ArcSDE Documentation for SQL Server Cluster Install

Question

Where is documentation for installing SDE with a 2 node active/passive windows cluster on top of SQL Server cluser instance?

BillRose · Answer

I don't think there is any.  We have been using a SQL Cluster with sde for a few years though, so I can tell you that for the most part you just set up your cluster and then treat it like a normal SQL server.  Instead of installing an sde service on your SQL server, you use direct connect in ArcGIS.  I don't remember how I did the install for ArcGIS 9 (I think I used the SDE installer to create the geodatabase), but in version ArcGIS 10, the Post Install crashes if your DBMS system is a remote system.  That means you have to set up the geodatabase manually.

It is also possible to configure MSCS for ArcSDE services. See http://www.esri.com/systemsint/kbase/docs/arcsde-sqlserver.pdf. This document was drafted for ArcSDE 9.1.

It would be nice to have an update to this document from ESRI for 10.0 and Window Server 2008. Most or all of the original document should still be valid, but it could be more polished for the average user... setting up new services can be tricky. I'd also like to see more best practices here if such recommendations exist. For example: would it be a good idea to create a new MSCS group to differentiate ArcSDE resources from MSSQL resources?

NeoGeo · Answer

I don't think there is any.  We have been using a SQL Cluster with sde for a few years though, so I can tell you that for the most part you just set up your cluster and then treat it like a normal SQL server.  Instead of installing an sde service on your SQL server, you use direct connect in ArcGIS.  I don't remember how I did the install for ArcGIS 9 (I think I used the SDE installer to create the geodatabase), but in version ArcGIS 10, the Post Install crashes if your DBMS system is a remote system.  That means you have to set up the geodatabase manually.