Is it possible to set up multiple named instances running on a SQl Server 2008 R2 Active/Passive Cluster?

Question

I'm trying to plan a SQL Server 2008 R2 2 node Active/Passive failover cluster.

Is it possible to set up multiple named instances running on the cluster? e.g.

sqlcluster
sqlcluster\demo
sqlcluster\dev

And could demo and dev share the same SAN LUN?

Thanks,

Kenny

mrdenny · Answer 1 · 2011-08-04 19:06:13Z

up vote 0 down vote accepted

Yes you can have multiple instances on the same cluster.

No they can not share the same LUN. When SQL is clustered, the LUNs are dedicated to the specific instance.

answered Aug 4 '11 at 19:06

mrdenny♦
20.7k11745

	Aha. I suppose that makes sense. Not challenging you on the storage question, but do you have a link to the documentation so I can educate myself on this? I've worked on clustered SQL instances but haven't had the chance to create any. – mfinni Aug 4 '11 at 19:14
	Not one that I didn't write myself. Each SQL instance goes into it's own resource group. LUNs can't be shared across resource groups. Putting two instances into a single resource group (while possible) isn't supported. – mrdenny♦ Aug 4 '11 at 19:27
	Got it. So, it's technically possible, but not supported and a bad idea. – mfinni Aug 4 '11 at 20:31
	Yep, pretty much. – mrdenny♦ Aug 4 '11 at 22:37

feedback

mfinni · Answer 2 · 2011-08-04 16:08:27Z

Is it possible to set up multiple named instances running on the cluster?

Yes.

And could demo and dev share the same SAN LUN?

Yes, but depending on your IO performance, it might not be a good idea.

2 Answers