This three-day instructor-led course is designed for database administrators and Windows engineers to familiarize them with the concepts in SQL AlwaysOn and High Availability. The course utilizes SQL 2016, but explains the differences from SQL 2012- SQL 2014.
We designed this course based on our experience of having taught hundreds of classes to literally thousands of students. We tried very hard to make the labs, of which there are over 30, very oriented to a single concept such as Adding a Replica or Transferring Logons. We did this because it is common in technical courses to write long labs with multiple exercises which in our opinion is not effective as they turn into click streams. We assume the student is new to the technology and that the instructor is knowledgeable in it.
Skills Gained
- Understaand AlwasyOn High Availability
- Employ Server 2016 Failover Clustering
- Deploy SQL Failover Clusters
- Work with Availability Groups
- Perform maintenance
- Monitor and Troubleshoot Availability Groups
Who Can Benefit
Experienced DBAs, Windows Server pros, team leads. This is a lab intense course!
We designed this course based on our experience of having taught hundreds of classes to literally thousands of students. We tried very hard to make the labs, of which there are over 30, very oriented to a single concept such as Adding a Replica or Transferring Logons. We did this because it is common in technical courses to write long labs with multiple exercises which in our opinion is not effective as they turn into click streams. We assume the student is new to the technology and that the instructor is knowledgeable in it.
Prerequisites
- Experience as SQL DBA
- Experience as Windows IT PRO
Outline
Module 1: Introduction
This module explains the course and objectives.
Lessons
Lab 1: None
After completing this module, students will be able to:
Module 2: ALWAYSON AND HIGH AVAILABILITY CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
This module will introduce the participants to the concepts and terminology used in the course.
Lessons - Concepts and Terminology
- Table of Availability
- High Availability
- Causes of Downtime
- Planned downtime
- Unplanned downtime
- Disaster Recovery
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
- Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
- Recovery Level Objective (RLO)
- Storage Area Networks (SAN)
- Edition Changes from SQL 2012
- SQL Server 2014 Changes
- SQL Server 2016 Changes
- Legacy Solutions prior to Always On
- Failover Cluster Instances
- Log Shipping
- A Typical Log Shipping Configuration
- Monitor Server
- Replication
- Database Mirroring
- Database Mirroring Terminology
- Principle
- Mirror
- Witness (red box in image above)
- Database Snapshots
- Limitations of legacy solutions:
- What do we mean by Always On?
- Table of Always On Comparison
Lab 1: None
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- Terminology
- SQL 2014 Changes
- SQL2016 Changes
- Understand the role of the SANS
Module 3: WINDOWS SERVER 2016 FAILOVER CLUSTERING
Failover clustering is covered in this module and is a critical feature of AlwaysOn High Availability.
Lessons - Understanding Failover Clustering in Server 2016
- Statefull High Availability Solution
- Supported in both Standard and Datacenter
- Servers should run similar hardware
- Should run same edition
- Hyper-V best with datacenter
- Certified for Windows server logo
- Shared Storage
- Quorums
- Node Majority
- Node and Disk Majority configuration:
- Node and File Share Majority
- No Majority
- Configuration
- Cluster Networks Best Practices
- Connection to nodes to shared storage
- Private network for internal cluster
- Public network for client connections
- Cluster Aware Updating
- Virtual Machine Failover Clustering
- Preferred Owners
- Failover Failback
- Resources
- Dependences
- Heartbeat
Lab 1: Set up iSCSI Server
Lab 2: Install the iSCSI VMS
Lab 3: Add Servers to Server Manager for Ease of Management
- Add Servers to Server Manager for Ease of Management
Lab 4: Add the Windows Cluster Feature to SQL1, SQL2 And SQL3
- Add the Windows Cluster Feature to SQL1, SQL2 And SQL3
Lab 5: Create the iSCSI Initators to add the shared storage
- Create the iSCSI Initators to add the shared storage
Lab 6: Create the Windows Cluster
- Create the Windows Cluster
Lab 7: Add a Clustered Service
Lab 8: Test The Failover Of The Windows Service
- Test The Failover Of The Windows Service
Lab 9: Delete Role
Lab 10: Examine the Quorum Settings
- Examine the Quorum Settings
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- ISCSI Setup
- Work with Roles
- Understand Quorums
- Understand Windows Failover
- Understand Cluster Service
- Understand Preferred Owners
- Understand Node Majority
Module 4: SQL 2016 FAILOVER CLUSTER INSTANCES
In this module we move from the generic failover clustering to the specifics involving SQL.
