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Live Migration For Databases? SQL Server 2008 R2

PostDateIcon August 15th, 2009 | PostAuthorIcon Author: Rich Brambley

The Merry MixerSQL Server 2008 R2: Virtualization for Databases is a post by Brent Ozar that I had to read slowly and multiple times. Not because it was hard to understand or read, but because the idea it provoked for me gave me the sensation of riding “The Merry Mixer” at the annual traveling amusement park. Ozar’s post explains that SQL Server 2008 R2 introduces the concept of a SQL Server Utility which groups multiple SQL servers as a pool of resources. Ozar explains:

“Looking ahead, Microsoft wants us to start thinking of databases as being less connected to physical servers, and to think of our physical servers as a resource pool.  Imagine if databases were self-contained packages that could be moved from server to server – just like virtual servers can be moved from host to host today.”

The SQL Utility will be managed by a Control Point Server that will collect and monitor configuration and performance data. This server will also facilitate moving SQL databases between Utility members. Apparently this migration of SQL databases will be able to happen live.

SQL 2008 R2 is planned to be released in the first half of 2010.

When I considered how virtual infrastructure (VI) could be impacted by this new technology is when I got a little motion sickness. What if


the back end database of VMware vCenter is part of a SQL Utility? When vCenter’s database runs out of disk space, needs more resources for performance, or has server hardware issues it could potentially be auto migrated so it could continue to provide for the automated live migrations of the virtual machines between the ESX hosts in the VI it supports.

Everybody grab a big “cloud” of cotton candy and then get in line for a ride on this Merry Mixer. I think I need to sit down and get some fresh air.

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PostCategoryIcon Posted in microsoft, sqlpass, virtualization, vmetc.com | PostTagIcon Tags: , , , , , ,
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  • http://www.vmlover.com/ Daniel Eason

    Can't you do this with Oracle RAC today….:)

  • http://www.vladan.fr/ Vladan

    It looks like that with the 2008 R2 we'll be facing a new direction in the way we think of databases. -:)

  • IC

    You can do this already with HP's polyServe software. It allows you to stack sql resources (instances) across multiple hosts and allows you to move them as resource availability dictates.
    http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storage/soft…

    Oh and this works on Linux as well so you can set it up with oracle. I would imagine DB2 and sybase support may be forthcoming as well.

  • IC

    I should clarify… I had not had coffee and dont want people to be mislead. PolyServe does consolidate SQL workloads. But it does not do live migration. The SQL service still needs to be started on the node that it is being moved to and stopped on the other node, so you will get a blip… So I apologize for any disinformation. It's still a cool piece of software.

  • Dracolith

    Yeah.. now we just need live migration for Desktop PC's… (presumably with KVM and client-side hypervisor required)

    And all other server resources. Live migration of things like DHCP servers, file servers, Exchange Mailbox stores, etc, between servers.

    And aribtrary applications, like browser windows. It would be great to be able to right click a browser windows (with all their tabs), and just move them.

    For most individual apps, there's no reason for them to be tied to specific hardware anymore. And even apps being tied to particular running OS instances ought to go away.

    If every important server app implemented a seamless motion capability, it could take over a bit of what Virtual machine live migration does.

    In some ways, the app itself is in a better situation to handle application performance issues for load balancing; app-aware clustering may ultimately be able to even divide load at a more granular level than the “whole OS instance” level, which DRS operates at.

    Much like virtual machine migration has replaced some uses of clustering implemented at the hardware level, that OS instances ran on top of.

    App level migration techniques could replace some uses of virtual machine level migration that virtual OS instances ran on top of.

  • BrentO

    To go deeper into the rabbit hole – what if you're protecting the VMware database servers with DRS, too? Woohoo! The protection mechanism flowcharts boggle the mind…

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Now we've stepped off the Merry Mixer and boarded the Rotor, and the floor has already dropped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_(ride)

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Sounds like a poster scenario for Saas!

    Live Migration for desktops? Offline desktops in VDI maybe the answer there.

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Now we've stepped off the Merry Mixer and boarded the Rotor, and the floor has already dropped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_(ride)

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Sounds like a poster scenario for Saas!

    Live Migration for desktops? Offline desktops in VDI maybe the answer there.

  • Pingback: ????????? Hyper-V R2 - ?????????????

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