SQL Server Database Mirroring

Database Mirror for the exceptional DBA
" " cimid@rafael.co.il 4.4.2011
Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

Designs, develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of high tech defense systems for air, land, sea and space applications. Sales in 2010 exceeding $1851M About 7000 Employees
Speaker Qualifications
SQL Server , Oracle , Sybase ,Sybase Anywhere - application & infrastructure DBA . 14 years of SQL experience, starting with version 6.5 Education : BSC (Information System Engineer) MBA Currently ME (System Engineering)
Agenda
Database Mirroring Architecture Short Overview Automating Setup using T SQL & SQLCMD or Power shell Monitoring and Alerting What Next I Expect in Denali Planning (T&E) and Best Practices. Resources Next Session (?) :
Reporting Considerations Merge Replication and Database Mirror as a combined solution Database Mirroring and failover Cluster combination .Net coding with Database Mirror
Key Terms-1
Principal:
Source of the mirroring. Can mirror one or more databases on a single SQL Server instance to another SQL Server instance. You mirror a database, not a subset of the database
Mirror:
The recipient of the mirroring from the principal DB server. Kept in hot standby mode cannot be used directly in any way. In continuous restore mode. Physical transaction records are continuously applied to this mirror database. Not available for direct DB usage - exception is creating DB snapshots
Key Terms- 2
Witness
Optional Server that monitor the principal and mirror servers to provide a quorum
Partner
Opposite server when referring to the principal and mirror servers
Endpoint
Bound to a network protocol Allows SQL servers to communicate across the network.
Key Terms - 3
Session
Active relationship between the servers involved in DB mirroring Allows them to maintain server state information about one another
Roles
Possible roles: 1. Witness roleCan be any edition of a SQL Server (even SQL Server Express). 2. Principal role 3. Mirror role After a failure, the mirror server takes over the principal role, and the roles reverse.
Key Terms - 4
Role Switching
Active relationship between the servers involved in DB mirroring Allows them to maintain server state information about one another The act of transferring the principal role to the mirror server.
When a failure occurs : Principal role is switched to the mirror server DB is brought online as the principal DB
Copy-on-Write Technology
2. Log record Principle Server Copied to mirror Mirror Server server over Network Mirror DB I
Principle DB 2.transactio n is written to principal servers transaction log
1. Client
transaction
4. acknowledgment to principal server of its
3.physical log record is written to the mirror DB
write success
Mirror DB is exactly the same as the Principal DB

DB Mirror High Performance

Principle
2. Send the transaction to mirror
Mirror
1. Write the data to transaction log and commit the data
4. Send Acknowledgement to principle
DB Mirror High Safety with Witness
Principle
2. Send the transaction to mirror
Mirror
1. Write the data to transaction log 5. Commit the data 4. Send Acknowledgement to principle
Database Mirroring Operating Modes:
Sync/ Async
Synchronous operations
Committed transaction is committed on both partners of the database mirroring pair. Ensure Zero Data loss. Add some latency cost - it is across two servers. Possible performance issues on slower networks. Recovery is Faster no uncommitted trans to be applied/undone Failover can be automatic. High-safety modes use synchronous operations. Enterprise/Standard Edition.
Sync/ Async
Asynchronous operations
Transactions commit without waiting for the mirror server to write the log to disk. Can increase performance but chance of some data loss. Enterprise Edition Only . Manual failover only. High-performance mode uses asynchronous operations.
Flow to determine the operating Mode for DB
Operating Modes
Mode Risk of data loss Zero Data Loss Double Failure Protection Zero Data Loss Single Failure Protection Potential for Minimal Data Loss Transport Description
High Availability Mode High Protection Mode High performance
SYNC
High safety with automatic failover &witness High safety without automatic failover ,without witness Principle never waits for mirror acknowledgement
SYNC
ASYNC
Database Mirroring Operating Modes
in SSMS
Sync/ Async
Asyns / Sync depends on the transaction safety setting.
Control this setting through SAFETY option when configuring with T-SQL. The default for SAFETY is FULL (synchronous operations). Set it to OFF for asynchronous operations. With mirroring wizard, this option is set for you automatically. ALTER DATABASE $(MirrorDatabaseName) SET SAFETY OFF /ON
Failover variations 1
Automatic failover: high-availability mode
Enabled with a three-server configuration: principal,