Lessons - Failover Cluster Instance
- As A FCI Appears To A Client
Lab 1: Create A Configuration File By Running The Advanced Cluster Preparation Wizard
- Create A Configuration File By Running The Advanced Cluster Preparation Wizard
Lab 2: Complete The SQL Cluster Installation On SQL1
- Complete The SQL Cluster Installation On SQL1
Lab 3: Install The Cluster On SQL2 And SQL3
- Install The Cluster On SQL2 And SQL3
Lab 4: Test the SQL Cluster
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- Cluster Testing
- Understand Configuration Files
- Install Clusters
Module 5: SQL 2016 ALWAYS ON AVAILABILITY GROUPS
Within the failover clusters of SQL are the concept of Availability groups and their enhancements with the release of SQL 2016 which is the focus of this module.
Lessons - Availability Groups and Replicas
- Primary Replica
- Secondary Replicas
- Availability Group Listener
- Availability Mode
- Synchronous Commit Mode
- Asynchronous Commit Mode
- Failover Modes
- Automatic Failover Without Data Loss
- Automatic Failover Requirements:
- Manual
- Manual Failover Requirements
- Common Topologies
Lab 1: Create a SQL Instance For The Availability Group
- Create a SQL Instance For The Availability Group
Lab 2: Enable the SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group Feature
- Enable the SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Group Feature
Lab 3: Set Up For Availability Groups
- Set Up For Availability Groups
Lab 4: The Availability Group Wizard
- The Availability Group Wizard
Lab 5: SSMS and Availability Groups
- SSMS and Availability Groups
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- Enable AlwaysOn
- Understand and work with availability Groups
Module 6: The Dasboard
Managing AlwaysOn High Availability groups wit SQL 2016 is accomplished with the Dashboard. This module will demonstrate the skills necessary for the accomplishment of the management tasks.
Lessons - The Dashboard
- How to view logs
- Using replication with Logins
- Using partially contained databases
Lab 1: The Dashboard
Lab 2: Replicating Logins and Jobs
- Replicating Logins and Jobs
Lab 3: Contained or Partially Contained Databases
- Contained or Partially Contained Databases
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- Understand the Dashboard
- Perform Logon and Job replication
Module 7: Active Secondary Availability Group Actions
Within Availability groups you may have Active secondary SQL which is covered and demonstrated in this module.
Lessons - Reporting with Secondary Replicas
- Configuring a Readable secondary
- Read-Only Routing
- Load Balancing
- Lab: Configure a Read-Only Secondary
- Database Backups with Secondary
- Steps of Backup Using secondary
- Backup Preference Options
Lab 1: Database Backup Using Secondary Replica
- Database Backup Using Secondary Replica
Lab 2: Configure a Read-Only secondary
- Configure a Read-Only secondary
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- Perform backups with Secondary Replicas
- Configure a Read-Only Replica
Module 8: Maintenance
In this module you explore maintenance procedures for AlwaysOn High Avialability Groups.
Lessons - DBCC Checks
- Database Adding and Removing
Lab 1: Add a Database
Lab 2: Remove a Database
Lab 3: Add a Replica
Lab 4: Remove a Replica
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- Add and Remove Databases
- Add and Remove Replicas
Module 9: MONITORING AND TROUBLESHOOTING AVAILABILITY GROUPS
In this the final module you will learn how to monitor the clusters and Availability groups and various common troubleshooting procedures.
Lessons - The Dashboard in Depth
- Events
- Policy Based Managemnt for Availability Groups
Lab 1: Dashboard Wizards
Lab 2: Create an Extended Event Session
- Create an Extended Event Session
Lab 3: Using T-SQL
Lab 4: Policy based management for Availability Groups
- Policy based management for Availability Groups
Lab 5: Observe a Policy In Action
- Observe a Policy In Action
Lab 6: Create Three Conditions To Be Used In The RTO And RPO Policies
- Create Three Conditions To Be Used In The RTO And RPO Policies
Lab 7: Create Two Policies RTO and RPO
- Create Two Policies RTO and RPO
Lab 8: Test The Policies
Lab 9: Change Endpoint Owner
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- Change Owners
- Work with Policies
- Work with Extended Events
