Backup Server

External Since: Aug 14, 2004 Posts: 32

I would like to have a backup server ready to take over just in case I
experience an issue with one my SQL servers.

The idea is that if one server goes down, the other one is working in the
background and is seemless to the end user. I have the NLB manager running
with 2 ip address linking the 2 machines, however I am trying to figure out
the best way to SYNC the SQL data. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!!

Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 4

I have a set up in a production environment where availability of the DB at all times is paramount.

I have transactional replication running so that at any time if the main DB server goes down, the backup server will only be about 4 seconds behind so it's just a matter of pointing the applications to the new server. The whole process of swapping to the second DB takes about 30 seconds.

It has been a very reliable solution and whilst not as seemless as having a 'cluster' set up it is no way near as expensive.