mirror, witness server. Mirror DB must already be synchronized (Sync with the transactions as they are being written to the principal). Role switching is done automatically.
Manual failover: high-protection mode
No witness server & you are using synchronous operations. The principal and mirror are connected to each other Mirror DB is synchronized. Role switching is done manually. High safety without automatic failover mode. You are making the decision to start using the mirror server as the principal (no data loss).
ALTER DATABASE $(MirrorDatabaseName) SET SAFETY FULL ALTER DATABASE $(MirrorDatabaseName) SET PARTNER FAILOVER
Forced service
Mirror server being available but possibly not synchronized. Mirror server can be forced to take over when the principal server has failed. Possibly means data loss because the transactions were not synchronized. For high safety without automatic failover mode (highprotection mode) or high-performance mode.
Forced service
---Run the ALTER DATABASE databaseName SET PARTNER FORCE_SERVICE_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS SET @strSQL = 'ALTER DATABASE ' + @strDatabaseName + ' SET PARTNER OFF' EXEC sp_executesql @strSQL SET @strSQL = 'RESTORE DATABASE ' + @strDatabaseName + ' WITH RECOVERY' EXEC sp_executesql @strSQL PRINT 'Bringing ' + @strDatabaseName + ' ONLINE' OR ALTER DATABASE <DatabaseName> SET PARTNER FORCE_SERVICE_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS
Rafael Choice
Asynchronous mirroring without automatic failover .
Mirroring asynchronously (high-performance mode) Failover is performed manually. when you respond to a failure, you can make a decision as to whether to fail over all databases to the mirroring partners or simply try to resolve the failing database.
Steps to Set Up DB mirroring In General

1. Create endpoints on all of the instances.
2. Create a login for the service accounts of the other instances if they do not exist. 3. Grant connect permissions to the service accounts of the other instances on the endpoint. 4. Set the principal partner for the mirror database on the mirror partner.
Steps to Set Up DB mirroring In General

5. Set the mirror partner for the principal database on the principal partner. 6. If using a witness server, set the witness partner on the principal partner to enable automatic failover. 7. If not using a witness server, you may want to change the operating mode from High safety (synchronous) to High performance (asynchronous).
Automating Setup 3
options
T-SQL with SPs and linked servers

Alternatives - script creates a connection to each server
T SQL with sqlcmd & CONNECT command . PowerShell .
I will show option T SQL with sqlcmd
T-SQL with SPs & linked servers disadvantage

Create linked servers to allow MSSQL run commands against both partners and witness.
SET @PrincipalServer = @@ServerName SET @CurrDBName = DB_NAME() SET @EPName = 'MirroringEndPoint' -- Make sure linked server to mirror exists EXEC @Results = dbo.dba_ManageLinkedServer @ServerName = @ MirrorServer, @Action = 'create' IF @Results <> 0 BEGIN RETURN @Results; END
Automating Setup PowerShell 1

PowerShell has the ability to load and use .Net objects.
Load the SMO objects into PowerShell and use them directly in the script. The SQL Team separated some of the SMO functions into separate DLLs in SQL Server 2008. The script checks the internal version of SMO and loads the SMOExtended object if you are using the SQL Server 2008 version of SMO. Disadvantage: SSMS support partially debugging Power Shell. Need editor.
Automating Setup - SQLCMD

Command-line utility Next generation of the isql and osql utilities Can use variables within sqlcmd input files or scripts. Admins have a lot of scripts each performs its own functions on a specific server.
Consolidate into a single script using the :CONNECT
command.
Sqlcmd - Example 1 with variables

-- Set here Principal Server name :setvar PrincipalServer "userWXP.domain.local" --Set DBs names to DB mirroring (Principal databases) . :setvar MirrorDatabaseName "AdventureWorks" --Set backup directory on principal server . :setvar BackupDirectory "D:\Database_Mirroring
--Make a connection to Principal Server using Windows Authentication

:CONNECT $(PrincipalServer) GO BACKUP DATABASE [$(MirrorDatabaseName)] TO DISK='$(BackupDirectory)\$(MirrorDatabaseName).bak' WITH INIT; Go
Sqlcmd - Example 2 with variables file
/* Script variables */ :r "d:\jobs\mssql\db_env.sql" /* End Of Script variables */ :CONNECT $(PrincipalServer) GO

BACKUP DATABASE [$(MirrorDatabaseName)] TO DISK='$(BackupDirectory)\$(MirrorDatabaseName).bak WITH INIT;
Go
Prepare the Database for Mirroring SQLCMD Version Make sure the compatibility level is 90 - the min level required for database mirroring. If < 90, sets the compatibility level to the highest setting supported by the version of SQL Server.
Make sure the database is using the Full Recovery model. If not changes the recovery model to Full .
Prepare the Database for Mirroring SQLCMD Version

