Clusters idea. Guidance Please.

i have been tasked to add fault tolerance to a SQL 2000 server we have that
holds the databases for a Sharepoint Server.
I am not going to get the funds to make it a SQL Cluster, and SQL 2005 is
just not going to be used ever, so that new funky disk mirroring is out.
The good news is that this Sharepoint site is almost entirely static. I am
the only person who publishes content, so the databases do not have many
changes. System performance is not an issue.
Don't ask why I am using Sharepoint like this; I inherited this beast. But i
will say that because of the massive amount of custom programming done, you
would never know you are looking at a sharepoint portal.
So here is my thought:
I have two different NIC teams in these servers.
Set up replication between two sql servers and then join them in an NLB
(Network Load Balancing) Cluster.
Am I missing something? Will this work?
Aside from the fact that replication in SQL 2000 does not include DDL
statements or stored procedures or views or a lot of other things, you have
a good idea. Seriously, fault tolerance is a very good idea. Fault
tolerance on zero budget is willful stupidity on the part of management. I
suggest researching all recovery scenarios, starting with backup-restore,
moving up to log shipping, then failover clustering. Show the pros and
cons, focusing on potential data loss and estimated recovery times. Include
realistic cost estimates for each option. You can even include Database
Mirroring as an option but with SQL 2005 as a pre-requisite. Also, examine
third-party options that do something akin to DB mirroring at the file
level. Some actually work, but make them demonstrate it befoer plunking
down your money.
Your job is not to make up something for nothing, it is to present realistic
options to the business decision makers and to implement their choices. If
they choose not to listen and to demand the impossible, then it is time to
find a job where failure isn't mandatory.
Geoff N. Hiten
Senior Database Administrator
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
"Manny Borges" <MannyBorges@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9FEEB93C-D3EB-4790-9379-6BD24531C0F1@.microsoft.com...
>i have been tasked to add fault tolerance to a SQL 2000 server we have that
> holds the databases for a Sharepoint Server.
> I am not going to get the funds to make it a SQL Cluster, and SQL 2005 is
> just not going to be used ever, so that new funky disk mirroring is out.
> The good news is that this Sharepoint site is almost entirely static. I am
> the only person who publishes content, so the databases do not have many
> changes. System performance is not an issue.
> Don't ask why I am using Sharepoint like this; I inherited this beast. But
> i
> will say that because of the massive amount of custom programming done,
> you
> would never know you are looking at a sharepoint portal.
> So here is my thought:
> I have two different NIC teams in these servers.
> Set up replication between two sql servers and then join them in an NLB
> (Network Load Balancing) Cluster.
>
> Am I missing something? Will this work?