use it; that way, the only thing it can reach is only on > that private vswitch, i.e., the other node. I've done similar in the > past. > > I only need like a 2G shared disk (I'm not really going to have any > data on it, I just need it to exist as a cluster shared storage), but > I know it has to be shared between both VMs. It doesn't have to be > RDM, right? I can do this with a regular virtual disk? Do I need a > special SCSI adapter for each VM? And just tell node #2 to reuse an > existing virtual disk? (I've found an article that says that, but I > don't know if that's still required?). > > I'm searching, but getting confused at what I am finding. Anyone know > of a good step-by-step article to follow, along with GOTCHAs? As I > said, what I need to do is test the process of removing a SQL instance > from a SQL cluster (leaving the other, named instance alone, as that's > still in production), and then removing the SQL node from the SQL > cluster, and then removing that same node from the Windows cluster. > I'm pretty sure I know how to do the last 2, it's the remove an > instance without screwing up the remaining instance I am leery about > ... > > Thanks. As I said, a bit OT, but this list seems to have people who > have done every sort of imaginable configuration before, so I'm hoping > someone has ... :-) > > >