SELECT @Compatibility = D.compatibility_level, @RecoveryModel = D.recovery_model, @MirrState = DM.mirroring_state FROM sys.databases D INNER JOIN sys.database_mirroring DM ON DM.database_id = D.database_id WHERE D.database_id = @DBID IF @MirrState IS NOT NULL BEGIN RAISERROR('Database [%s] is already configured for mirroring on server [%s].', 16, 1, @DBName, @Server); RETURN; END IF @Compatibility < 90 ELSE IF @MaxCompat >= 100 -- SQL Server 2008+ IF @RecoveryModel <> 1 -- Full Recovery Model
11.1&11.2
Procedure to failover from/to Principal/mirror Server SQLCMD Version

/* Script variables */ :r "D:\jobs\mssql\db_env.sql --Detects any DB that fit the criteria . --Issues the failback command one at a time for each DB . USE [master] GO SELECT DB_ID(N'$(MirrorDatabaseName)') AS [Database ID]; GO IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM sys.database_mirroring WHERE database_id=DB_ID(N'$(MirrorDatabaseName)') AND mirroring_role_desc = 'PRINCIPAL') ALTER DATABASE $(MirrorDatabaseName) SET SAFETY FULL GO SELECT DB_ID(N'$(MirrorDatabaseName)') AS [Database ID]; GO IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM sys.database_mirroring WHERE database_id=DB_ID(N'$(MirrorDatabaseName)') AND mirroring_role_desc = 'PRINCIPAL') ALTER DATABASE $(MirrorDatabaseName) SET PARTNER FAILOVER GO
Database mirroring status table : dbm_monitor_data table

Undocumented table in msdb . sp_dbmmonitorupdate creates, updates, truncates the database mirroring status table. DB Mirroring Monitor Job creates this table - Automatically the first time a database mirroring status update occurs. DB Mirroring Monitor & DB Mirroring Monitor Job call sp_dbmmonitorupdate system sp Frequently of updates ? Depends on the method used and the configuration settings.
Database mirroring status table : select * from msdb.dbo.dbm_monitor_data order by local_time desc
Database Mirroring Monitor Job 1

Update the DB mirroring monitor table (sp_dbmmonitorupdate system sp) Default schedule is to run once a minute
Can change from 1 to 120 minutes.

If SQL Server Agent is disabled, Job cannot run. Created automatically when you start a database mirroring session using SSMS or T SQL
sp_dbmmonitoraddmonitoring
Creates the Job with a default schedule to run every minute. Example: Create a new Database Mirroring Monitor Job that runs every 10 minutes.
EXEC sp_dbmmonitoraddmonitoring 10
sp_dbmmonitordropmonitoring
Drop the job. No parameters Example:
EXEC sp_dbmmonitordropmonitoring
sp_dbmmonitorchangemonitoring:
update the interval in which an existing Database Mirroring Monitor Job will run. 2 parameters
Parameter argument is 1, which means update period, followed by the new update interval for the value argument.
Example: run every 15 minutes.

EXEC sp_dbmmonitorchangemonitoring 1, 15
Understanding Warning Thresholds 1

Events that are written to the Windows Event Log whenever the threshold exceeded. Can configure alerts to fire based on the error numbers for these events: Unsent log (error number 32042): Number of kilobytes in unsent logs that can accumulate on the principal server before this event is raised. Important Communication issue between partners ( highperformance mode ) In high-safety mode if DB mirroring has been paused.
Unrestored log (error number 32043):

Configure the number of kilobytes in unrestored logs accumulated on the mirror server before this event is raised. Determine the amount of time it will take to roll forward the log on the mirror server in failover. Generally because the I/O subsystem on the mirror server cannot keep up with the logs coming from the principal server.
Oldest Unsent transaction (error number 32040):

Number of minutes worth of transactions that can accumulate in the send queue on the principal server before this event is raised. Communication issue between partners - highperformance mode In high-safety mode if DB mirroring has been paused.
Mirror commit overhead (error number 32044):

Configure the number of milliseconds in the average transaction delay that can be tolerated on the principal server before this event is raised. The time the principal server waits for the mirror server to write a transaction to the redo queue - only relevant in high-safety mode
Using the Database Mirroring Monitor 1

Refreshes status every 30 sec (async connections to principal &mirror servers). Member of the dbm_monitor db role in MSDB (not sysadmin server role) have to wait for the data to be updated by the DB Mirroring Monitor Job
Step 1: Registering Mirrored Databases Step 2: Performing Health Checks
Principal log : status of principal server as of the time displayed
Unsent log Num of kilobytes waiting in the send queue. Oldest unsent transaction Oldest transaction in the send queue waiting to be sent to the mirror server Amount of potential data loss (in time) in the event of a failure. Time to send log (estimated): Estimate for the amount of time for the principal server to transmit transactions in the send queue to the mirror server.

