I think y’all are confusing yourselves. Words mean things. For the purposes of this discussion, there is no such thing as “Windows Server Enterprise”.
The editions are Windows Server Standard and Windows Server Datacenter. Since Windows Server 2012, both Standard and Datacenter include Windows Failover Clustering (WFC). (So does Nano Server in Windows Server 2016, but I digress.) There ARE features that a SQL installation may want to use, such as SOFS (Scale-Out File Servers), that may require Windows Server Datacenter; but WFC itself does not require Datacenter. SQL Server also comes in two editions, for the purposes of this discussion. They are Standard and Enterprise. SQL Server Standard supports WFC for EXACTLY two nodes (this is also called SQL Server Always On Failover Clustering). No more nodes than two. SQL Server Standard does NOT support Always On Availability Groups. SQL Server Enterprise supports WFC for the operating system maximum number of nodes. SQL Server Enterprise supports Always On Availability Groups. Define the deployment plan FIRST, then you can determine the necessary software. Alternately, the licenses you have may restrict your deployment plan. Regards, Michael B. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of D R Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 11:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] A new task for me - setting up a SQL Server cluster on vSphere 6.0 According to the Techs and Sales people in my org, it seems that they did. They are telling me that every SQL Clustering needs Enterprise on 2016, or it's a 'no go'. Daniel On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 9:22 AM, Micheal Espinola Jr <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: As best as I can recall, it was listed as a requirement in the last SQL clustering requirements doc I read on Microsoft's website. I thought it was up-to-date, but perhaps I am mistaken? On Aug 17, 2017 6:55 AM, "Melvin Backus" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Windows clustering doesn’t require Enterprise any more. It moved to std with 2012. We run both LB and FO clusters on 2012 std. Please don’t tell me they went back with 2016. ☹ -- There are 10 kinds of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't. From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Micheal Espinola Jr Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2017 9:24 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] A new task for me - setting up a SQL Server cluster on vSphere 6.0 The minimum requirement would be Windows. -- Espi On Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 6:07 PM, Kurt Buff <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Windows or SQL or both? On Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 5:27 PM, D R <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > Well, for 1, I think you're going to need Enterprise Edition for your server > clustering. > > > On Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 6:04 PM, Kurt Buff > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> Does anyone have a good reference on setting up a 2-node cluster like >> this? >> >> I'll be putting up SQL Server 2016 on Server 2016 Standard. >> >> I've found a starting place: >> >> https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2147661 >> >> This is going to be a replacement for all of the little SQLServer >> Standard/Express/WID implementations we have scattered about. >> >> But - does anyone have preferred documentation for implementation? Any >> preferred configurations, and perhaps reasons why? Any nasty little >> gotchas to avoid? >> >> Thanks, >> >> Kurt >> >> > > > > -- > Daniel Rodriguez > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> -- Daniel Rodriguez [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
