Clusters and Multiple Servers

You can install the SQL Backup Pro server components on all SQL Server instances (nodes) in a cluster at the same time. If you have a SQL Backup Pro multi-server license, you can then activate SQL Backup on all of the nodes.

You can also activate a number of servers that are not clustered at the same time if you have purchased a SQL Backup Pro multi-server license. However, you must first install the SQL Backup server components on each of the SQL Server instances individually; for details, see Installing and Upgrading SQL Backup.

Note that if you are using SQL Backup with clustered SQL Servers, you are strongly recommended to save backup files on a shared drive within the cluster. This ensures that the backups are available in the event of failure of one of the clustered SQL Servers.

Installing on clusters

This section provides an overview of how you install the SQL Backup server components on clusters. For a more detailed description, see Installing SQL Backup 5 Server Components on Clusters which is available as a pdf download from the Red Gate Support Web site.

When you install the server components on a cluster, the SQL Backup Agent Service application is clustered so that it can run backup and restore operations on whichever cluster node is active. In addition, the following registry keys in the SQL Backup branch are replicated:

BackupSettingsGlobal\<instance name>
BackupSettings\<instance name>

These registry keys contain details of saved SQL Server settings, templates, and other resources that are specific to SQL Backup. Note that SQL Backup scheduled backup jobs and log shipping jobs are replicated by the SQL Server instance.

You can install the server components from within the SQL Backup graphical user interface, or by using a standalone program:

use the SQL Backup graphical user interface if you want to install remotely
To do this, register the cluster using the Add SQL Server dialog box.

By default, the Add SQL Server dialog box provides the option to install or upgrade the server components on the registered cluster. If you clear this option, you can install or upgrade the components at a later date from the Registered SQL Servers pane; to do this, right-click on the SQL Server instance, and then click Install or Upgrade Server Components.

Specify the alias for the clustered SQL Server instance on the Options tab of the Add SQL Server dialog box.
use the standalone program to install locally on each node
Copy SQBServerSetup.exe to the active node on the cluster, and run the program. When you install in this way, more information is provided if a problem occurs (particularly for post-installation checks). However, you cannot use this method to install remotely.

The Setup wizard guides you through the installation process. When you specify the SQL Server instance, the Setup wizard detects that the SQL Server instance is part of a cluster, and provides the option to install SQL Backup on all the cluster nodes.

If you do not select this option, SQL Backup is installed only on the specified SQL Server instance, and it is not used as a clustered node for SQL Backup. You must enter an account name and password for a user that is an administrator on all nodes on the cluster.

When you enter the account name and password that the SQL Backup Agent Service application will run as, you are recommended to use a domain account. The account must have sufficient permissions to run as a service, including the Log on as a service permission.

The account that the SQL Backup Agent Service application will use to connect to the cluster node must have sysadmin privileges.

The Setup wizard also provides the option to automatically fail over to another cluster node if the SQL Backup Agent Service cannot be started. Note that this option is not available if you are upgrading the server components.

The SQL Backup server components are installed in the same location on each node in turn.

Activating on clusters and multiple SQL Servers

For general information about activating SQL Backup, see Activating SQL Backup. In addition, when you activate on clusters or multiple servers, note the following points.

To activate SQL Backup on a cluster or on multiple servers:

you must have a multi-server license key
you must use the standalone program ProductActivation.exe (rather than the SQL Backup graphical user interface) to launch the Product Activation wizard
This is installed in your SQL Backup folder.

The Activation wizard offers you the Multiple Servers option. In addition, if the Activation wizard detects that the local server is clustered, it offers you the option to activate all the nodes in the cluster.

Click All nodes on cluster if you want SQL Backup to run the activation on all the nodes automatically; the nodes detected by SQL Backup will be listed in the next page of the wizard. Click Multiple Servers if you want to specify the servers in the cluster manually, or if you are activating multiple servers that are not in a cluster; you must then type the name of each server on the next page of the wizard.

You must enter the credentials of a user with administration rights on all the servers that you are activating. Only the user name and password is taken into account.

If you choose to activate by email, for each server in the cluster you must copy the activation text provided and send it in a separate email to the activation server. You will receive a separate response for each server; paste each response into the appropriate tab in the wizard.

The final page of the wizard displays the final status of activation on all of the servers. If activation has failed on any servers, click Finish to close the Activation wizard, and repeat the activation for those servers.