Current send rate Rate in kilobytes transactions are being sent to the mirror server. Current rate of new transactions Current rate of new transaction Rate in kilobytes of new transactions being written to the log on the principal

Mirror log: status on the mirror server as of the time displayed in
Unrestored log Num of kilobytes waiting in the redo queue. Time to restore log (estimated): Estimate time for mirror server to apply the transactions waiting in the redo queue to the mirror DB. Current restore rate Rate in kilobytes that transactions are being restored to mirror DB.

Mirror commit overhead Only for high-safety mode. Num of milliseconds of average delay per transaction you can accept while the principal server waits for a transaction to write to the redo queue on the mirror server before a warning is generated on the principal server. Time to send and restore all current log (estimated): Estimated time to send and restore all of the transactions that have currently been committed on the principal server to the mirror server. Can be less than Time to send log (estimated) + Time to restore log (estimated) Because these are parallel operations.
Monitoring using system SP sp_dbmmonitorresults

Directly returning rows from DB mirroring status table. Parameters: @database name: limits the result set to a single database. @mode: Optional parameter that specifies the number of rows returned by the result set. The required input is an integer value between 0 and 9. 0: Last row 1: Last 2 hours ...... 8: Last 1,000 rows 9: Last 1,000,000 rows or essentially all rows @update_table : Optional parameter 1 or 0 that determines whether the DB mirroring status table is updated before returning the result set.
Monitoring using system SP sp_dbmmonitorresults
Managing Warning Thresholds using system SP 1
Instead of the Database Mirroring Monitor 3 SPs configure, view, and remove warning thresholds:
sp_dbmmonitorchangealert, sp_dbmmonitorhelpalert sp_dbmmonitordropalert.
= @average_delay, @enabled = 1;
Managing Warning Thresholds using system SP 2

--Warn if the unset log exceeds the the threshold in KB exec sys.sp_dbmmonitorchangealert @database_name=N'$(MirrorDatabaseName)',@alert_id=2,@threshold = @enable_send_queue, @enabled = 1;
--Warn if the unrestored log exceeds the the threshold in KB exec sys.sp_dbmmonitorchangealert @database_name=N'$(MirrorDatabaseName)',@alert_id=3,@threshold = @redo_queue, @enabled = 1; --Warn if the age of the oldest unset transaction exceeds the threshold in minutes exec sys.sp_dbmmonitorchangealert @database_name=N'$(MirrorDatabaseName)',@alert_id=1,@threshold = @time_behind, @enabled = 1; --Warn if the mirror commit overhead exceeds the threshold in milliseconds exec sys.sp_dbmmonitorchangealert @database_name=N'$(MirrorDatabaseName)',@alert_id=4,@threshold
Top wait Events Checks Network Waits DB mirror
Action Run the query and analyze according the following
Script SELECT TOP 15 wait_type, wait_time_ms FROM sys.dm_os_wait_stats WHERE wait_type NOT IN ('LAZYWRITER_SLEEP', 'SQLTRACE_BUFFER_FLUSH', 'REQUEST_FOR_DEADLOCK_SEARCH', 'LOGMGR_QUEUE', 'CHECKPOINT_QUEUE', '__EVENT','WAITFOR', 'BROKER_TASK_STOP', 'SLEEP_TASK', 'BROKER_TO_FLUSH') ORDER BY wait_time_ms DESC
Top wait Events Checks Network Waits DB mirror 2

Network Waits: DBMIRROR_SEND Explanation indicate that the available bandwidth is insufficient to support the volume of mirrored transactions occurring on the server. It can also indicate database mirroring oversubscription. . Action If multiple DBs are mirrored, try reducing the number of mirrored databases, or increasing the network bandwidth by upgrading to a higher-speed adapter. When troubleshooting network waits, it can be beneficial to also investigate the configurationsettings of the network adapter as well. Ensure that the server and client adapter settings match as closely as possible. Utilize full duplex and the maximum bandwidth settings available on the adapter To monitor network adapter performance, the following network performance counters can be collected: Network\Current bandwidth Network\bytes total/sec Network\packets/sec
What Next I Expect in Denali

Offload Processing Improve Primary Performance!
Read-write Workload Real-time Reporting Fast Incremental Backups Fast Backups Real-time Reporting Real-time Queries
Continuous redo shipping, validation & apply
Principle DB
Mirror DB
Offload read-only queries to an up-to-date Mirror DB Use fast backups on mirror DB More than 1 mirror DB destination to improve DRP
Disasters happen every day...its a fact !

Disasters cost money so why suffer by being unprepared? Organizations that survive typically have: management foresight tested Processes & procedures back-up facilities
A PLAN!!
Disaster Recovery Process

Data Centric Environments DRP Mean Time To Recovery
(redirect)
LAN/ WAN Disaster Recovery Site
Production Site
(resync backwards after source restoration)

Sample mirroring deployment Plan

Time Step Detail Step Duration
8:00 p.m.
Disable all SQL jobs and scheduled tasks Verify that the database is using Full Recovery and do not support Filestream Create full backup of database
3 min.
2 min.
3 min. 5 min. 2 min.
Copy and restore full backup on mirror server

Create transaction log backup of database
Copy and restore transaction log backup on mirror server

5 min.
Sample mirroring deployment Plan

Time Step Detail Step Duration
Deploy new configuration files to web site and web service Enable all SQL jobs and scheduled tasks Install database mirroring maintenance procedures Give testers green light to begin testing

(RTO) Recovery Time Objective

(RPO) Recovery Point Objective

. ? , / RTO ) RPO RTO ( .
Service Level Agreement

, MTTR , (Mean Time Between Failure)MTTF )(Mean time To recover
()High availability
= downtime
.Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd
: ) Risk (Analysis
. , , . " "" ": Risk Level = Probability*Impact

DRP

MOPs
-RPO
MOSs
MOEs
?DRP ?
CI
? ? - DRP ?
-RTO
- ?DRP

MOPs
, , - Risk Level
MOSs
?MTBF Critical failure
MOEs
?
CI
?
, MTTR , MTTF .
- SLA - ? DRP
? DRP
DRP
?
DRP

DRP - storage . -R/W
)(Primary Site
)(DR Site

17
Resources
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (2010), Sams

Pro SQL Server Disaster Recovery (2008) , Apress Accelerated SQL Server (2008) , Apress Professional Sql Server 2008 Internals And Troubleshooting (2010) , Wiley Pro SQL Server 2008 Administration (2009), Apress. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 High Availability with Clustering & Database Mirroring , (2010) , Wiley SQL Server 2008 Transact SQL Recipes 2008 , Apress.
Resources
Professional Association for SQL Server (www.sqlpass.org) SQL Server Central (www.sqlservercentral.com) Simple-Talk (www.simple-talk.com/sql) MSSQLTips.com (www.mssqltips.com) SQLTeam.com (www.sqlteam.com)
SQL Server Community (www.sqlcommunity.com)
Discussion, questions & answers

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Database Mirror for the exceptional DBA

" " cimid@rafael.co.il 4.4.2011

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

4. acknowledgment to principal server of its

3.physical log record is written to the mirror DB

Mirror DB is exactly the same as the Principal DB

DB Mirror High Performance

1. Write the data to transaction log and commit the data

4. Send Acknowledgement to principle

3. Write the data to transaction log and commit the data

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

DB Mirror High Safety with Witness

2. Send the transaction to mirror

3. Write the data to transaction log and commit the data

Database Mirroring Operating Modes:

Database Mirroring Operating Modes:

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Flow to determine the operating Mode for DB

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High Availability Mode High Protection Mode High performance

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Database Mirroring Operating Modes

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Database Mirroring Operating Modes:

Enabled with a three-server configuration: principal,

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Steps to Set Up DB mirroring In General

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Steps to Set Up DB mirroring In General

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

T-SQL with SPs and linked servers

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T-SQL with SPs & linked servers disadvantage

Automating Setup PowerShell 1

Automating Setup PowerShell 2

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Automating Setup PowerShell 3

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Automating Setup PowerShell 4

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Automating Setup - SQLCMD

Consolidate into a single script using the :CONNECT

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Sqlcmd - Example 1 with variables

--Make a connection to Principal Server using Windows Authentication

Sqlcmd - Example 2 with variables file

/* Script variables */ :r "d:\jobs\mssql\db_env.sql" /* End Of Script variables */ :CONNECT $(PrincipalServer) GO

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Proprietary of Rafael - Advanced Defense Systems.Ltd.

Prepare the Database for Mirroring SQLCMD Version

Procedure to failover from/to Principal/mirror Server SQLCMD Version

Database mirroring status table : dbm_monitor_data table

/* Script variables / :r "d:\jobs\mssql\db_env.sql" / End Of Script variables */ :CONNECT $(PrincipalServer) GO